Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc is the third major game in the Rayman series, and the sequel to Rayman 2. Rayman 3 was released in 2003. Like its immediate predecessor, it is a 3D platformer. However, Rayman 3's levels are more straightfoward and oriented towards action and combat rather than platforming and exploration. The main campaign of Rayman 3 is temporally linear – unlike the previous games, where Rayman could physically return to completed locations, each Rayman 3 level is visited only once within the storyline. The overall reception of the game was poorer than that of Rayman 2.

It is notable for being the first Rayman game not directed by series creator Michel Ancel, who was occupied with the development of Beyond Good & Evil at the time. Ancel played a small role in the development of Rayman 3, assisting the team in various areas (such as Rayman's new look) and meeting with them to brainstorm ideas for characters and environments.

Rayman 3 features a points-based scoring system; another first for the series. Players could post their final scores on the then-new RaymanZone website. However, this function was disabled when RaymanZone was retooled to suit the Raving Rabbids games. In February 2009, members of the Rayman Pirate-Community contacted Ubisoft and successfully arranged for the creation of a new Hall of Fame.[1] In July 2011, the PC version of the game joined Rayman Forever and Rayman 2 on the digital distribution network Good Old Games. In March 2012, a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version titled Rayman 3 HD was released, with improved textures, framerate, lighting and audio quality.