Um Jammer Lammy [E]

by Sony Computer Entertainment

Product Details

• ASIN: B00001OHC1
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches ; 6.1 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,058 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Editorial Review

Rock out with this innovative sequel to the hip-hop rhythm game Parappa the Rapper. This time the action centers around Lammy, a grunge guitar-playing lamb with her own rock band. Lammy is late for her latest performance with Milkcan, the band she fronts with kooky sidekicks Katy Kat and Masan. To get to the gig, Lammy must successfully strum her guitar through seven cartoon levels. Each level contains a unique music video that requires superior guitar-playing skills. Lammy must master multiple styles of music, including heavy metal, pop, and punk. Superior musicians will be rewarded with a special remix mode, which adds a special rap by well-known game character Parappa.

With unique animation from acclaimed cartoonist Rodney Alan Greenblatt and catchy tunes from Masaya Matsuura, Um Jammer Lammy is one of the most innovative games to ever appear on the PlayStation. --Brett Atwood

Pros:

• Kid-friendly game theme
• Catchy music
• High repeat play value

Cons:

• May appeal to only a narrow segment of gamers

GameSpot Review

Since the release of Parappa the Rapper, the "music game" genre has gotten quite a bit larger. Now, along with Parappa, we've got dancing games, games where you play a piano-like instrument, a guitar-playing game, and there are still many more on the way. But while advancements have been made, nothing has really captured the charm of Parappa. Enter Um Jammer Lammy, Sony's follow-up to Parappa the Rapper. While the game isn't a strict sequel, it does take place in the same universe, with the same graphics style and nearly identical gameplay.

Lammy is a paper-thin lamb that plays guitar for Milkcan, a rock band that also features Katy Kat (of Parappa fame) on bass and lead vocals, and Mah-san, the short-fused mumbling drummer. The game takes place during the day of Milkcan's biggest gig, and Lammy is running terribly late. While I'll keep the insanely surreal storyline a secret, I will say that you'll be using your guitar skills to put out a fire, put babies to sleep, fly a plane, operate a chainsaw, and even escape from Hell. The gameplay is almost totally identical to Parappa, though there are a few enhancements. For starters, you can use the L2 and R2 buttons for pitch bending. Also, as you progress through the story, you earn different effects, such as a harmonizer, a wah-wah, and distortion. These can be toggled on and off with the select button.

Once you've completed the game's main story, you can access a few different versions of the game from the stage select menu. The most noteworthy of these new levels are the Parappa levels, which let you go back through the game as Parappa. In this mode, the songs are remixed (to better fit Parappa's watertight flow) and you'll, of course, be rapping instead of playing the guitar. The cutscenes in this mode are more afterthoughts than actual cohesively structured plots, but they're still a blast to watch. You'll also unlock various two-player options. In two-player mode, you and a friend (or, if you're lonely, a computer opponent) trade lines in a battle for points. You can either play Lammy vs. Lammy or Lammy vs. Parappa.

The game's surreal storyline has remained intact from the Japanese release, but it has been localized a little bit. In the original version of the game, the second to last level had you battling for your life in Hell. Here in the States, Hell has been replaced by a desert island, and the FMV segments surrounding the level have been altered. It doesn't really affect the game too much, since much of the game doesn't make a lot of sense to begin with. Also, the song that played over the credits in the Japanese version has lyrics in the domestic release.

The question that keeps coming up is whether Lammy is better than Parappa. When you look at Lammy's lack of originality in the gameplay department, and the songs, which simply aren't as catchy as Parappa's raps, Parappa comes out on top with ease. But the additional levels, the two-player option, and the inclusion of the Parappa remixes in Um Jammer Lammy add a value that Parappa the Rapper simply can't touch. But keep in mind that the game doesn't stray far from the formula, and the game's difficulty will put off those who never mastered Parappa. So, to put it another way, if you didn't play Parappa to death and love every minute of it, you might as well skip out on Um Jammer Lammy. --Jeff Gerstmann
--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.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ummm...Why Is This Game So Hard?, September 23, 2000

By 

William M. Rand (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Um Jammer Lammy [E] (Video Game)

This game is a great attempt at making a truly innovative and unique game. Of course it's a sequel to Pa Rappa the Rapper and if you liked that first game this sequel is worth it, it adds some new features and makes for an interesting game. However that being said I found this game just too hard. I played it for about two weeks and then just gave up in frustration.

Before I start examining the game let me explain it a little since it's so different from any other game. Basically you are Jammer Lammy and you're trying to get to a concert in time to play with your band. To get there you have to play your guitar at a various set of places along the way. Each of these times you play your control paddle like it was a guitar trying to follow along with a bouncing ball like display. Of course you can improvise and change the style quite a bit and if you're music still works you should still get the same amount of points if not bonus points. If you beat a boss then you get an additional item to modify the sound of your guitar. There are also Vs. modes and Cooperative modes so you can play with a partner (either the computer or a real human).

Anyway, during the time I played the game I was able to get to the second to the last stage of the single player game and was also able to play and unlock several of the vs. stages, and I probably got around 20-30 hours of game time out of it, but it just got boring as I kept pounding my head up against the wall. My biggest complaint is that I couldn't tell why I was getting bad scores, there seemed to be almost no difference between the times I got good points and the times I got bad points, so I didn't even know how to improve.

Nonetheless this game has some great sound, and interesting graphics. The graphics are 2-dimensional but move 3-dimensionally so all of the characters look like paper cut outs. The sound is pretty good and despite having heard some of the songs dozens of times they never really started to irritate me. The control is pretty good I guess but as I mentioned above at times I couldn't understand why I was losing. Oh one final note of warning this game is very surreal there are things that simply don't make sense but it's kind of cool in a way too.

I'd recommend this game to anyone who played the first one, or anyone who likes a really challenging game. Moreover if you want to try an innovative puzzle game that is quite a bit different this is a good game to get.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew playing a lamb could be so much fun?, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Um Jammer Lammy [E] (Video Game)

All the originality and fun that made Parappa the Rapper such a hit is evident in Um Jammer Lammy (with some minor improvements, even!). Catchy and funny songs; amazing, wacky animation; challenging gameplay (you thought Parappa was tough?...you're in trouble); great replay value (the new head-to-head and cooperative play modes make this more of a party game than its predecessor); and lots of fun. My sister and I just love playing this game together. Perfect family game. Perfect party game. And you get to play as a LAMB, dangit. Who could ask for anything more?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars UmLammy Jammer proves guitar can be more fun than rapping, December 8, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Um Jammer Lammy [E] (Video Game)

For those who have played parapper and even those who haven't, this game is outrageous. Lammy is an amazing trip of bizarre lyrics and challenging gameplay! Unlocking the cool codes and new levels of parapper are the best part. Lock yourselves in for a few days and get jammin! The japanese translations and storyline exceed anything you might expect. Keep playing to get to a cool rating on each level.