Developer: NaNaOn-Sha Publisher: SCEA Release Date: Oct 31st, 1997 Platform: PlayStation

OVER TEN YEARS LATER AND YOU STILL GOTTA BELIEVE.

I found myself popping this classic in a couple of days ago, and to my surprise, I went back to it again and again, like no time has passed at all. This game is known as the muse for such series as Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. It sounds odd, I know, but not so much when you compare gameplay elements.

So how does this super awesome PS1 game stand up after twelve years? There’s only one way to find out.

PaRappa the Rapper was one of the first rhythm-based games released. After seemingly coming out of nowhere, it had taken Japan by storm almost overnight. The gameplay isn’t super complicated – think of the old SIMON setup. And if you don’t know what the hell that means then…shit, I’m old. What do you want?

Basically the game gives you a series of button presses that represent lyrics and motions. The objective is to mimic the game’s actions and timing and get a good rating. That’s it. If you rap awful, you’ll know it. If you throw in a little extra outside the game’s needs (but still keeping the beat and timing), then you rap cool – which is the shit (and the only way to see the alternate ending by the way).

And although the gameplay seems too straight forward, the game’s design and music added the real charm. The soundtrack was out of the norm for the late 90’s and the hand-drawn 2D paper-thin art style was a first. It’s still very cool that such a cool and original game was spawned from a series of well-implemented simple ideas. I was amazed how easily I got back into it after all this time. A well done game is always fun to play it seems.

There’s not a whole lot to say beyond this point. PaRappa has aged very well over the years. An inherent lack of shortcoming means that most people will appreciate what the game has to offer, no matter your age. The only people who won’t play are the people who hate the initial premise. And they are out there. Those soulless bastards. May they burn.

If you can find it buy it. It’s that good still.

Then:

Now: