Patapon is game which is hard to describe. You assume the role of the Mighty Patapon, the god to the Patapon creatures. By banging your drum, you energize them to move, attack, defend, etc. The simplistic gameplay and addictive beats will keep you coming back for more. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Patapon for the PSP:

Presentation and Graphics: Patapon has a cartoon style, very much like that of LocoRoco. Each stage sports a minimalistic yet colorful background where your Patapons travel to meet their goals. Each race of Patapons you unlock have their distinct look and feel, as do the immense boss characters. Very pleasing to the eye, you almost feel like you’re playing an anime cartoon. 9 of 10

Sound and Music: It’s a rhythm game, so you expect some good tunes. Patapon delivers with a slew of catchy beats for each drum pattern you play. Listening to your Patapon creatures repeat the order, cheer for victories and cry for defeats really draws you in. 9 of 10

Gameplay: What starts off as simplistic becomes a very deep gameplay experience. The Patapon creatures have been driven from their lands by the evil Zigoton tribe and the Mighty Patapon and his drum beats have vanished. As the game begins, you, as the Mighty Patapon, revive your tribes by banging your drum, invigorating them to fight back. You have to keep with the Pulse of the Earth, a four beat measure, to convince your tribe to perform an action. As you press out the four beat drum sequence, your Patapons will repeat it in their native song. As soon as they repeat the line, you proceed into your next sequence. By keeping the beat, your combo meter will increase until you reach Fever Mode. During Fever, your Patapons will move faster, fire weapons further and inflict more damage.

As you begin the game, you find two of your missing drums, which allows you to move and attack. As you progress through the game, you recover move missing drums to add to your arsenal. You’ll learn drum patterns to defend and retreat, as well as receive JuJu. This special drum maneuver allows you to perform acts of the gods, such as making it rain to cross a hot desert.

Not far into the game, you realize how much strategy is involved. In any stage, you can use three battalions of Patapon creatures, with five total types available throughout the game. You need to determine which Patapon groups work best with your style and for the mission at hand. You also need to outfit your troops with the best weapons available, which you pick up from defeated enemies in missions.

Outside of the standard missions, Patapon features some of the most unique mini-games on the PSP. You can blow a horn to make a tree dance, scratch the toes of a baby mountain, or chop vegetables for a Patapon stew. All of these mini games require perfect rhythm to obtain the most and best items as reward. You can use these items, as well as those collected from missions, to birth more and new Patapon creatures at the Tree of Life. You’ll find yourself playing the mini games over and over and replaying certain missions both for the fun of it and to obtain the proper items and Ka-Ching (the Patapon currency) to bolster your forces. 9.5 of 10

Lasting Appeal: Patapon is by far one of the most addicting games you’ll play this year. From the music to the gameplay, you’re drawn in and keep coming back for more. The game’s 20+ missions have enough to keep you satisfied for many an hour. 10 of 10

Final Word: For $20, this is absolutely the best buy on the PSP. It’d put it in the top 5 PSP games of all time, and it will remain there even after God of War is released. If you own a PSP, Patapon is a must buy. If you don’t own a PSP, Patapon is more than enough reason to pick one up.

Overall: 9.5 of 10

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