To start off the New Year, I think it's time to review something different. Last year when I gave my "Top 5 Games That Are More Fun To Watch Then They Are To Play", I said I'd do a review on the games listed on the list. However, one game slipped my mind. A game I clearly would have enjoyed watching as a movie than played as a game called...
Let me get one thing out of the way, I do indeed find it playable. I like that that the game rates your rhythm by having a rating of Cool, Good, Bad, Awful and below Awful which leads to some fun visuals. I also like that you can mix the symbols that appear on the screen that control how your main characters raps even if he does sound odd most of the time. With the good things said, much like "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band" it becomes so repetitive that you might as well be listening to the music rather than pretending to play guitar...even though I have a few friends who were inspired to play Guitar because of those games which doesn't make it bad; in fact a lot of people were introduced to good music because of those games, wait a minute I'm NOT here to talk about "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band"; I'm here to talk about a rapping game starring a rapping dog! However, ending the comparison between this game and the other music game series, while being fun to play if you knew all the tricks or heck just simply follow the symbols on the screen, you're pretty much going to get the same thing over and over that you might as well be watching it then playing it. In fact, as a little kid when this popular game came out, I actually made my Mother play it while I watched her play it because I was more interested in the story and songs than I was with the gameplay. So despite being a fun playable repetitive game do the story, characters and songs still hold up? ON WITH THE REVIEW...
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS
The Game has 6 Stages which is sad since I wish to see more and since each stage has it's own story and sequence, I'm going to break the review up by reviewing each stage as well as reviewing the games intro and outro.
THE GAMES OPENING CUT SCENE AND INTRO
The game opens with our four main characters watching an old black and white cartoon called "Jet Baby" which is about a baby saving a Teddy Bear from a giant one eyed monster. While this sequence only last for a minute, the short film that the characters are watching is fun. The hero "Jet Baby" (Who I'm certain is an "Astro Boy" parody or knockoff) is a cool hero, the Teddy bear is cute, the villain while getting an anti climatic defeat has a cool design and the song that narrates the film is kicks ass! Our four main characters is P.J. Berri The Bear, Katy Kat The Cat, Sunny Funny The Daisy (And Parappa's love interest) and Parappa The Dog. These four characters throughout the game are very fun, very cute, very likable and still hold up as good characters for kids. The flat animation while looking awkward at times as well as having horrible lip sync is still fun, colorful and creative. The Menu introduction song maybe short but it kicks ass with it's cool and cute sounding chorus and great beat.
STAGE 1: I NEED TO BECOME A HERO
As the gang hangs out at the "Chunky Burger" two human bullies come in and harass the girls in the gang. A rich millionaire named Joe Chin the Dog stands up to the bullies by giving the longest heroic introduction speech ever which leads to a very funny defeat to the bullies. Sunny admiring his heroic charm, Parappa decides to become a hero by taking Karate lessons from an onion named Chop, Chop Master Onion. The two bullies while being just the typical stereotype bullies are funny and the millionaire Joe Chin is really a lot of fun with his cocky and full of himself personality. The Karate Master Chop, Chop Master Onion while looking a bit creepy and being a very strange and surreal character (As if the game isn't already) is still cool. The song he sings still kickass and is probably the most iconic and best known song in the whole entire game. If you rap Cool, Master Onion destroys his Dojo and we're outside in front of a giant sun and Master Onion in the sky watching Parappa free style rap which is cool but strange. If you Rap bad or awful, Master Onion goes from being bored to for some reason acting girlish. If you hit the wrong button, some Onion ninja pops out of the floor...what the heck. If that's not strange enough for you, I saw two hidden glitches in this stage. One involving an Onion in a shower and another one of having the pictures behind our characters change to Onion ninjas. By the way, is it just me or do those cute little karate onions look weird whenever they move which causes their yellow faces to change red. While being an awesome stage and good tutorial, it feels pointless to the story since Parappa NEVER EVER FIGHTS THE BULLIES!
STAGE 2: YOU GUYS SIT IN THE BACK
The gang hangs out at "Phat Donuts" and decide to go to the beach but not having a car, Joe decides to take them to the beach for the girls in the gang. OK, how old is Joe? I mean this guy throughout the game also has the hots for Sunny Funny but he looks way too old to be in love with her! Wouldn't it make more sense to make him around their age? If that isn't strange enough, Parappa decides to go to Drivers Ed to get a license and instead of taking him a while like most people do, he immediately gets to go behind the wheel WITHOUT TAKING A TEST! Ok it's odd enough that a kid gets to even go to Drivers Ed to get a license, it's a cartoon in a surreal world, I'll buy it but not taking a test or going through safety instructions before going behind the wheel has chaos written all over it and doesn't make sense, cartoon or not. However, the Instructor is a female Moose named Mooselini who is very serious and very strict about people driving so I guess she makes some sense to this stupid Drivers Ed School and she's another fun character too. However, while being serious, during the song we find out that she "FORGOT TO CLOSE THE DOOR"! What stupid person hired her to be a car Instructor, forgetting to close the door is as stupid as forgetting to hit the gas peddle! Despite that fault in the song, the song kicks as much ass as the first few songs we've heard in this game. If you rap bad or awful, the car goes from out of control to shaky. I also enjoy that if you say the opposite direction, your car goes spinning out of control. You can also sing the same rap the same times as the Instructor raps by rapping "Guess what". If you hit the wrong button, your steering wheel goes off to magically going back on. That maybe odd but being in a Car with TWO STEERING WHEELS makes little to no sense. If you rap cool, the Instructor gets her antlers caught on the roof on the car and she goes flying away as you free style which also leads to a cut scene of Parappa smiling for his Divers License picture than crying when you rap good.
STAGE 3: MY DAD'S GONNA BITE ME
Parappa takes his Father's car ad decides to take the gang out for a spin. First off, I really love how paranoid Parappa's Father is and how excited Parappa is willing to get behind the wheel on his own, that's like every parents concern and every young adults heaven. When we see Parappa approach the gang with his Dad's care, I love how it mimics Joe Chin's entrance with his Car by having a failed tune when Parappa reveals himself. As Parappa fantasizes about taking Sunny on a cruise while driving, they crash into a truck with an angry face, fly into outter space for a few moments (I'd say "What The Hell" but I found it funny) and the car is destroyed. Guess that Drivers Ed School was worse than I thought. Parappa gets a job working at a Flea Market for a Jamaican Frog named Prince Fleaswallow who I swear must be high as a freaking Kite. The first lyric is "I'm working at the Flea Market so early. I've been working here since my mamma was a baby." I know there's plenty of other things that I said that makes no sense in this game BUT THIS TAKES THE CAKE! HOW THE HELL IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! On top of it, I hate how the frog goes from saying the key is love which is all you need to saying money is all you need. I bet you that this Frog is wasted but still he's a fun character and the song despite having the most terrible lyric ever written is still smooth and catchy. If you rap bad or awful, the Flea Market slowly collapses and a sombrero falls on Parappa's head. While rapping bad, when you try to sell items (that most people would never buy) your items don't magically turn into money. Press the wrong button and blocks fall on your head. If you rap cool, the Frog disappears in a magic hole (Yeah he's wasted) and in the end you get a red hot car instead of a regular car when you rap good.
STAGE 4: GUARANTEED TO CATCH HER HEART
Parappa has to get a cake for Sunny's Birthday, he does but Joe gets a bigger cake that represents his love for Sunny (Defiantly a perv) and Parappa ruins his Cake. Low on money, Parappa decides to bake a cake from a cooking show hosted by a Chicken named Cheap Cheap. This is probably my least favorite stage in the game. The song while being catchy is not as great as all the other ones in the game, it's also the hardest level in the whole entire game. Cheap Cheap is a cute character but that cuteness ends fast when you rap bad or awful which causes her to yell and scream at you while she leaves the TV screen (It's a cartoon, we've seen that cliche done before. They even make fun of it.). I know I never mentioned the cut scenes when the game tells you to "Try Again" but the characters in the last 3 Stages literally tell you to "Try Again". Here, Cheap Cheap poops out an egg and a little angry chick hatches out of it. Funny and even cute at first but after maybe 3 or 4 fails it gets annoying fast. Press the wrong button by the way and you get a small fire. If you Rap cool, Cheap Cheap turns herself off and the cut scene has an added scene of Parappa dreaming of Sunny getting her cake.
STAGE 5: FULL TANK
The last stage was annoying; this stage is pointless! The first 48 seconds is them having a party, Sunny loves the cake and the two watch the sun set together. This could have been a great ending cut scene for Stage 4 but no. Parappa has to go to the bathroom really badly, so he stops at the nearest Gas Station while taking Sunny home and all of a sudden every teacher that Parappa has met are on line waiting to use it too; so now Parappa must "Rap For It"! Yes it's a really pointless part and Stage to the story but at least it's funny. Parappa's hallucinations of toilets is funny, how he tries to man it out is hilarious and the two songs "Let it go" (A short song played during the cut scene) and the Bathroom Rap are both funny and kick ass. If you rap bad or awful, it begins to rain than thunder and lightening resulting in a long "Try Again" sequence of live footage of a Rocket blasting off in Parappa's lower tummy. Hit the wrong button and Parappa has to go even more. If you rap cool, Parappa has to run to the toilet on a train track while his teachers faces surround him resulting in an ending where Sunny still finds Parappa manly instead of losing interest in him when you rap good.
STAGE 6: I GOTTA BELIEVE
Parappa takes Sunny to a party at a club and sadly the two get separated at the party. However, Parappa is invited on the stage by M.C. King Kong Mushi the Flea where his teachers are waiting to sing the final song with him. First off, I love the little romantic background song between Sunny and Parappa, it really makes everything seem romantic and sweet. I also love when we meet her Father who's a military sergeant who has a Flower Pot for a head. Sadly we never spend any time with him nor hear a single word from him. This whole final level is the best part of the game. This is the part where Parappa shines by finally rapping his own way without following the same words that his teacher raps. He also gets to show his love for Sunny and lead the audience in singing. On top of it, it just feels rewarding to not just rap on your own but to see all your teachers singing with you; seeing P.J. Berri as a D.J.; amazing his love interest; and telling you that you got to believe. If you listen carefully at the end of rapping good and you can hear Joe Chin saying what a wonderful party they threw for him. Rap bad or awful it's less nice. Hit the wrong button, people throw stuff at you. Fail completely, everyone leaves and Sunny says "Maybe next time" to you...that's a harsh failure. If you rap cool, Parappa gets a very moving extended speech about not giving up and believing yourself and we see Chop, Chop Master Onion break dance during the number.Our final cut scene is everyone leaves the Club, head into the movie theater and see the ending of a movie. What an anti climatic ending.
The game is flawed, has a lot of things that don't make sense, has a few pointless numbers and I still love it and consider it a classic game. The songs while having dumb lyrics in a few of them are still awesome and catchy; the characters are fun and likable and despite many things not making sense it's still creative and fun. Noticeably flawed, well there's no denying it but awful no.
RATING
RAPPIN' GOOD
(4/5)
P.S. THANKS MOM FOR PLAYING THIS GAME FOR ME WHEN I WAS A KID!
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