Um Jammer Lammy

"Leave It To Lammy, She Sweeps The Floor With This One!"

Um Jammer Lammy is the sequel to the much loved and original Parappa The Rapper. This time gone is the rapping and to replace is a guitar, which gives a whole lot more scope for songs and opens the audience up a little bit more.
The story once again is all about self-confidence and believing in yourself. Lammy is on the way to her big gig with her band called “Milkcan” (Katy Kat and Ma-San) and along the way gets involved in all kinds on disasters in the most hilarious and outrageous stories and cut scenes that only this series can produce. You’ll have your favourite characters, your favourite song and if you love anything that you instantly lose yourself in, this game is for you as its half programme, half game.
The game itself has changed very little indeed, yet still comes across as fresh. The game remains of Simon Says format, where you see a line of buttons and then you must repeat them to the best precision you can. You’ll be using the symbol buttons and the shoulder buttons for the game and for each button press the guitar your playing will change note. You must get to the end of the song without dropping your rating below “Good” so you can progress.
The more you get to know the songs though you can improvise and hears where the newer gameplay comes in. You will begin to notice that you are rewarded for making up your own little parts to the song (dare we say solo’s) to make your rating go up higher. It’s hard to get used to and there is a lot of trial and error involved but the end results are satisfying.
The 8 songs in the main game are all catchy but one song suffers from awful vocals and despite being longer than Parappa, still come up fairly short then you realise your only playing for half the song! But for a game that puts style over substance, the soundtrack lives up to expectations of lunacy and catchy melodies that will go through your head for days.
Also in the style part is the graphics, which are greatly improved with the excellent paper-thin people and cartoon backgrounds. The screen is always bursting with life during cut scenes and songs with you being hypnotised on to see just what on earth pops up next!
So where are all the improvements? Well finally we have a 2-player mode!!! You can work co-operatively or in battle being either Lammy or her twin Rammy in all the songs available in the main game. This gives the game so much more of a lifespan it means you can now make it a great party game as well as a great single player one.
What’s more is that once you’ve completed the main game, you can also get tons of other variations on the songs. Parappa The Rapper gets a whole side quest adventure, which takes most of the songs, strips them of their guitar workings and plonks a hip-hop beat on top. Add some vocals and you’ve got half a Parappa game already as a bonus! You can also get stages where Parappa, Lammy and Rammy will battle which is great if you want to player a 2-player style game but your on your own.
The only problem with the game, as ever with Bemani games is its lifespan. You can complete the game in an hour if you’re a pro, but you will come back for more all the time. Its one of those games you don’t mind completing for the umpteenth time.
Um Jammer Lammy is not going to be for everyone. It’s cutesy, funny, loveable and great fun. If your looking for a title that will offer you bizarre laughs, great music and a big smile, get this, as there’s very little like it out there!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/07/03