PaRappa the Rapper

"Some of these characters are actually pretty scary. Clown-scary."

Is it just me, or is there an odd feeling you get from karate-chopping onion men in this game? Such is the feeling I got overall from Parappa the Rapper - a game that introduces the unique concept of pressing buttons correspondingly and ''rapping'' when such commands are entered with good timing. For you see, this is by no means a bad game - it's only the small things that add up - choppy cardboard graphics (literally), bizarre-looking characters that stand out on a negative side of the word ''unique'', and only one mode to the game, one that lasts quite shortly, in my opinion.

You're Parappa the Rapper, a small doggy with a funky hat who tries to convince a flower named Sunny that their relationship should be more than just ''being friends''. How? By rapping, and by following tips from the different rap-masters that you'll find in this game. Throughout the stages, you'll often find very random characters in the game to train under - a karate-chopping onion master, a driver instructor moose, and even a chicken with an English accent.

Each stage implements the basic idea of the game - to get Parappa to keep up with the other rapper! How this works is that there's a bar on the top of the screen featuring dots (indicating beats) - and on certain beats, there will be buttons to be performed with the Playstation controller. At the same time, a Parappa-shaped head moves along the bar, from left to right, and by performing the certain functions listed on the bar (when Parappa's head moves over it), he'll correspond by rapping! You see, this gets even more complicated when the issue of ''timing'' comes in. The game presents four different levels of rapping: Cool, Good, Bad, and Awful. The objective of each stage is to maintain a ''rapping level'' of Good, at the very least - however, this is easier said than done. The levels get harder and harder - the Parappa ''head'' that moves across the bar sometimes moves faster - and sometimes the commands that need to be performed are *so* hard, that sometimes it feels like the people at Interlink studied button combinations that they thought would be ridiculously hard to perform for the average gamer! For example, you have to press L1, then X? Although beats are normally separated by equivalent amounts of time, the later stage functions will sometimes lie in between beats!

Perhaps that is a good thing, however. There are only six stages in Parappa the Rapper - once you beat the game (and see its ending), you'll be sent to the main menu screen again, where you can play the game again. But where is the replayability factor? The game does *not* offer any difficulty levels - and it certainly could use some - there is truly no purpose to play this game again, because there is nothing new to look for.

With that aside, Parappa the Rapper is a very fun game - it serves as a game that requires ''skill'' (or a whole lot of continues), and the concept in which this game revolves around serves as a good creative example for other video games. The game itself plays very intensely - your actions determine the ''rapping''. The feeling gained from Parappa the Rapper is unique as well - ever tried to connect a 150-hit combo in a fighting game? Parappa the Rapper is like that, and it raps as your mind tries to concentrate as the next ''X'' and ''R1'' pops up on your screen - who can forget the climatic constant ''X'' commands needed to be performed in order to rap out ''Money-money-money-money-money-money-IS!'', or the difficult stage in which Parappa has diarrhea, where some of the most difficult commands in the game had to be performed? Parappa the Rapper is the type of game that takes that ''impossible pit jump'' in Stage 5-5 of Super Mario Bros. and places it in its last 2 levels - the type of game that, while short, provides a nice level of difficulty.

In fact, many of the actual raps in the game sound pretty cool (if not authentic enough for hip-hop). It's the sort of game you also play with friends - who can rap the ''Cool-est''? In fact, I forgot to mention that the game adapts to your level of rapping - when you're rapping Awful, you'll be close to a ''Game Over'' screen, but when you're rapping Cool, the game's scenery changes (for example, in Chop Chop Master onion's stage, he starts to change his lyrics and things come out of nowhere (do I remember spotlights?)). This sound, overall, is a definite plus for gamers not particularly into hip-hop (myself included!), and adds more depth to the entertainment value of this game.

Maybe Interlink opted for a completely innovative game, because the cardboard graphics in this game are certainly something new. As you play the game (and each stage), the camera pans around these cardboard animated characters, as well as giving you a view of the scenery of each stage. One particular stage is the one where Parappa drives in a car with the moose instructor (no, he instructs cars), in a cardboard car driving down the lane (along with more cardboard signs along the road)! The graphics look ''pre-dated'', however, even for a new concept - and I mean pre-dated for the PSX.

Each stage progresses as you rap properly, adding new aspects to a level you previously couldn't beat, especially if you just got past a certain part. I suppose there can be a point made about playing the game over again just to see what happens when you rap ''Cool'', or only at ''Good''.

But some of these flaws cannot be forgiven. Even right now, at a time where Parappa the Rapper can be found for a very low price, *why* buy a game with only six stages and no replayability factor? And... no, there's no two-player mode as well.

I've already explained all of the pros about Parappa the Rapper. But even those cannot save this game from being more than a rental. A one-day rental, I meant.

Pros
+ Innovative
+ Cool tunes!

Cons
- Way too short
- No replayability factor

Overall: 6.1 / 10 (rounded to 6 / 10)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/03