PaRappa the Rapper

"The best rapping-game, no doubt!"

Ever since I was small, I loved Rap, for it's funky beat and poetic like tunes, and it's only second to Classical, my favourite choice of relaxing with music. If you like rap, then have no doubt, this is the game for you. Buy it, it has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, next to CastleVania: SoTN.

How do you play a rapping game on a console? Well, to put it simply, there are a number of button icons on the screen at a time, and you have to follow the icons by tapping your joypad's button according to the ones onscreen. Does that mean good response on the screen? YES. Since this game mostly resides on your T, S, X, O, L1/L2, R1/R2 buttons, so they had to have responsive controls.

Now about the graphics, they're not the state-of-the-art marvellous looking 3D generated computer silicon graphics with great background rendered graphics that move at a rate of 120 frames per second but instead, just plain old non-moving backgrounds and characters that look like characters cutten out of pages, but does that detract from the game? ABSOLUTELY, NO. They are great-looking, and they're mouths move fluently according to the characters singing. Personally, it's one of the best mouth action I've seen in a game.

Another thing I like is the ultra-cool lyrics. They can go from "in the rain or in the snow, i got the funky flow, but now, i really gotta go" to "when I say boom-boom-boom you say bam-bam-bam, no pause inbetween, c'mon let's jam!". It's got a really cool soundtrack, and if you want to have a new musical experience, then this is a must have on your shelf/cd rack list.

Music? They're semi-phenomenal, being first next to Castlevania: SoTN's fantastic soundtrack. The sounds are well tuned, with perfect voices for each character and different emotions for different scenes. It's the main feature of the game, and I bet if you're buying the game, you're buying it for the music. Last of all, I just want to say, that if you're looking for a new experience on rapping, love to rap, love button-taping/precise timing games, want a cool, fresh new soundtrack, then this is the game for you.

A 10 out of 10 is the best for a game that's really great, and this is one of the best so as to get 10 out of 10. A must buy.

© 1999 Wan Zafran. All rights reserved.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 04/26/01