After reading all the hype on this game on the Net i decided to give in 
and check it out.  Well, let me tell you i was not disappointed.  i 
knew it was a simplistic game aimed at kids but that the gameplay and 
subject matter were goofy enough to delight all ages.  In a sentence: 
It's a game about a dog who wants to be a rap star.

The story follows young Parappa as he must attain new skills (through 
rap) in order to win the heart of his girl Sunny Funny.  Each level is 
introduced with a cute animated story that leads to the 
rapping/gameplay.  In the actual gameplay, you are listening to a rap-
master who will throw out a rap that you have to repeat using the 
control pad.  As you try to follow the rap, a meter indicates how well 
you are following.  If it dips too low you have to start that level 
over.  If you are good enough, you will proceed to the next level.  
Ultimately, there are six stages with a hidden 7th stage.

The actual gameplay consists of a challenge-response type of thing.  
The rap master will hit you with a rap usually lasting 4 beats (later 
up to two bars in length) that you need to repeat using the control 
pad.  The way this works is that as the master raps, there is a line 
representing a musical staff at the top of the screen.  Just like notes 
on a musical staff, symbols appear on the "staff" representing the 
different buttons on the control pad.  Then you need to play back the 
rap just like playing back music,.except that instead of actual music 
notes, the symbols represent different words/samples.

Up to six different buttons can be used for a given rap: triangle, 
circle, square, X, and left & right (the "shoulder" buttons).  In the 
early stages, the notes you have to hit are usually on accented 
word/note/syllable boundaries.  E.g. the rap master will say simply 
"punch, kick, block" and each word will be a button you have to hit.  
Later, it gets more difficult in that the "notes" don't always fall on 
obvious word/syllable boundaries.  At that point, you need to rely on 
visual as well as audio cues.  The notes on the staff flash in sequence 
as the master is rapping and you will need to watch exactly where the 
notes fall in time.

That's basically it!  It's a simple game that younger kids can play and 
understand, yet one interesting and amusing enough to hook older folks.  
I should point out that there are two difficulty settings for the game, 
regular and easy.  The easy setting is supposed to be very forgiving 
for younger kids.

The intro stories, and the game in general, are portrayed in a 3D 
cartoon style where everything seems to be 3D except the main 
characters who are 2D.  So it leads to the interesting visual that when 
they turn sideways they are paper thin like paper dolls.  The visual 
designer responsible for the look of the game is Rodney Alan Greenblat 
who has designed some far-out games for kids on the Mac (like Rodney's 
Wonder Window).

Part of the appeal is the goofy raps.  The lyrics are indescribably 
silly and the subject matter is completely off-the-wall.  One notorious 
level has you rapping in order to get to use the bathroom.  Another 
thing is the catchy music.  I don't know how they did it, but the music 
is not all that annoying on repeated play.

So how does it stack up?

Graphics: 8/10
My rating is based mostly on the look of the game and not anything that 
is stretching the PSX graphics engine to the limit.  Again, this game 
has a very unique visual style that you have to see to appreciate.

Sound: 8/10
Here again, there's not anything technically great going on and i'm 
rating content.  For this game 90% of the sound is the music, which is 
great.  Very catchy songs that you will be humming for days to come.

Gameplay: 6/10
This is my adult rating.  I managed to finish the game in about 3-4 
hours of non-steady play.  It's all simply pushing buttons to match the 
rap master.  Remember, it's designed at kids.

Replay: 2/10
To get to the bonus, hidden stage you have to go back through all the 
finished stages and attain the "cool" rating on the rap meter.  You 
can't do this until you finish a level and the way you get it is be 
rapping freestyle, which means you embellish the rap with your own 
style (read: additional button hits).  So if the master prompts you 
with "punch, kick, block" you might respond "p-p-punch k-kick, block 
block".  So basically, you're not strictly tied to what the master is 
prompting and at some point he/she will let you truly freestyle by just 
letting you rap without his/her prompting.

It seems like a lot of work to get the cool rating on all the levels 
and the scoop on the Net is that the bonus level ain't too spectacular.  
I haven't bothered to try.

Overall: 9/10
You gotta believe!

Let's see more PSX games targeted at the younger audience!

Tim K