PaRappa the Rapper 2

PaRappa the Rapper 2
Developer(s)	NanaOn-Sha
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Designer(s)	Masaya Matsuura
Artist(s)	Rodney Greenblat
Writer(s)	Gabin Ito
Composer(s)	Masaya Matsuura Yoshihisa Suzuki
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4
Release date(s)	‹See Tfd› JP: August 30, 2001 NA: January 21, 2002 EU: April 5, 2002
Genre(s)	Rhythm
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

PaRappa the Rapper 2 (パラッパラッパー2, Parappa Rappā Tsū) is a rhythm action video game published by Sony Computer Entertainment and developed by NanaOn-Sha for the PlayStation 2. The game is the third and final title in the PaRappa the Rapper series following UmJammer Lammy. On December 2015, the game was made available for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network.^[1]

Gameplay

Gameplay follows that of its predecessors, in which the player must press buttons to make Parappa rap in response to a teacher's lyrics. Players earn points and progress by rapping in time to the music and maintaining a Good rating through to the end of each level. By successfully improvising raps, the player can obtain a Cool rating, during which Parappa will be given the chance to rap freestyle by himself. If the player performs badly, however, they will drop down a rating to Bad and Awful, with the player losing if they drop below Awful or end the song with a Bad or Awful rating. PaRappa 2 features some tweaks to the gameplay, as some of the teacher's lyrics may change based on the player's performance. For example, the lyrics may become simpler if the player is struggling, or become tougher if they perform well.

After clearing two stages in a row, players can participate in a minigame where they must hit targets held out by Chop Chop Master Onion's Tamanegi students, earning bonus points which are added onto the previous level's score. Clearing each level with a Cool rating unlocks music tracks that can be listened to after completing the game. Each time the player clears the game, the color of Parappa's hat changes from blue, to pink, to yellow, with each hat remixing the lines in each level. In addition to the single player campaign, the game features a two-player Vs. Mode, in which players are given a line to rap to, which they must improve upon by freestyling better than their opponent.

Region differences

Similar to UmJammer Lammy, the North American release of Parappa the Rapper 2 features some censorship when compared to the Japanese and PAL versions of the game, replacing lyrics referring to alcohol and religion in order to ensure an E rating from the ESRB.

In Japan, McDonald's released a demo disc alongside its Happy Meal, containing a demo of the first level modelled after a McDonald's restaurant, alongside a demo of Pipo Saru 2001.^[2]

Plot

Parappa (Dred Foxx), having won a 100 years' supply of instant noodle products, has grown sick of eating nothing but noodles for every meal every single day. When Parappa complains about being served noodles by his crush, Sunny Funny (Lea Alomar), he becomes shocked when she calls him a baby, causing him to question his own maturity. When Parappa and his friend P.J. Berri go to eat at Beard Burger instead, they learn that a mysterious phenomenon is turning all the food in town into noodles. As Parappa and Sunny's respective fathers, Papa Parappa and General Potter, try to develop an invention that can stop the noodles, they inadvertently shrink themselves and everyone else in the process, but they are soon helped out by the Guru Ant and return to normal size. After undergoing army training under Instructor Moosesha, Parappa helps rescue a Hairdresser Octopus from being possessed into giving people afros, discovering "Food Court" a video game cartridge to be the cause. Upon reverse engineering the cartridge, Parappa and the others use sweets to combat against the Noodle Syndicate behind the town's noodlelization. They soon confront the mastermind, Colonel Noodle, who is revealed to be the son of Beard Burger Master who had grown sick of eating burgers all of his life, deciding that noodles should rule the world instead. However, Parappa manages to convince him to be more open-minded about different types of foods, and everyone celebrates with a party, where Sunny assures Parappa that he is more mature than he thinks himself to be. Things soon return to normal, only for Parappa to repeat his turmoil when he ends up winning another lifetime supply of cheese.

Characters

Main Characters

Parappa the Rapper (voiced by Dred Foxx, a.k.a. John Simpson III)

The hip-hop hero, hoping to become a man in the eyes of Sunny Funny while holding off a noodle crisis.

Beard Burger Master (voiced by Ethan Eubanks)

The deceased owner of Beard Burger, he teaches Parappa how to make beardylike beard burgers in the kitchen during Toasty Buns beard breakout mix.

Chop Chop Master Onion (voiced by Ryu Watabe)

He appears in the television teaching Parappa and PJ Romantic Karate in Romantic Love. He also hosts a minigame in between levels.

Guru Ant (voiced by Dean Bowman)

He's an ant where the people get so small and the legs are long during BIG. He is mellow when small, but is incredibly timid when he's bigger than his normal size.

Sister Instructor Moosesha (voiced by Kimberly Queen and Aaminah Hassell)

She's a moose who is sister to Mooselini from the first PaRappa game. She wears a tutu and military pants.

Hairdresser Octopus (voiced by Freedom Bremner)

He appears as an upside down octopus head and cuts hair in the barber shop during Hair Scare. He is red when under the influence of Noodle music, but is blue under normal conditions.

Food Court Videogame

The Food Court Video Game was featured with Beard Burger Master, Chop Chop Master Onion, Guru Ant, Instructor Moosesha, and Hairdresser Octopus during Food Court. Anyone who can't complete it can eat nothing but noodles.

Colonel Noodle (voiced by Andrew Alonzo)

He's the son of Beard Burger Master and sings "Noodles Can't Be Beat". Colonel Noodle was destined to become a burger shop owner from the day he was born. Unfortunately, his father Beard Burger Master was so into burger research that, similar to Parappa's situation, all Noodle got to eat was burgers. Discovering the noodles and enjoying them better than burgers, he decides to have the noodles take over the world.

MC King Kong Mushi (voiced by Dean Bowman)

This bug sings with the microphone at the end during Always Love!.

Other Characters

• Sunny Funny (voiced by Lea Alomar) - Parappa's love interest, who unwittingly calls Parappa a baby.
• PJ Berri (voiced by Armstead Christian) - Parappa's best friend who loves food and has a hidden agenda as PJ the DJ. He assists Parappa on his adventure. Parappa kisses PJ in Chop Chop Master Onion's song, leaving the latter looking uncomfortable.
• Papa Parappa (voiced by Armstead Christian) - Parappa's father, who is trying to find a solution to the noodle crisis.
• General Potter (voiced by John James) - Leader of the military and Sunny's father, working with Papa Parappa and training new recruits.
• Milkcan - Katy Kat (voiced by Shannon White), Lammy (voiced by Sara Ramirez) and Ma-san (voiced by Ryu Watabe), a girl group and Parappa's friends who somehow get involved in Parappa's mess.
• Boxy Boy (voiced by Freedom Bremner) - A speaking boombox. He shows up in the middle of the opening cutscene of almost every level to offer a practice run of one of the lyrics. Getting three successful runs in a row allows the player to progress, though they can also skip the practice by pressing the Start button.

Soundtrack

PaRappa the Rapper 2 is the original soundtrack to the game.

All tracks written by Yoshihisa Suzuki and Masaya Matsuura. 

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 67/100[3] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com B-[4] AllGame [5] CVG 6/10[6] Eurogamer 7/10[7] Famitsu 31/40[8] GamePro [9] Game Revolution C-[10] GameSpot 6.6/10[11] GameSpy 81%[12] GameZone 6/10[13] IGN 7/10[14] X-Play [15] Entertainment Weekly C-[16]

The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[3]

GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann gave the game a 6.6, stating that "an almost total lack of innovation makes the game seem pretty dated when compared with other games on the market. ... Even when played to perfection, though, the rapping still sounds just as stuttery as it did in the previous game. While it was excusable then and perhaps even a little charming, it would have been nice to see the developers make better use of the PlayStation 2's higher specs." Though the game "features the same 2D graphical style as its predecessor, but it's not without its share of enhancements," he added, "The music in the game covers a lot more ground, genre-wise, than the original did, but none of it is especially funny or toe-tapping--with the exception of the level that takes place inside an old video game machine. PaRappa 2 isn't a bad game, but it doesn't have as much of the same off-beat charm that the original--and to a lesser extent, Um Jammer Lammy--had."^[11] However, IGN's Douglass C. Perry gave the game a slightly better score of 7, saying, "The game concept hasn't changed, leaning neither toward an evolutionary or even a moderate change in the way gamers play music games. ... [PaRappa 2 is] not as hard as Um Jammer Lammy (which may be good for some folks), and it certainly covers familiar territory when it comes to the essentials -- gameplay, graphics, and sound -- but it's still fun and happy-making."^[14]

References

External links

• PaRappa the Rapper 2 at IGN
• PaRappa the Rapper 2 at MobyGames
• PaRappa the Rapper 2 at the Internet Movie Database