PaRappa the Rapper (PS1) Review

Yes, yes, PlayStation All-Stars got me into PaRappa the Rapper, and you know what? I'm glad it did. However, when I got to playing the original game from beginning to end, I noticed that it hasn't aged really well, especially around the rhythm gameplay.

The story revolves around a rapping dog named PaRappa, who is trying to impress his love interest, a humanoid flower named Sunny Funny. It may be cliched, but it's also relatable and it can, at times, be weird and hilarious, but I think that's why we all love it.

One thing you will immediately notice is the unique art style where all the characters are paper flat, but living in a three-dimensional world. Rodney Greenblat, the character designer, wanted the characters to be paper-flat in order to preserve his style. There is another video game series that has a similar graphical style, and we all know which series is that: Paper Mario.

I love the main characters in the game. PaRappa always finds a way to solve problems... by constantly shouting "I gotta believe!". His friends, Sunny Funny, Katy Kat, and PJ Berri are also pretty likeable, especially PJ, who thinks of nothing but food.

The teachers probably stand out the most out of all the characters. Each one have a distict appearance and personality. We have Chop Chop Master Onion, a humanoid onion karate instructor; Mooselini, a female moose driving instructor; Prince Fleaswallow, a Rastafarian frog who sells items at a flea market; and Cheap Cheap, a chicken cooking instructor.

The songs in the game are cleverly written, hilarious, catchy, and memorable. I bop my head every time I listen to any one of these songs. Heck, I chuckled at some of the lyrics, like the one in Stage 4: "The other day, I was called a little turkey. But I'm a chicken, got it? You beef jerky." The songs range from being taught karate, learning how to drive a car, baking a cake, and even racing to see who gets to use the bathroom first (I wish stuff like this can happen in real life). If anyone asks, the first stage (with Chop Chop Master Onion) is probably my favorite stage in the game.

PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm game where you have to press the buttons at the right time to create a beat, but you have to keep it in rhythm. There is a bar at the top of the screen that tells you which button(s) to press as the game alternates between the teacher and PaRappa. On the lower right screen, there is a meter called "U Rappin'" that judges your performance. The rankings go from Awful, Bad, Good, and Cool. If you do a good job, you'll remain on Good mode. If you press the buttons at the wrong time, you'll drop to Bad, then Awful, and once you reach Awful, or reach the end on either of the rankings, you will have to retry the stage.

You can free-style during gameplay, and if you're really good, you unlock Cool mode where the teacher leaves and you can rap on your own, but keep it in rhythm, otherwise it will reset to normal.

My biggest problem with the game is that the gameplay has not really aged well compared to today's rhythm games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band. You can never tell when you really hit the button(s) correctly, making it frustrating at times. And beware the fifth stage; you'll be seeing the fail screen a lot. Also, the game is really short that you can beat it in under one or two hours in one sitting. But to be honest, I didn't mind the length. I think the game is well-paced that it didn't have to be long.

I say check this game out at least, if you can get past its outdated gameplay. Rhythm games are not for everyone, I know that. I played the entire game with a friend one day and he said that while he liked the songs, he said the gameplay wasn't for him, which I was fine with. If you don't like rhythm games, stay away from it.