Parappa the Rapper

Originally posted on Facebook on 30 May 2021

Recently just played through Parappa the Rapper.

This is a game from 1996, so I guess it really is one of the first ever music games where there main gameplay is to press buttons to the rhythm. Are there any rhythm games that are older than Parappa? I don't know.

I like the silly visuals and cutscenes, it's all good fun stuff.

The game itself feels like it's a little too difficult to interpret how good you're doing while playing.

There is basically no feedback as to whether your timing is off, and it's kind of difficult to know if you're pressing buttons too early or too late. Sometimes it can feel like you've just hit everything perfectly, yet you're losing points and your ranking is dropping and you have no idea why the game didn't like it.

Interestingly, there is some kind of system where you can go off-script and earn bonus points for "freestyling", by pressing different buttons, or extra buttons or something like that. But I was having trouble enough just passing the levels normally, so I didn't really try messing with this.

My favourite music game series is still Rhythm Paradise by a long shot. It's not a fair comparison though since Parappa is so much older. But playing Parappa really made me appreciate just how good Rhythm Paradise truly is in comparison.

And also...the game is only six levels long...??? I didn't realise this was such a short game.

For comparison's sake, Rhythm Heaven games generally have 50 main levels, plus lots of bonus minigames and stuff. Parappa feels so tiny in comparison.

However I guess the freestyling system allows each level to be a bit more versatile and replayable? Maybe? Since in a Rhythm Paradise song, there is only ever one correct way to play.

Not so sure if that's how it works.

But anyway

The six levels are pretty fun, and pretty funny. I especially like level 2, the song about Parappa taking his driving test.

Yeah. I've always been curious about this game, but never really tried it until now. It's pretty interesting to have finally seen it! I like it, but I probably won't play it again.