I’m a huge fan of rhythm games.  But this is one rhythm game that even I had some trouble getting to grips with, though I’m really glad that I did.  Patapon puts you in charge of a race of Patapons who are relying on you, as their God and leader, to restore peace and order to their world by defeating the evil race of Zigaton, who have forced the Patapons from their home.

As their God you must lead the tribe, who are adapt warriors when they are told what to do, to a place called Earthend where the Patapons can look at the most mysterious artefact in their universe which is simply called “IT.”  As their God you can guide the Patapons by beating battle drums in sequence as they then follow your commands.

This game combines a rhythm action game with the strategy element of most good RTS titles.  Before each level you have to equip your troops and make sure they are ready to go into battle.  The presentation of the game is very slick and the Patapons themselves, with their quirky chants, are instantly endearing.  All the characters ‘speak’ through using speech bubbles and some of the quips they utter during battle are hilarious and these come from both the enemy and the ally.

Each level involves getting to the end of a certain level and completing a task to strengthen your army.  At the start you must hunt so that your tribe can be fed.  This means that you have to sometimes reply levels multiple times and whilst this can add to the longevity of the game, it can also get boring at times too.

Your army can achieve “fever mode”, which is when they are all hyped up and attack with all their might.  In this mode you can strike harder, as well as perform miracles later on in the game to make sure you can pass otherwise inaccessible areas.  As you perform a beat correctly your combo level goes up and if you manage to string together a combo more than eight then you go into fever mode.  This is not as easy as it sounds as you can easily lose concentration, skip a beat, and have to start again from the beginning.

Your army can be given simple commands such as attack, defend, and march forward using drum patterns that you must perform using the PSP face buttons.  You can unlock new drums that give you more actions but essentially the simple control system stays the same which means that this game can appeal to most of the PSP fanbase which is not surprising when you remember that the developers behind this game also made the superb Loco Roco.

Your army strengthens and grows as you advance through the game and this also applies to the enemy.  There are even mini boss type battles where your army must vanquish one big foe and work together.  The fact that your army of warriors specialize in different skills can sometimes make this a challenge.  For example some units wield spears and attack long distance whilst others hold swords and attack at a short distance.  At times you can damage your own troops if you manage to spear your own warriors.  This can be strangely amusing though at times.

With each boss defeated you can go back and fight it again but it gets harder each time so you have to make sure that your army is up to it.  The game features thirty missions which means that this game will last you for some time but some may get bored by the repetitive nature of the missions which only has three different varieties.  A hunt is where you earn food for your army or other essential items, a battle is you against the Zigatons, and a boss battle is what was said above.

The hunting levels are essential because through these you earn ka-ching.  This is the Patapon currency which can be used to build up your army when comrades have fallen.  You need a certain amount of ka-ching as well as certain items in order to resurrect fallen Patapon friends -which means you’ll spend a lot of the game hunting.

Sadly this game features no multiplayer support.  It would have been great to battle a friends army over wireless but it was not to be.  Despite that though when you combine the endearing Patapon, the great graphics and the simple yet addictive gameplay you will be hard pushed to put this game down once you have picked it up.  This is another example of great original games that are unique to the PSP, and every PSP owner should try it.

8 ninja heads out of 10

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