Crush! Frag! Review! – Patapon 2

When the first Patapon was released in 2008, it was praised almost universally for its unique visual and audio style as well as its odd twist on the rhythm genre. While it was by no means perfect, most overlooked its minor shortcomings because of its entertainment value, its one-of-a-kind feel and (undoubtedly) its $20 price tag. Not content to settle for “A great game, but,” Sony has decided to sound the drums once more as the Patapon tribe continues its quest toward Earthend and the coveted “It”.

pata-pata-pata-pon!

Patapon 2 begins shortly after the story of the original ends. The Patapon have defeated the Zigaton army and fashioned a large ship to carry them across the ocean to Earthend. Unfortunately, things don’t go entirely to plan. After battling through roughs seas the Patapon’s vessel is destroyed by a vicious sea monster. Most of the tribe is lost, but some manage to survive by reaching a mysterious and unexplored island. All would be lost if not for one brave Hatapon (a flag carrier and a kind of emissary to you, the Great Patapon) clinging to the Pata drum and carrying it to safety. And so the story of the Patapon tribe continues.

pata-pata-pata-pon!

“More Better” is the theme Sony seems to have followed when making Patapon 2, and it’s a move that has made a huge difference. I’ll get to some of the improvements in a moment, but first I’d like to mention the Patapon units themselves. All of the unit types from the original game are here, from the giant, club-wielding Dekapon to the arrow-shooting Yumipon. Some of these units have seen some physical changes as well. For example, the Megapons have a much more unique visual appearence (they don’t look like regular Patapons on stilts anymore). This also means they can equip items unique to their type (in this case, capes rather than helmets). It really helps to make every type of Patapon unit a bit more distinct.

On top of the changes to the existing lineup, there are also three new types of Patapon troops. The large-armed Robopon are great for destroying structures but have very little defense. Toripon are Patapon that ride large birds. This allows them to attack from the relative safety of the sky, but they are susceptible to sleep and ice, and are sitting ducks if they’re brought down to earth. Lastly there and the magic users, the Mahopon. While they have little to no defense, they more than make up for it with their arsenal of devastating magic spells that can both cripple the opposition and heal your troops. Technically, there’s even a fourth type of Patapon; the Hero.

The Hero is a special unit that can be any type of Patapon unit the player wants it to be. This is an important decision as once the player is in Fever Mode there’s a chance for the Hero to unleash its special power. This power is determined by what kind of unit the hero is, with a Tatepon Hero being able to shield the player’s entire army from damage for a brief time, and a Yaripon Hero able to throw a spear that explodes on impact, damaging all enemies within its radius. One more feature that sets the Hero apart is its ability to wear masks. Masks function much like other equipment; offering elemental resistance or better defense for example. However, masks can be worn along with every other piece of equipment available to the Hero. It makes for one extremely powerful Patapon.

As great as all of this sounds, there’s still more. Anyone who’s played the first game for any extended period of time will remember the Rarepons; special Patapon types that were difficult to create, but had special attributes such as enhanced defense or stronger attacks. Well the Rarepons are back, and this time they aren’t a total pain to manage. This is all thanks to the Evolution Tree. Every individual Patapon has its own Evolution Tree, and every Rarepon type on the tree can be enhanced up to level 10. Aside from the obvious visual differences (a tree, a frog, even a penguin), each Rarepon type has special abilities such as increased knock back (good for stunning bosses), resistance to fire, better defense and so on. Thanks to the Evolution Tree, players can see exactly what items they need to evolve to the next Rarepon on the branch, or what they need to level up an existing evolution.

pata-pata-pata-pon!

One of the most distinct features of the original Patapon has always been its use of rhythm to issue commands to your army; One-Two-Three-Four, Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon, One-Two-Three-Four. This has remained largely unchanged in Patapon 2, but there have been a few enhancements. Fans of the first game should immediately notice the fact that every drum beat sounds a little different when it’s timed exactly right. Most are accentuated with a cymbal or another form of audible flair which lets players know when they’re spot-on with their timing. Aside from sounding better, this also makes it easier to stay on rhythm and to reach the all-important Fever Mode (a mode in which your troops are much more effective in combat) that much faster.

Another worthwhile addition is the inclusion of a siren that sounds if your timing is off. In the original game, it was possible to lose your timing without entirely losing the beat which would result in losing Fever Mode without really understanding why. With the addition of this new siren (it’s a lot less annoying than it sounds, trust me), players are given a chance to recover before they lose Fever Mode and have to build it back up again through successive beats.

Two final tweaks to Patapon 2′s drums are the inclusion of new commands (such as Don-Don-Chaka-Chaka to make your army leap into the air) and new songs. As a die-hard fan of the original game, I’d never noticed until playing the sequel, but virtually every level had the same song. This time around many different levels have completely different music meant to accompany the environment. The music for the Jungle levels sounds totally distinct from the music for the Karmen Stronghold levels. This may not sound like a big deal, but it brings some much needed variety to the game’s soundtrack. Especially when you consider that everything has to work with the Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon rhythm. It’s amazing what Sony has managed to do with four little beats.

chaka-chaka-pata-pon!

Patapon 2 progresses exactly like the original. Everything is broken down into distinct missions, and there are several mission types available. Hunting missions allow players to hunt various wild animals in order to gather raw the materials needed for troop production and evolution. Enemy stronghold missions pit players against an opposing army (in this case, the Karmens), whose soldiers will sometimes drop weapons or other equipment that can be gathered up and used for your own units. Boss missions put players to the test as the battle it out with one of the many (and I do mean many) enormous creatures inhabiting the island. Rewards for completing any of these missions can include rare items, eggs (for use in the game’s new multi-player mode) and the ability to progress to the next mission. Which in turn means access to even better items, equipment and so on.

Once again, Sony has taken a formula that works and has found a way to make it work better. While players could only replay hunting and Boss missions in the first game, now even Karmen stronghold levels can be played over and over. This means players have a much better chance at getting better gear to equip their Patapons with, and that means less stress and more fun overall. Factor in almost double the number of missions of the original and you’ve got a game that will keep you occupied for a very long time.

pon-pata-pon-pata!

Patapon 2 isn’t without a few nagging issues, however. One such issue is that the drumming rhythm is still a little off at times. It’s mostly the occasional problem where the beats wouldn’t sound “perfect” even though they seemed that they should. It also seems as though certain levels have a slightly different beat to follow which can throw many players off for a bit. It’s never so bad that it ruins the game or the fun, but it is an issue that will hopefully be refined further in a future installment.

The only other noticeable problem is that it feels more like Patapon 1.5 than a real sequel. It’s basically more of the same, with some new stuff added to the mix. This isn’t to say that fans of the original should pass on this pseudo-sequel (they shouldn’t), but anyone who may have missed the first game can just go ahead and skip it. Patapon 2 is all you’ll need.

don-don-don-don-don!

There’s really no reason for any PSP owner to miss out on Patapon 2. It’s unique, stylish, adorable, fun and surprisingly deep. Nowadays people are always complaining about not getting enough game for their money, but Patapon 2 will give them more content than most console releases for only $20. Not a bad deal.

So what are you waiting for? Sound those drums, you have a war to win!

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Things We Liked: Catchy tunes. Great artistic style. A surprising amount of strategy. Lots of memorable bosses.

Things We Disliked: Feels more like an update rather than a sequel. Sometimes the input is a little spotty.

Target Audience: Fans of the original Patapon. People who like the idea of a rhythm based strategic army game. PSP owners.

(Patapon 2 – Available on Sony PSP. New to CFD’s reviews? Read our explanation here.)

Tags: Japan Studio Patapon 2 PSP Pyramid review Sony