PaRappa the Rapper Critic Reviews

Retains all the charm it had ten years ago.

It may not be the next God of War, but it's a unique diversion and one that is amazingly fun.

Parappa has aged well, with the storyline and music still as amusing as ever. The simplistic game play is still fun, although the game feels shorter now that it did in its original release, mainly due to all the other rhythm games released since that time offering more content.

Still a great and a highly amusing bemani game. In fact, it pretty much created the genre we know today. A living legend.

This is a classic in my book, and I'd love to rate it higher than I am. However, time marches on, and by today's standards PaRappa isn't the top dog anymore.

The game is terrific fun while it lasts, but that’s not long. It took me under two hours to make it through the game’s paltry six songs. While I got a little more mileage by attempting to get a “cool” rating on every song, it is hard to justify paying $30 for a game that offers fewer entertainment minutes than a movie.

PaRappa the Rapper is not only a rollicking trip down memory lane, it reminds you how groundbreaking the game was and the path it has laid down for so many pretenders in its wake. Well worth a look for PSP owners.

A fantastic game, but a short, limited one. Not really worth the asking price, and not as good as "Gitaroo Man."

PaRappa still melts our hearts trying to woo Sunny Funny, but this dog has had his day.

Despite the aforementioned low replay value, however, I'm glad PaRappa the Rapper was released. It still holds up even today, and perhaps having some renewed attention given to the Hip-Hop Hero will convince Sony to have a development house revamp PaRappa the way it should have been revamped, instead of the horrific sequel we got five years ago.

Why isn't this game a PS Store download?

Definitely worth another few play-throughs. However, it's depressing how little Sony added to this package.

While it's always nice to have a good rhythm game on the go, PaRappa on PSP is still a serious value proposition at $30. There are plenty of extra remixes to download and play (about half of which are decent), but with essentially six levels it's still a more flimsy package than current gamers are accustomed to.

Sadly, that sums up all the new content. Players can beat it within an hour and never play it again.

PaRappa is just as refreshing today as he was 10 years ago, though somewhat hampered by the PSP's control scheme.

Pick it up if you're buying it for the original experience of PaRappa the Rapper, for the classic gameplay that is still...classic. Think of it as retro--not the next hot thing--and enjoy it as an episode of games gone by.

Ultimately the brevity of PaRappa the Rapper is what makes it such a tough game to recommend.

The good news is that PaRappa the Rapper, along with Gitaroo Man Lives!, proves that you can have solid music games on the PSP.

So while the grading is still off, and the song selection is still scant, PaRappa has so much charm in its songs that it's still worthwhile all of these years later, whether you're revisiting it or playing it for the first time.

While PaRappa the Rapper isn't worth the initial asking price, its mix of clever songs, cute graphics, and downloadable content make it a great bargain bin purchase.