Patapon 2

You are elite, you are a machine, you will not except defeat at any cost. You are.....a Pataponian. An eyeball type creature that will fight until death in the name of their god.....you. Beat a drum and watch them execute countless death strokes at your bidding call. Don't be fooled by their adorable war cries though, the Patapons will crush you without any remorse. They are ruthless killing machines and will stop at nothing....well, unless you miss a beat. Ever hear Bizzares lyric "My D.J.'s in a coma for lettin' the record skip"? well their entire race is at risk of dying if you so happen to miss a beat.

We start out on a strange new land after the ship the Patapons set sail on at the end of the previous installment was soon destroyed by some scary sea monster. It looks pretty bleak for the Patapons at this point until you start bangin' away on that drum of yours. With every noise that reverberates from that drum comes a glimmer of hope and the inspiration to carry on for the Patapi.

Patapon 2 is a rhythm strategy game that is unlike any other. Well, it's a lot like the first Patapon but bear with me here, it's very unique. It's a game that requires a lot of focus and can be extremely challenging at times but is well worth it. You have to hit your and buttons in a sequence while timing correctly to indirectly influence your Patapons. You can send them forward, make them charge on the offensive, tighten up their defense, make them jump and even harness the power of the elements all in the quest to find 'IT'. If you consistently match button combinations successfully, you will rally the Patapons which will in turn get them so pumped they get into a frenzied FEVER mode. In this mode you are more powerful both defensively and on offense. You also have the ability to use special powers later on in the game.

It takes some getting used to but when you get the hang of it, you really focus in and get sucked into things. It's advisable to play this game with headphones on or to not have any audible distraction around. It's easy to loose concentration and miss a beat when other sounds are being mixed in with your game. To succeed in Patapon 2, you really need to pay attention to what your enemy is doing. When they pull back, hit em hard by dishing out an offensive command. When they start charging at you, tighten up the D and weather their attacks. You can switch up your button combos to issue commands to your Patapons at any time while continuing your FEVER status, just don't screw up the beat or you'll have to build it back up again. It's a game of patterns and I was very impressed on how the gameplay elements worked so well with the rhythm style. Very cool and creative.

What I really liked about this game is the RPG type element they threw in for good measure that really had me sold. After every level, you collect objects such as bones, stones, meat, weapons etc. and bring them all to base camp. With these items in hand, you can upgrade your current Patapons or use some of these elements to upgrade their status and even create new Patapons all together. You can create an elite army of archers in the back, soldiers in the middle, defensive units with shields in the front and a Hero character who kicks some big time ass. As you progress, you can also change their character class to be faster, stronger, less susceptible to elements such as fire and ice along with a slew of other attributes to make your squad indestructible. It's really cool to witness your new troop in action after beefing them up considerably. It adds a real bad ass feel to a game that looks very 'kid like' on its exterior.

The graphics as I mentioned previously do give off a cute appearance but that doesn't really matter. I actually kind of like the whole vibe. A ruthless killer tribe that looks and sounds so adorable. The animations are silky smooth, the colours are bright and vibrant and there's always a lot of stuff going on. Little comic book speech bubbles pop up to let us know what's on everyone's mind and can be pre-coursers to upcoming actions from enemies. The sounds is perfect all be it a little on the annoying side. Your crew of Patapons can be a little rowdy at times and their chants might get a little on your nerves. The good thing is that when you are playing this game, you are so zoned in and focused that the annoying noises don't really distract you that much. They just become a simple means getting your timing right before you issue your next tactical command. You're constantly balancing your button timing with what is presented to you in the heat of battle. If you don't tighten up your defense in time, you can take a huge hit and half of your unit can get wiped out. It gets pretty nasty. The boss battles are huge and can take a very long time to complete as well. You really have to dig down deep and keep your concentration in line to take these guys out. Learn their moves by studying their repetitive actions and strike or hold back when appropriate. It's killer tough but well worth your efforts.

Patapon 2 offers up some real tight strategy game play with a unique rhythm button combo system. It's presentation is top-notch and is a shit load of fun to play. I strongly advise you all to pick this download only title from the PSN Store up for your lonely little PSP and lead the Patapoinians to glorious victory! If you have the first one, you know what I'm talking about and may choose to pass this one up. I do however strongly advise you to try Patapon 2 out. It really sets itself apart from the first installment and improves in virtually every aspect of the original. If you're new to the series it's a great game that really had me glued to my PSP for days. Great on the road, great on the john......just a great game. I feel a code brown comin' on so I think I'll get back beating that old drum. Cheers!