PaRappa the Rapper

"You gotta do what? I GOTTA BELIEVE!"

Parappa the Rapper is essentially the very first actual rhythm game. While music had been incorporated into gameplay in a couple titles prior, Parappa marks the first fully-fledged game about music. It may seem rudimentary by today's standards, with the only mechanic being matching button prompts to the beat—but this was extremely novel in 1996. I had a blast with all the goofy raps, and loved all the surreal and uncanny looking early CG cutscenes. Probably the most unique aspect is the ability to add your own freestyle flows to the raps. You have to rap above and beyond who you're battling by adding your own flare if you wanna get the coveted "cool" rating. It's also genuinely hilarious. Each button has assigned vocals for each bar, and you can actually press them in any order you'd like to rap absolute nonsense. Getting the timing even slightly off will have Parappa rushing his lines and slurring his raps together. Pressing any button that's not currently on the board will have Parappa insert an unexpected "uh oh!" into the middle of the rap, which never failed to have me busting up in laughter. Also, Parappa rap battling his way to the front of the bathroom line is absolute cinema.

My only problem (a big one, mind you) is about halfway through the game when you encounter Cheap Cheap the chicken chef... I consider myself a musically inclined person. I had no trouble with any of the songs before or after Cheap Cheap...BUT THAT CHICKEN. There is something completely busted about that rap. The timing is COMPLETELY off. I had my notes PERFECTLY in rhythm, only to plummet to an "awful" rating in only a matter of lines. I tried pressing them early, I tried pressing them late—absolutely nothing was working. It was finally after probably 25+ tries, I somehow miraculously button mashed my way to a passable rating so I could continue the game. I saved the replay and listened to the ABOMINABLE CACOPHONY of sounds that somehow let me beat the level and...let's just say if I ever hear "crack crack crack the egg into the bowl!" ever again I might actually crash out.

But other than that, I had a blast!

(Also, it rocked my world learning that the director Masaya Matsuura went on to lead development of the Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop games on DS. Those games were completely formative to my youth!)

Full of bangers and Great vibes


Very hard!!!

Before Beat Saber and Guitar Hero, we had Parrappa. The rhythm game OG. "Ya gotta belieeeeve!"

this game is a classic! All of the songs used in this game were created by the team there's some lovable lyrics to sing along to. Games like this were ahead of their time in the rhythm genre. it's fun to replay levels to get the "cool" rating for an awesome freestyle attempt. it's very precise so don't get upset if you're struggling with a song. just keep trying and enjoy the game. kick punch it's all in the mind!

step on the gas

Hey a seven ain't bad