Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,056
edits
Parappa the Rapper: Difference between revisions
removed link to broken file
m (Mass update links) |
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (removed link to broken file) |
||
| (11 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 4:
{{quote|''Leave it to Lammy!''|Lammy's motto}}
Released at Halloween of 1997 in the US, ''Parappa the Rapper'' was a [[
▲Released at Halloween of 1997 in the US, ''Parappa the Rapper'' was a [[Play Station]] rhythm game. The main point of the game was to follow the adventures of a rapping puppy named Parappa who attempted to improve himself in order to impress the girl he had a crush on. How did he do this? By rapping his way to glory, of course!
The game worked like this: Every stage would have one character who would rap a song and ask you to perform certain tasks, like kicking, punching, turning, signaling, flowing, selling, etc. in time with the music. You would hit a button at the right moment as indicated on a bar at the top of the screen. Effectively, it was a video game version of Simon. Do well and you could make it through the song; do too badly and you would have to try again.
Line 13 ⟶ 12:
It was a very short and simple game, but the unique premise and the unbelievably catchy songs made it an instant cult classic. The game is still highly regarded today, with a 88% on [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/198264.asp Gamerankings].
''Parappa'' produced a spinoff in 1999 called ''Um Jammer Lammy'', which was essentially the same thing, but with more songs and a girl in a garage rock band called MilkCan. A sequel was released on the PlayStation 2 which once more focused on Parappa (but with cameos from the MilkCan members), but was widely considered to be [[Sequelitis|inferior]].
PaRappa has appeared in other media as well. There was also an [[Anime of the Game]], but it [[Too Good to Last|only lasted two seasons]]. Before the anime debuted, [[Rodney Greenblat|the game's illustrator]] has created a series of comic books that are decidedly more true to the game than the anime. The anime can be viewed on [[YouTube]]. You can view the comics [https://web.archive.org/web/20160813035128/http://www.fujitv.co.jp/takeshi/comic/comic_bn.html?17rodney
On April 26, 2012, Parappa was announced as a playable inclusion in ''[[
Pretty much every [[Rhythm Game]] created, from ''[[Dance Dance Revolution]]'' to ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' to ''[[Beatmania]]'', owes at least a little to Parappa, if only for [[Gateway Series|starting things off]].
{{tropelist}}
== Both ''Parappa'' and ''Um Jammer Lammy'' examples ==
* [[Aerith and Bob]]: Characters with some rather out-there names (such as PaRappa, Ma-San, and Chop Chop) exist alongside more reasonably-named people (such as Katy, Sunny, and Joe).
Line 39 ⟶ 37:
* [[Call Back]]: Each of the games starts with the characters watching a movie (usually involving "[[Show Within a Show|Jet Baby]]") with the same weird monster. Then, before the first level starts, they go to "Chunky Burger." In UJL, they even take the exact same dialogue for the bully characters who come in as when they did in the first game.
* [[Creator Cameo]]: Rodney Greenblat, the character designer of the series, has off-and-on cameo appearances throughout the games, most noticeably as a television reporter in ''PaRappa 2'', but also as the basis for the name of "Rodney State" where the characters live, and the singer of the "Jet Baby" song at the beginning of PaRappa 1. Also, in a bonus scene from Um Jammer Lammy, Ma-San is typing a letter to "Mr. Matsuura" (Masaya Matsuura is one of the game's creators).
* [[Downloadable Content]]: The PSP rerelease of ''Parappa'' has downloadable alternate versions of the original 5 songs, while ''Um Jammer Lammy'' was released for download on the [[
* [[Egopolis]]: Parappa Town is inexplicably named after... take a guess.
** In what can be considered an inversion of [[One Steve Limit]], [[Word of God]] states that the city is named after '''another''' PaRappa. It's actually a pretty popular name in the [[The Verse|PaRappa Universe]].
Line 64 ⟶ 62:
== ''Parappa''- only examples ==
* [[Ascended Extra]]: General Potter only had non-speaking role as Sunny's father in the first game. But in the sequel, he plays a key role in the story.
* [[Award Bait Song]]: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhEYLjH7a00 Come A Long Way]" from the second game might count.
* [[Boss Rush]]: The first game's fifth involves engaging the four mentors from the other songs in a rap battle in order to get to the toilet. The sixth level in ''Parappa 2'' had a similar premise, with you facing off with the five mentors in a 16-bit video game.
Line 72 ⟶ 70:
* [[Downloadable Content]]: The PSP rerelease has downloadable alternate versions of the original 5 songs.
* [[Dummied Out]]: In the PSP release, PJ Berri and Katy Kat's order of "a chocolate frosty" at the burger restaurant becomes "a chocolate ...", possibly because of trademark issues with the Wendy's Frosty.
* [[Ears as Hair]]: Rare plant variation. Apparently, Sunny Funny's petals are her "hair". They can even be
* [[Expy]]: Instructor Moosesha in ''Parappa 2'' is an Expy of her sister, Inspector Mooselini, from the first game, who is neither mentioned by name nor shown.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: In ''Parappa 2'', if Parappa messes up a segment, Beard Burger Master's son is seen laughing from a corner with a strange machine. {{spoiler|1=The machine is the Noodlizer, and it's revealed later that BBM's son is Colonel Noodle.}}
Line 79 ⟶ 77:
** Justified in Stage 7, in any version of ''PaRappa 2'', when {{spoiler|Colonel Noodle}} raps, "Noodles are the best, no doubt, can't deny, taste better than water, but don't ask me why," in a nod to {{spoiler|his father}}'s "Taste better than wine" lyric (Japan/Europe version only), {{spoiler|before water pours down at Noodle on cue}}.
* [[G-Rated Sex]]: There was an entire level in the sequel where PaRappa practices "[[Getting Crap Past the Radar|Romantic Karate]]".
* [[Incredible Shrinking Man]] / [[Attack of the 50
* [[Insect Gender Bender]]: Guru Ant is almost definitely male, based on his Barry White-esque voice.
* [[Interspecies Romance]]: Parappa's a dog who has a crush on a flower named Sunny. An animal is in love with a plant. According to [[Word of God]], PaRappa could actually '''[[
** [[Word of God]] also put it best:
{{quote|"[[Bellisario's Maxim|Some questions are best left unanswered.]]"|Rodney Alan Greenblat}}
Line 87 ⟶ 85:
* [[Kirk Summation]]: The entire 7th level of PaRappa 2 was about Parappa trying to convince Colonel Noodle that there are many excellent foods in the world that would be lost if they if he turned everything into noodles.
* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]]:
{{quote|
'''PaRappa:''' "Aaa, I'm not sure myself." }}
* [[No Biochemical Barriers]]: [[Word of God]] states that PaRappa, a dog, and Sunny, a flower, are [[Artistic License: Biology|sexually compatible]], and [[Mix-and-Match Critters|could conceive a child]].
** There's at least one [[Fan Fiction]] where [[
* [[Old Master]]: Chop Chop Master Onion.
* [[Omnicidal Maniac]]: To an extent in the sequel. Bad guy Colonel Noodle wanted to transform everything just to satisfy his [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|undying love for noodles]].
Line 99 ⟶ 97:
* [[Shrink Ray]]: The unmodified de-noodlizer in ''PaRappa 2'' can shrink or enlarge characters (including Parappa) when a certain character presses the button on its remote control, even with help from the Guru Ant, of course.
* [[Sunny Sunflower Disposition]]: Sunny Funny. Bright and cheerful, and also wanting adoration.
* [[Suspiciously Similar Song]]: In ''PaRappa 1'', "Parappa's Live Rap With MC King Kong Mushi" sounds a little like the rap version of "[[wikipedia:December, 1963
** The cinema before the fourth level includes a short ditty that sounds remarkably like the song "Tijuana Taxi".
** The driving lesson song is a pretty blatant ripoff of "Turtles Have Short Legs" by Can.
* [[Stop Helping Me!]]: Boxy Boy's tutorials in ''PaRappa 2'', which interrupt cutscenes and can't even be turned off for the experienced players.
* [[The Television Talks Back]]: There was an [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keuNX9gib2M entire level] in ''Parappa The Rapper'' like this.
* [[Token Human]]: The first game [[Dummied Out|was originally]] going to feature one named Pony Pony.
* [[Transformation Ray]]: The Noodlizer, a [[Ray Gun]] that can turn anything into noodles, including burgers, guitar strings, and even [[Department of Redundancy Department|noodles]].
* [[Updated Rerelease]]: The first ''Parappa the Rapper'' game got a rerelease on the PSP.
== ''Um Jammer Lammy''-only examples ==
* [[All-Natural Snake Oil]]: In a non-greenwashing example, but the same principle, Joe Chin markets his laptop computer as being "Theft-proof". This is true, because ''it's the size of a whole room''!
* [[Another Side, Another Story]]: Beating the main game lets you play remixed versions of the songs ''as Parappa!''
* [[Balloon Belly]]: This was actually a plot point in Um Jammer Lammy. After level 2, Lammy eats so much pizza she's [[Mistaken for Pregnant]] by a nurse caterpillar with a [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot|vomiting problem]] who thinks Lammy is in labor. Lammy digests the pizza after being dragged into the maternity ward, so the nurse realizes that Lammy wasn't pregnant, but she insists that Lammy should rock the babies to sleep.
* [[Banana Peel]]: {{spoiler|Lammy dies and gets sent to Hell this way in European/Japaneese versions. She gets out though.}}
* [[Berserk Button]]: Annoy Ma-San too much and she'll mess you up.
* [[Bonus Feature Failure]]: For whatever reason, Ma-San's little personal movies after the credits, as well as those viewed through Parappa's storyline, have a seriously choppy
* [[Bowdlerise]]: ''Um Jammer Lammy'' famously had an entire level's setting changed for the US release. Originally, her sixth stage takes place in {{spoiler|Hell, after she dies from slipping on a banana dropped by P.J. Berri, and Teriyaki Yoko promises to restore her to life if she performs her concert.}} Instead, Sony had her {{spoiler|be launched seemingly back in time through her previous encounters after her clothes snag on a doorknob, landing on a tropical island where Yoko is worshiped as an idol.}} This also affected a song lyric for Chop Chop Master Onion in the first stage.
** Also, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=825MGPcQRGM the original version of Paul Chuck's stage] had him singing/[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGqeedq6xM0 rapping] about "chopping down trees just for fun." However, the lyrics were toned down in both [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPXxWyG4lI8 Lammy's] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeT3glMBi1E Parappa's] versions of the song in the U.S. release. Maybe these people didn't want kids to mess with Mother Nature.
Line 121 ⟶ 119:
** In addition, at the start of the original version, when she sees she has died and gone to Hell, Lammyy will say that means the game is over, and comment on how stupid that is
* [[Call a Smeerp a Rabbit]]: [[Word of God]] says she's a lamb; she looks more like a goat or fawn.
** The original Lammy sketches looked a lot more lamb-like, [[Executive Meddling|but the game company wanted Lammy to look like a cool college girl]].
*** In this concept art for [[media:Lammy_versions4_3805.jpg|early Lammies,]] one of them looks like a jogger and several of them look a bit like poodles. Then they found the right one...almost.
* [[Chainsaw Good]]: In the fith stage has Lammy and Paul Chuck carving a guitar with an chainsaw to Rock-A-Billy.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: In the first level, Lammy is late for her own concert and is desperately trying to think of a good excuse; Specifically, having a [[Potty Emergency]] when everyone in line for the bathroom wants to out-rap her. Which she then immediately dismisses.
* [[Everything Is an Instrument]]: Everyting is a guitar to be precise. Lammy can use [[Mind Over Matter]] on anything to use it as a guitar. Including fire hoses, babies, airplane controls, and [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaws]]. Yes, [[Violation of Common Sense|chainsaws]].
Line 157 ⟶ 155:
* [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot]]: Cathy Piller is always puking weird pink vomit as she talks, [[Covered in Gunge|much to]] [[Nausea Fuel|Lammy's dismay]].
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU5kBlENd_0 Check it out in all its chunky, oozing glory.]
* [[X-Ray Sparks]]: These show up when you do poorly on Terriyaki Yoko's stage and get electrified. Even the little frog face on Parappa's hat seems to be affected.
Line 165 ⟶ 163:
*** It's also ''[[Widget Series|totally insane.]]''
* [[Christmas Episode]]: "A Heart Is the Pass!" Also counts as a ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Heart]]''warming Moment.
* [[Fantastic Voyage Plot]]: In one episode ("Did You Say You Didn't Sleep?!"), Parappa's friend PJ gets infected by a virus, which causes him to grow into [[Attack of the 50
* [[Mister Seahorse]]: There was one episode where the characters [[Mistaken for Pregnant|mistakenly]] [[Idiot Plot|believe]] that this happened to PaRappa. It's [[Widget Series|that kind of show.]]
* [[Put on a Bus]]: If [[Executive Meddling|they]] had decided to let [[Spin-Off|Lammy]], [[Killer Rabbit|Ma-San]], or at least [[Rich Bitch|Joe Chin]] appear in the anime, it might have lived to see [[No Export for You|America.]]
| |||