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 - Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon!Patapon is a quirky little game for the PSP, created by the same guys behind LocoRoco. The basic premise is this: you have stumbled upon the Patapon, a tribe of small one-eyed creatures and now as the new Mighty Patapon (leader), you must lead your people to glory using the sacred war drums. Basically, you're their god (the base character name is "Kami," Japanese for god) and you must control your miniature army to reclaim the Patapons' former glory, like in the days under the previous Mighty Patapon. The enemy tribe is called the Zigaton, and is basically the Patapons except red. The simplistic story sets up nicely for the whole experience, and the atmosphere of leading a primitive tribe of miniature people on an adventure using a set of drums is somehow childishly magical. The musical theme of the game cements that experience, and it is most definitely a rhythm game. You control your army of Patapon by using the four buttons: X, square, triangle, and circle. Each button corresponds to a different drum beat and you use a combo of 4 beats to give orders to your Patapon army. For example, square-square-square-circle is the Move order, and translates to Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon on your war drums. As the game progresses, you obtain more command beats such as Defend and Charge. The Patapon army and you alternate beats, as in you give the order "Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon" or Move, and they go Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon. You must continue this call-back style of rhythm to command your miniature army. Keeping the beat is important as that's how you control your army. If you're good, as in you maintain the beat 10 times in a row, you will enter Fever mode where there will be certain bonuses, like boosted attack and etc. The more you keep up the beat, the more interesting the music gets. What was initially just Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon gains rhythms and tracks by the time you're in Fever mode in a fun little song instead of just Pata~Pata~Pata~Pon. The whole game's filled with musical treats ranging anywhere from the opening to the save stage. There's even a mini-game where you have a jam session with a dancing tree. It's all very cute and engaging. They've even got little tribal celebrations every time you complete a mission, and a high priestess to help worship you. ;) The clean and egalitarian graphics aid in this setting. Your Patapon will be just black characters as most of your enemies will be. Aside from some green grasses and the blue sky and other general one-toned background, there isn't anything complex or amazing like Crisis Core. But like I said, the very simplicity helps preserve the charming atmosphere of the game. It's like a storybook set to motion on a musical theme. Patapon is just very fun and addicting. At $20, you're not losing anything. In fact, you just might be losing out on a stylish little gem of a game. Rating: - Very diffierent, kind of repetitiveI bought this based on lots of great reviews I read about it on GameSpot, Game Informer, etc. After playing it for about 5 hours, I can say it is definitely different from other games in how it combines a rhythm game with real-time strategy. Overall, I like it, but it can get a little frustrating sometimes because you're repeatedly typing out the same pattern over and over during battle. If you get off slightly you lose "fever mode" which can turn the tide against you pretty quickly. Basically, if you like rhythm games like Guitar Hero or DDR, and have any interest in Real Time Strategy you might give this game a try. Rating:  - Very DisappointingI grabbed this title after reading all the rave reviews and find it a GREAT disappointment. The rhythm part of the game is fun, but the RPG part is tedious with impossible controls. I have a very simple gauge to judge how much fun a game is: if I pick it up, start playing, and look up at the clock a half hour later, the game rocks. Here I stopped playing Patapon after about ten minutes and went back to Pursuit Force 2. At any rate, I believe there is a reason this game sells for just $20, and it involves the inferior controls and inadequate instructions. I would recommend this game to RPG fans only. Rhythm fans will have much more fun with Gitaroo Man, and puzzle gamers will prefer Downstream Panic... Rating:  - Seriously AddictiveI recently purchased Patapon, after reading a few reviews, because I'm a Guitar Hero and DDR fan. I was skeptical about the idea of a rhythm game on a handheld system, but Patapon pulls it off nicely. Basically, you play The Great Patapon, which an army of little eyeball thingies with feet, called Patapons, regards as a god. You come to possess four drums, aka the square, triangle, circle, and x buttons. The Patapons teach you short commands, usually four button presses, occasionally more, which tell the Patapons to execute a command like attack, march forward, or defend. Using these commands and a few others, you work your way through battles in a side-scrolling world. Between levels, there is opportunity to create and customize more little eyeball thingies, customize equipment and battle formations, follow the fairly simple storyline, and play a few mini games, also rhythm based. The game has fairly mindless rhythm game elements, as well as a mild amount of strategy. It's actually sort of like Donkey Congas and Final Fantasy I went and had a brightly colored baby. The pros: -Really catchy soundtrack, which is more than a soundtrack, because the music changes related to the gameplay and how well you keep up with the beats. It's been permanently stuck in my head for a little over a week now. -Cute animation, fun little noises that the little eyeball thingies make. -A fair amount of customization is possible, but not really a hard and fast requirement, thanks to the automated optimize function for equipping soldiers. Tweak, or don't tweak. -It's inexpensive. It could probably sell for more, given the quality. A few minor gripes: -There is no pause button. When playing the game, you build up to what's called "fever," which comes along after you've correctly entered several commands in a row, keeping good time, and not pausing between commands. I usually build up a fever before I do anything else, and maintain it throughout the entire level, because the little army fights better that way. There would be opportunity in the four beats between each command for a player to hit the pause button, take care of whatever is demanding his or her attention, and resume playing without having to disrupt the fever. This isn't a major problem, just an annoyance. The hold switch will "pause" the game, but not without having to build the fever back up. Levels usually take about five minutes to complete, so there isn't as great a need for a pause button as there could be. -Once you create a little eyeball thingie, it's hard to replace him with a more powerful one. The army can effectively hold eighteen soldiers, six of each of three types. Once you've created eighteen little eyeball thingies, which can happen early on, the nature of the gameplay makes it hard for them to permanently die so you can later create more powerful little eyeball thingies. So a word of advice, and I'll heed it myself when I start a new campaign: don't create another little eyeball thingie just becuase you can; wait for rare materials to make more powerful eyeball thingies. All in all, this is the most addictive game I've encountered for PSP. It's well done, innovative, simple to learn, and tough to master. It is replayable, because of the customization options. The animation is unique and engaging, and the soundtrack is really catchy. If you like rhythm games and own a PSP, you won't regret the purchase. Rating: - Pata Pata Pata Crack =)This game is seriously addicting. I originally bought this game for nephews and I found myself to be a closet Patapon freak who has to play when I get home from work and before bed. It is a simple rhythm based game that uses 4 bottoms to control the little army of whimsical one eye warriors. In only a couple days of playing I have played this game more than any of my other PSP games. For the less than $20 the game is well worth the purchase and I would recommend it to anyone who just a whimsical style game almost like a Tim Burton movie.
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