Parappa The Rapper 2 Micro Review

Parappa the Rappa 2 was a pretty highly regarded cult game, and it's not without good reason. It's got a fun art style and catchy music, with a decent rhythm game mechanic. And it recently got a PS2-to-PS4 re-release, complete with trophies, but maybe there's a reason we didn't see more Parappa in its heyday.

The PS2-to-PS4 ports are a strange bunch. They're not "full HD" remakes in the sense that they got overhauled to take advantage of modern tech, but more like a re-targeted port that runs at 1080p(ish) and 30-60fps(ish). Which means visually, it's like a really fancy up-scaling, has loading screens, and pretends to have memory cards to save to.

Parappa the Rappa 2 is short. I forgot just how short. If you skip all the cutscenes, you can get through the grand total of 8 songs in like... 45 minutes. 45 minutes of okay-ish rhythm game. Fun, sure. Bright, colorful, quirky. But 45 minutes and I was finished. If I went through 2 more playthroughs on higher difficulties, what, 2.5 hours total? It sure felt longer when I was younger. Maybe I was bad at it in my youth and I'm better now. But unlike fighting games or other rhythm games from the era, there's no other characters to play, just the difficulties. Childhood seemed so great.

I don't think I can really recommend Parappa's PS4 port to anyone who doesn't have fond memories of playing the original PS2 version when they were young. It didn't age particularly well, and feels way too short, even by like "modern short indie game standards". If you can get it for a couple bucks, then sure, why not. But it's not something you should feel bad about skipping out on.
 
-Janette G
 
Parappa the Rappa 2 is available on the PSN for PS4 now

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Graphics: OKAY
Sound: OKAY
Gameplay: QUESTIONABLE
Value: QUESTIONABLE
 
OVERALL: OKAY-

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