Product description
-------------------
Jewel case has a crack
.com
----
Rock out with this innovative sequel to the hip-hop rhythm game
Parappa the Rapper. This time the action centers around Lammy, a
grunge guitar-playing lamb with her own rock band. Lammy is late
for her latest performance with Milkcan, the band she fronts with
kooky sidekicks Katy Kat and Masan. To get to the gig, Lammy must
successfully strum her guitar through seven cartoon levels. Each
level contains a unique music video that requires superior
guitar-playing skills. Lammy must master multiple styles of
music, including heavy metal, pop, and punk. Superior musicians
will be rewarded with a special remix mode, which adds a special
rap by well-known game character Parappa.
With unique animation from accled cartoonist Rodney Alan
Greenblatt and catchy tunes from Masaya Matsuura, Um Jammer Lammy
is one of the most innovative games to ever appear on the
PlayStation. --Brett Atwood
Pros:
* Kid-friendly game theme
* Catchy music
* High repeat play value
Cons:
* May appeal to only a narrow segment of gamers
P.when('A').execute(function(A) {
A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse',
function(data) {
window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100);
});
});
From the Manufacturer
---------------------
Where Lammy goes mosh pits follow. She's the guitar-slinging
metar of an all-chick band called MilkCan. Help Lammy make it
to her big gig on timeby jamming to everything from rock to punk.
You can even take on another player with an awesome two-player
mode. Um Jammer Lammy...it rocks.
Review
------
Since the release of Parappa the Rapper, the "music game" genre
has gotten quite a bit larger. Now, along with Parappa, we've got
dancing games, games where you play a piano-like instrument, a
guitar-playing game, and there are still many more on the way.
But while advancements have been made, nothing has really
captured the charm of Parappa. Enter Um Jammer Lammy, Sony's
follow-up to Parappa the Rapper. While the game isn't a strict
sequel, it does take place in the same universe, with the same
graphics style and nearly identical gameplay.
Lammy is a paper-thin lamb that plays guitar for Milkcan, a rock
band that also features Katy Kat (of Parappa fame) on bass and
lead vocals, and Mah-san, the short-fused mumbling drummer. The
game takes place during the day of Milkcan's biggest gig, and
Lammy is running terribly late. While I'll keep the insanely
surreal storyline a secret, I will say that you'll be using your
guitar skills to put out a fire, put babies to , fly a
plane, operate a chainsaw, and even escape from Hell. The
gameplay is almost totally identical to Parappa, though there are
a few enhancements. For starters, you can use the L2 and R2
buttons for pitch bending. Also, as you progress through the
story, you earn different effects, such as a harmonizer, a
wah-wah, and distortion. These can be toggled on and off with the
select button.
Once you've completed the game's main story, you can access a few
different versions of the game from the stage select menu. The
most noteworthy of these new levels are the Parappa levels, which
let you go back through the game as Parappa. In this mode, the
songs are remixed (to better fit Parappa's watertight flow) and
you'll, of course, be rapping instead of playing the guitar. The
cutscenes in this mode are more afterthoughts than actual
cohesively structured plots, but they're still a blast to watch.
You'll also unlock various two-player options. In two-player
mode, you and a friend (or, if you're lonely, a computer
nent) trade lines in a battle for points. You can either play
Lammy vs. Lammy or Lammy vs. Parappa.
The game's surreal storyline has remained intact from the
Japanese release, but it has been localized a little bit. In the
original version of the game, the second to last level had you
battling for your life in Hell. Here in the States, Hell has been
replaced by a desert island, and the FMV segments surrounding the
level have been altered. It doesn't really affect the game too
much, since much of the game doesn't make a lot of sense to begin
with. Also, the song that played over the credits in the Japanese
version has lyrics in the domestic release.
The question that keeps coming up is whether Lammy is better than
Parappa. When you look at Lammy's lack of originality in the
gameplay department, and the songs, which simply aren't as catchy
as Parappa's raps, Parappa comes out on top with ease. But the
additional levels, the two-player option, and the inclusion of
the Parappa remixes in Um Jammer Lammy add a value that Parappa
the Rapper simply can't touch. But keep in mind that the game
doesn't stray far from the formula, and the game's difficulty
will put off those who never mastered Parappa. So, to put it
another way, if you didn't play Parappa to death and love every
minute of it, you might as well skip out on Um Jammer Lammy.
--Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot
logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc. -- GameSpot Review
See more ( javascript:void(0) )
