Parappa the Rapper

by Sony

Product Details

• ASIN: B00002STOT
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,997 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com

This entirely unique and thoroughly entertaining game, co-developed in Japan and the U.S., features a hip-hop puppy animated in a whimsical, paper-thin style. PaRappa hopes to win the heart of Sunny, the object of his affection, by holding his own with an increasingly adept group of rap masters.

Players control PaRappa by rhythmically pressing the controller's buttons to repeat bits of rap songs in the proper order. The tunes and lyrics are catchy and clever, and the gameplay is completely original. Suitable for children and appealing to adults, this is a must-have disc for PlayStation owners who want to smile. Woven into the storyline are positive messages about self-confidence and respect. Highly skilled players can try their hand at free-form rapping to gain extra points. While this game has inspired sequels and copycats, it still holds up against the test of time. --Jeff Young

Pros:

• Lighthearted, zany graphics
• Clever songs and positive messages for children

Cons:

• Can be frustrating for those without rhythm

GameSpot Review

Once in a while, a company takes a risk and designs something unlike anything seen before. In video gaming's early days, it happened with almost every other game released. By the 8-bit era, originality was something to look for but not expect with any great regularity. Today, unless you deem 3D versions of old games to be "new," it's been some time since an original idea appeared. But even with a monthly average of 30 games being released, it's a testament to unique design that PaRappa the Rapper, an underpromoted release by Sony of Japan, became a top seller in the Japanese market.

PaRappa the Rapper is an interactive cartoon about a shy puppy named (oddly enough) PaRappa, who has a crush on the beautiful Sunny but doesn't know if he has the courage or power to impress her. Armed with the motto "I gotta believe!" and prodigious rapping skills, PaRappa sets about to get the girl in a world of animated characters, 3D backgrounds, and English-language voices. And despite the fact that no one gets decapitated, the game's still fun.

The premise unfolds bizarrely: Level one begins with an onion-headed karate master rapping in a dojo; you respond to the teacher's simple rap by quickly pressing controller buttons to match the onscreen cues and rhythm of the song. To complete the stage, you'll watch for the cued phrases and repeat them with the indicated buttons. In between raps, the teacher "drops knowledge," giving you a quick breather before moving on to more complicated patterns and harder stages.

Each of the game's four teachers specializes in a distinctive rap style, so you'll learn to kick it in reggae, house, pop, and "old school" during the game. (No, there's no "gangsta rap" level, so parents needn't fear little Johnny running up on the one-time with a sawed-off shotgun, killing 40s, or sparking blunts.) The levels that follow have you rap with a female moose driving instructor in a car, learn about the flea market from a Rastafarian frog, and bake a cake with a nasty-voiced chicken. After eating the cake and driving Sunny home, PaRappa goes up against his teachers in a race to see which rap master can use a one-seater gas station bathroom. Post-relief, it's time to drop "phat" rhymes for an audience and flex a little lyrical muscle.

Once you've completed each stage with stringent button-tapping, you can go back and show off. If you really strut your stuff, your teacher goes completely ape and destroys or abandons the screen while you freestyle. If you do that, you earn a crown for completing the stage.

While the gameplay is original, it's not going to win awards from fans of intense fighting and first-person racing games. The graphics and audio, however, just might: All of PaRappa's characters are comically animated paper dolls moving against colorful 3D backdrops, a simplistic and charming visual design that never would have worked but for the game's theme and some brilliant camera motion. While you're playing, you can barely focus on the graphics while watching the top of the screen for appropriate joypad commands, and when watching other people play, you're entirely drawn to the continuous background movement. The music is clear, catchy, and funny, and the voice samples memorable. Prerendered cutscenes provide continuity for the storyline between levels, and the opening is one of the weirdest in recent memory. Also of note, the rapping is surprisingly credible - there isn't a wack MC in the bunch (although even skilled PaRappers will find their delivery occasionally stuttered).

PaRappa is undeniably cute and hip - the ideal PlayStation mascot in that he's so universally acceptable and nonthreatening. Many have purchased PlayStations solely on the basis of seeing PaRappa, justifying their purchases as toys their families could enjoy. For the record, chicks dig PaRappa too, so if having a cute game means you can convince your otherwise game-loathing girlfriend to pick up a controller, "it's all good." --Jer Horwitz
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parappatastic, October 14, 2000

By 

Michelle White (Michigan City, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Parappa the Rapper (Video Game)

This game is pretty simple to figure out, and for a person that does not get in to games that feature explosions, shooting, and other usually violent action, I thought it was great fun. The characters are cute, the words are catchy, and I found myself hooked on this game! It is good fun for any age. I am 31, and my neice, 13, likes it as much as I do.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Gotta Believe!, November 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Parappa the Rapper (Video Game)

This game is SO MUCH FUN. You rap your way through an adventure/ love story. You are a cute/ hip dog, trying to win the love of Daisy. You learn to drive, bake a cake, karate, and sell merchandise by rapping. You even have to rap well to use the bathroom. Creativity is rewarded. I have yet to meet someone who has not LOVED this game!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest music game ever?, March 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Parappa the Rapper (Video Game)

Wow, there aren't enough words to express how fun this game is. Interesting graphics, funky rhythms, catchy tunes (from rap, hip hop, to even reggae), a hip hop lovers dream. its a cool game thats worth a purchase, but don't go for the sequel cause its too weird and not too fun.