Patapon

Quando os genres inesperados se cruzam no mundo do videogame, é frequentemente uma receita para o disastre.  Entretanto, em combinar o genre tático real-time com o aquele do jogo do ritmo, Patapon ajustou-se não somente para fora para ser todas as coisas para todos os povos, mas teve-se para a maioria de parte sucedida.

O jogador faz exame do papel de um deity omnipresent adorado pelo Patapons, um tribe do caçador/gatherers esses marcha à batida dos cilindros sacred que você controla.  Batendo estes cilindros na seqüência correta, o jogador pode requisitar o Patapons para atacar, defender, ou o recuo.  Os jogadores podem mais mais customize o exército de Patapon introduzindo unidades novas tais como bards da cavalaria ou do `' e coletando o weaponry promovido.  Sobre a série das missões, os jogadores conduzem ao Patapons através das florestas, selvas, e os desertos, lutando o tribe inimigo de Zigaton e derrotando bestas legendárias para encontrar Earthend e o misterioso “ELE.”

A arte do jogo é descrita melhor como o cartoonish simplificado 2D.  Lembrará gamers de Loco Roco, another game produced by Japan Studios.  This means that instead of awkward-looking 3D, players can expect smooth animation and an eye-pleasing environment in which to lead the Patapons.  The soundtrack is quite catchy, although after extended playing sessions one may never want to hear “pata-pata-pata-pon” ever again.  Most importantly, it’s fun to watch your ragtag army of Patapons tear through the opposition and dance their way across the victory line.

The game’s two apparent flaws are both genre-specific.  On the rhythm side, hardcore music game junkies may find the simple beats to be too simple, nevermind that they’re always at the same tempo.  When in “Fever” mode (which gives units stat boosts as a reward for keeping with the beat), the only way to adjust to an enemy’s changing attack is to drop out of “Fever”, throwing off your army’s rhythm and giving the enemy opportunity to strike.  Allowing players to adjust the tempo (possibly with the D-pad, as the only buttons used during play are on the right side of the PSP), would allow for adjusting fluently to the situation, and possibly provide new challenges where they were forced to stay at a certain tempo in special areas.

On the tactical side, the option to create new units using materials collected both during missions and through minigames is hamstrung by what amounts to grinding for loot through various “hunting” missions.  During combat, one cannot command the individual squads of units separately - when one attacks, all attack.  Additionally, money and items dropped by fallen enemies disappear after a period of time, which means that when the archers cut down the lancers halfway across the screen, by the time the foot soldiers break through that Flaming Sword of Badassness will have already popped out of existence.

Though frustrating at times (and painful for the right hand when played for long periods), Patapon is a fun experience that proves the PSP to be a capable platform for new gaming concepts.