Besides the fact that I have a hard time spelling "rhythm" (where are your vowels, man!), I've always been a huge fan of rhythm games. To me, music is always an integral part of the gameplay experience; not only does it set the mood it gives you a prompt to feel nostalgic if you listen to it outside of the game itself. To this day if I listen to Terra's Theme from Final Fantasy 6 I am taken back. Wistfully I start to recall my room at my dad's house, huddled in front of my small television and absorbing every small detail of that world. I can remember the way the air smelled that summer. I can remember the ambient noise of lawns being mowed outside, while I chose to stay indoors and play video games. I can remember my dad getting angry that I didn't want to play outside like a normal kid. When I hear a song from the Playstation 1 classic Parappa The Rapper, I am taken back to when I got my first job, and my first paycheck. I'd go to the game store attached to the nearby Hollywood video and play demos for hours, debating what I should spend my hard earned retail-slaving cash on. I didn't own a Playstation at the time (I was an N64 guy) but I played a hell of a lot of Parappa at those demo stations. I loved the art style - so clever and unique for its time. The music was catchy and full of humor. It was just so completely different from any other game on the system at the time.
Now that I've aged a bit I've started amassing all the old games I never got to own. When I saw that Parappa was being released for the PSP in honor of its 10 year anniversary, I absolutely had to add it to my library. The game is a faithful port - nothing has really changed except for the screen aspect ratio (the PSP being in widescreen). You can do some wireless multiplayer and send a demo to a friend, but the core concept is still the same as it was 10 years ago. You are a cute anthropomorphic puppy-child who finds ways to achieve goals in life through rap. Confidence for talking to girls, a driver's license... all these things in life can be yours as long as you know how to freak and flow at the same time. The controls are simple: press the button displayed on the screen at the proper time to match whoever you are rapping with. Each button is mapped to a different word in the verse. If you press them out of order or too fast, you mess up your song. The more you mess up, the more at risk you are of failing the song. It's a proto-rhythm game that set the standard for Harmonix and Konami to revolutionize the genre with their respective titles.
I am returning to this game after playing through Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Frequency, DDR and Donkey Konga. Each of these games have similar play mechanics: the button you need to press is mapped to an icon and it floats across the screen. Hit the button at the right time to the beat of the music in order to win. So why is Parappa all of a sudden so maddeningly difficult? It literally took me three or four tries to get past the intro level.
I had to re-map my thinking of how the rhythm game works. I was used to a more logical approach, as Harmonix utilizes in Rock Band. The "notes" on the screen are mapped to sounds that make sense. Move your fingers to a lower button on the fretboard of your guitar and it usually makes a lower sound. Hit the red drum pad mapped to the snare, and you make a snare drum sound. In Parappa it's completely different. You have no idea what Parappa is going to say until you press the button (or if you are familiar with the song already). This was very disjointed for me. I always pressed the buttons too soon or too late, causing Parappa to sound like some sort of anthropomorphic puppy-child suffering from Tourette's.
I found it fascinating that my mind couldn't figure it out. "I am good at video games!" I told myself. "I even run a website about them!" This didn't bolster my confidence by any means. Master Chop Chop Onion Head Guy Man Dude kept telling me that I suck and should probably die in a fire (I am paraphrasing, here). It eventually required me failing a verse, and then learning from that failure. There was almost literally no way for me to predict the notes coming, and they just came too fast for my mind to process. This trial and error style of game play proved frustrating, but isn't that what video game nostalgia is all about? We often return to games we used to love as kids and find them vastly more difficult than we remember. We each have our own individual time line of growth as gamers, and going back to the front of the line can be fascinating, maddening and ultimately rewarding. It's like having a high school diploma, going to college, graduating college, and then trying to go back and taking a high school algebra class. Except a lot more fun. Unless you really like math, I guess.
Parappa the Rapper for the PSP stays true to the original for better or worse. I still get that swelling feeling of nostalgia when I hear the soundtrack and I enjoy having the ability to look back every once in a while at what used to be the pinnacle of innovation and quirky, different game play. If you've never played Parappa and are a fan of the current lineup of games that make you press a button in time with music, grab this version. It's neat to see where it all came from.
Score: 3/5 A classic that's interesting to nostalgia fans, but falls short of current-gen rhythm games.
It's your favorite part of the week when I let you know what all the best people in the world are doing. They're talking in our forums, of course! But what are they talking about? Let's take a look-see!
posted by Mike on August 27, 2007 11:02 AM in Games
I'm going to take it upon myself to be The Weekly Geek's official SquareEnix Correspondent today. Seeing the trailer for FFVII: Crisis Core this morning may have just sealed the deal - I think this game justifies me making my first Sony purchase since the PS2. If you can get past the horrible Japanese pop song littering this almost 5 minute video, Crisis Core is destined to be the most beautiful entry in the FFVII series, handheld or otherwise.
Couple that with the equally incredible Final Fantasy Tactics sequel also coming to the PSP (trailer after the jump) and any Final Fantasy fan would have an extremely hard time convincing themselves not to buy a PSP now.
I got into God Of War a bit late in the game, I was turned off by the media blitz Spike TV had for the first in the series, as Spike TV sucks. Why should I trust their opinion? Turns out I was wrong (Never! Gasp!) and God of War is pretty freaking brilliant. God of War for the PSP follows the tradition of excellence with a game that feels almost exactly like it is on the PS2. The graphics, sound, gameplay, everything is on par with the PS2 titles, running at a solid frame rate, never slowing down, and always keeping that visceral ass-kicking feeling through the levels. Damn it, it's more God of War and that's always good. The PSP is a viable system now? What the hell!
I never played much of the original Final Fantasy Tactics. I remember everyone telling me how great it was, and when it finally came out as a greatest hits edition for the Playstation, I ran down to the store and snatched it up. Something about the load times and the fact that I would have to spend a LOT of time in game in order to get anywhere just made me depressed. I traded it in for something. I don't remember what. Probably something horrible. Then, when Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced came out, I thought I'd give the series another shot, this time on a portable system. Man, what a difference. I spent upwards of 300 hours in FFTA, and loved every minute of it. Now that the original Tactics is coming out for the PSP, I'm a bit excited to come back to the game in a new, shinier portable format. After playing it at E3, that's basically just what it is. There's a couple new features like new cutscenes, new jobs, and the addition of Balthier from FF12 (!), but for the most part it's just a redesign on a portable system. And that's ok by me.
The PSP is starting to offer more and more reasons for purchase, but still no "killer app". Crush, from Sega, is a brand new puzzle/platform game that just adds to the multitude of unique and compelling titles for Sony's maligned handheld. Similar to Super Paper Mario, Crush features a 2d-to-3d style of game play that is so unique and refreshing (yes, unique even being so similar to Super Paper Mario) you'd be crazy not to pick it up. That is, if you had a PSP. The storyline is superficial but endearing, you are an insomniac seeking help and get plugged into a crazy dream machine called Crush. The atmosphere is eerie, like something out of Psychonauts or Invader ZIM, and the point is to collect enough marbles hidden around a level in order to advance to the next. You rotate the screen in order to get a better angle and "crush" back to 2d to access areas you wouldn't normally be able to access. It almost feels like a compilation of puzzles found in a dungeon in any given Zelda game - which is a good thing. No, it's a GREAT thing.
If booting up your PSP doesn't depress you like it does me, read on for the full review and find out exactly why you should pick up this gem.
Admittedly, I am not a big sports game fan. While I love a good round of Wii Tennis, or some Mario Golf, I am not the dude who waits in line for the next Madden title every single year. The mark of a great sports game for me is one that actually makes me want to play it. Prostroke Golf for the PSP features a fairly realistic golf experience, complete with a course editor and live commentary. It's from a small developer, which shows in its graphical capabilities, long load times and lack of polish, but I believe that it can offer true golf fans something new on the go. As long as you actually own a PSP.
posted by Chris on January 11, 2007 3:00 PM in Games
One of my favorite Dreamcast titles is getting the portable treatment soon with the announcement of Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars for the Playstation Portable. From today's press release:
All-new twists have been included in the classic Crazy Taxi experience including for the first time, multiplayer modes that allow two people to play cooperatively or competitively. Now gamers can relive the addictive, action packed gameplay of the original Dreamcast games, Crazy Taxi and Crazy Taxi 2, on the go.
I love the arcade-style action of Crazy Taxi and the new multiplayer sounds pretty neat. Too bad no one I know in a 50 mile radius owns a PSP. Hit the jump for the full release.
Overview:Finally I can beat up aliens, devils and men in bee suits with my magical space guitar on the go. Koei is releasing this PSP version of the original Gitaroo Man for the Playstation 2 (a cult hit sort of rare game, you know the type), with an all-new duet mode and two extra songs. Gitaroo Man is a rhythm game along the lines of Guitar Hero, Amplitude/Frequency and DDR, with a wacky anime flavor. You trace a moving line with the analog nub (or "nubbin" as I like to call it) and press the circle button to the beat indicated. Occasionally you change to a more DDR-style mode using all of the face buttons, but the formula stays generally the same. 10 songs in all, but is this port enough to satiate your need for portable button-pushing? Is it even worth a purchase? Read on.
Overview:
Mercury Meltdown is the latest in a series of puzzle games by Ignition Entertainment for the PSP. You control a board much like in Super Monkey Ball, and a little blob of mercury rolls around on it. You must take your blob to the end of the level, solving whatever puzzles are in your way, and retaining a pre-specified amount of your mercury. You can change colors, shape, forms, split in two, split in many parts, have parts fall off and get attacked by creatures that like to eat the liquid metal. It's a puzzle game that feels like The Incredible Machine meets Monkey Ball meets Marble Madness, but there's so much more. In a time where great PSP games are few and far between, Mercury Meltdown is a welcome sight. Click the jump for the full review.
posted by Chris on August 14, 2006 6:44 AM in Podcast
#532: Extreme Gardening
This week The Geek and Frodo welcome special guest Rikki Simons, and proceed to discuss garden trowels, MMORPGs, the strangeness of Second Life, Penny Arcade Expo, Xbox live, Sony blunders and they only make ONE Wii joke. We apologize. Here are some show notes:
posted by Chris on April 3, 2006 7:59 AM in Podcast
This week The Geek, White Mage, Nevery and Frodo talk about the the announcement of Zelda DS, Tetris DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Revolution news, DS Lite and THINGS. Oh, so many things. April Fool's Jokes. Bah. Also Frodo bought a PSP and now is not in possession of a soul. Here are some show notes.
posted by Chris on February 12, 2006 11:09 PM in Podcast
This week, The Geek, Frodo, White Mage and Nevery discuss PSP porn, the original XBOX price hike, a new iPod, weird Disney characters coming back to life and boners. BONERS! Have some delicious show notes:
posted by Chris on December 4, 2005 5:07 PM in Podcast
This week, The Geek, Frodo and White Mage discuss more Xbox 360 stuff, Animal Crossing Wild World, Nintendo DS wifi, new Final Fantasy beverages, online gaming communities and Sony generally being retarded. Also The Geek discusses The Flash and cusses a lot (don't worry, it's bleeped for all you youngins out there).
The Weekly Geek is done on a zero budget, with no funding other than ads and merch. Help support the site with a donation! Consider it like tipping your waiter. We also give gifts for larger donations.
Every once in a while, we'll actually publish some game news. After reading that GC 2008 in Leipzig, Germany had 203,000 attendees this year, I thought this should be one of those times. 
The PSP is starting to offer more and more reasons for purchase, but still no "killer app". Crush, from Sega, is a brand new puzzle/platform game that just adds to the multitude of unique and compelling titles for Sony's maligned handheld. Similar to Super Paper Mario, Crush features a 2d-to-3d style of game play that is so unique and refreshing (yes, unique even being so similar to Super Paper Mario) you'd be crazy not to pick it up. That is, if you had a PSP. The storyline is superficial but endearing, you are an insomniac seeking help and get plugged into a crazy dream machine called Crush. The atmosphere is eerie, like something out of Psychonauts or Invader ZIM, and the point is to collect enough marbles hidden around a level in order to advance to the next. You rotate the screen in order to get a better angle and "crush" back to 2d to access areas you wouldn't normally be able to access. It almost feels like a compilation of puzzles found in a dungeon in any given Zelda game - which is a good thing. No, it's a GREAT thing.
Admittedly, I am not a big sports game fan. While I love a good round of Wii Tennis, or some Mario Golf, I am not the dude who waits in line for the next Madden title every single year. The mark of a great sports game for me is one that actually makes me want to play it. Prostroke Golf for the PSP features a fairly realistic golf experience, complete with a course editor and live commentary. It's from a small developer, which shows in its graphical capabilities, long load times and lack of polish, but I believe that it can offer true golf fans something new on the go. As long as you actually own a PSP. 
One of my favorite Dreamcast titles is getting the portable treatment soon with the announcement of Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars for the Playstation Portable. From today's press release:
