Review: Patapon 2

Patapon 2
SCEA, SCEJ
Available for download via Playstation Network for the PSP

Pata-Pata-Pata-Pon! Yes, those unforgettable rhythms are back along with the cute and enduring little Patapons in Patapon 2. After spending several months attempting to remove those words out of my head, they are now again lodged perfectly in there day and night ... repeating over and over again. God, I love this game!

Patapon 2 picks up where the original game left off with voyage of the Patapons’ boat towards new lands. On the way there, the boat is attacked by a kraken that destroys the boat and causes the Patapon to wash ashore on a strange new world. There they are attacked by the Karmens, demons and other horrible creatures but they also discover a masked hero who has lost his memory. From here, the Patapon journey to discover the truth behind the masked hero and the faith of their people.

Like the previous Patapon game, your army of Patapons are controlled not by normal means, but rather by musical rhythms. You as their Tribal God have different drum beats (the shape buttons on the PSP pads) that you can use to drum out a specific rhythm or command to your army. The flag carrying Patapon understands your rhythms and will help the other Patapons to carry it out. You know that you’ve done a rhythm correctly when the Patapons repeat the rhythm back to you. In order to earn bonuses that strengthen your Patapons, you must keep the beat going without pause. Lose this beat and your Patapons will stop and you will have to find the beat all over again.

Your little army will have a diverse range of warriors from archers to spear throwers, and you can even find hero units along the way to lead this specific warrior types. Ultimately it is your flag carrier that is your most important unit though because if he dies, the unit will no longer follow you and its game over. Units can be upgraded and even born from a tree in Patapon camp, but you must collect items from enemies in stages in order to do this. The tree gives you access to a bunch of new Patapon types including a Patapon with a bird mount and a Patapon with giant fists.

This time around there is a multi-player mode available where up to 4 players must defend an egg against a bunch of enemies until they can bring it to an altar at the end of the stage. The egg usually contains a new item or character.

The music in this game is just a fun as the first time around. The jungle beats will have you singing them in the office and probably scaring your co-workers. The use of light and shadow in the graphics still makes this a very beautiful and artistic game and I love the newly designed Patapons.

Patapon 2 is another wonderful hit and a great reason to own a PSP, if you don’t already. Not only was I amused with this game but I had my 4-year-old nephew sitting quietly beside me watching me play with game on multiple occasions and he doesn’t sit still for much. Currently, Patapon 2 will available in stores as a download voucher or as a direct download on the Playstation store for $19.99, but however you purchase it, you must purchase it because this is an amazing buy for the price and I can’t see any reason for not buying it.

Rating: 10 out of 10
Buy it!

July’s Downloadable Game Reviews

Kingdom for Keflings
Microsoft Game Studios, Ninja Bee
Available for download via Xbox Live Arcade

Give me the chance to build mini cities or control little tiny people in your game and you’ll have me addicted to it for hours. Kingdom for Keflings not only gives you the opportunity to control mini people in order to build a little kingdom but you can also kick them around while you do it. Bonus!

Playing as a giant or as your XBLA avatar, KfK has you controlling a kingdom of mini people called keflings in order to build their small village into a giant kingdom with a castle. You give these little people orders to collect resources or run buildings as you control the building of structure pieces and building completion. The game does offer a multi-player mode that allows up to 4 players to build the kingdom together.

This game can become mindlessly addicting, almost taunting you to keep going with its promise of another blue print and another building erected, but as you get into the later hours of this game, the process slows down and I found it all to be very empty. The building process became too lengthy and the management of all my keflings became so annoying that I soon tuned out. While the game does have some cute traits, I would honestly suggest that simulator fans stick to games like Sim City or The Sims to feed their sim addictions.

Pass on it!

Trash Panic
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Available for download via Playstation Network

If you’re like me when it comes to garbage maintenance, then you probably fill your trash can to the very brim before you finally cave and toss it outside. If so, then you will be an expert at playing Trash Panic, a new game on the Playstation Network that has you compacting trash into a bin much like Tetris pieces.

In Trash Panic, trash pieces like brooms, coffee cups, computer screens and even buildings are moved down a conveyor belt towards a large trash bin and you must move and rotate the pieces into the bin in order to fit them as compact as possible. Using techniques or items, you can break, burn, decompose or even blow up the trash to reduce its size in the bin. There are 6 level s to complete in main mode and 3 difficulty levels to complete them on. You also get an unlimited mode, a versus mode and a mission mode for extra game play, but the main mode is pretty hard even on easy to finish so expect to spend some time it.

I love that this game is fun and environmentally responsible. At the end of each level, you get a score based on how environmental responsible you were disposing of the trash. Plus the added stress relief of smashing pieces of garage is nice too. On the other hand though, some of the boss battles were incredible hard and if you didn’t prep your bin before hand, you were doomed to fail against them. Ultimately though, this is a unique and challenging game and I highly recommend it.

Buy it!

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Square Enix
Available for download via Nintendo WiiWare

Fans of the Final Fantasy series are about take a trip back to their childhood with the newest WiiWare release from Square Enix, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Using 16 bit graphics and the original ATB battle system, FFIV: The After Years will probably have anyone who played FFIV or FFVI instantly in love with it after the first 5 minutes of playing it. I know I wanted to propose to it.

FFIV: The After Years follows the story of Ceodore, the son of Cecil and Rosa as he tries to restore peace to his world after the second moon returns and bring the reign of monster terror back with it. During his journey, he is helped by familiar faces from the FFIV story like Palom, Porom, Rydia and many more.

The main WiiWare game will set you back 800 points which will get you three chapters of the story to play through. Now these are lengthy chapters and they will have you busy for quite a few hours as you transverse through them, but in order to finish the whole story you will have to purchase 8 more add-on storylines. The 7 character based storylines will cost you 300 points each and the final add-on will cost you another 800 points. These add-ons will be released over the next 3 months and can be purchased via the in-game download menu.

While I’m not impressed about forking out another 2900 Wii points on top of the 800 I already spent to download the first game, I can’t help but defend this amazing game. Too be completely frank, Square Enix has been putting out some God awful remakes and sequels lately and this is the first throwback to the retro stuff that I have not only loved how great it looks and plays, but can’t help but smile while playing. This game is like the old Square Soft games I grew up with but new. If I have only one download to suggest this month and for the next 3 months, then I suggest you spend your money on this.

Buy it!


Hasbro Family Game Night
Electronic Arts
Available for download via Xbox Live Arcade

If you lived through the 80s, then there’s a chance you played at least one game of Battleship or Scrabble with your annoying parents or siblings. I remember many childhood fights that started over Scrabble and whether or not something was really a word. The problem with board games is that pieces go missing and the newer generation could care less about them when they have videogame and iPods to keep them entertained.

That’s where Hasbro Family Game Night comes in! Sporting the games you loved as child but now in a shiner videogame form for those easily distracted generation of kids. Hosting by everyone’s favourite spud, Mr. Potato Head, HFGN allows you to download 6 different board games: Scrabble, Battleship, Boggle, Yahtzee, Connect 4, Sorry and Sorry Slider, all which cost 800 marketplace points. Each game comes with various modes that allow you to experience the game the classic way or in new, advanced ways. There are also multiplayer modes, both local and online so you can play with friends and family.

While I was more of a Clue fan growing up, I definitely played most of these games and this is a great trip down memory lane. Mr. Potato Head is quite the little joker in the background during each game and free customizable background themes are a nice touch to your HFGN game lounge. Honestly though, spending 800 points per game is a bit much and I think EA could have dropped the price to maybe 400 instead. I know this game was released on Nintendo Wii as a full priced game in stores, but still it just seems a lot for board games you could pick up at garage sales for 25 cents.

I would suggest as a purchase only if you really like one specific board game and want to play it with your family and friends. Beyond that wait to see if the point price comes down on this before you consider this a purchase.

Pass on it!

Review: LocoRoco 2

LocoRoco 2
SCEA, SCE Japan
Available for the Portable Sony Playstation

If one had to sum up the first LocoRoco game in two words, those words would be "pure happiness" as the game was full of bright colourful graphics, lovable characters, cheerful music and addicting game play with all made you just want to smile. SCE Japan has come back with the next instalment in this series with Loco Roco 2 and this reviewer was more than happy to check the game out to see if lightening genius struck again for this series.

In LocoRoco 2, our little yellow blob hero, Loco, returns to fight the ongoing war with the Moja infection. The Moja were defeated in the original LocoRoco, now they have returned seeking revenge on the peaceful Loco planet. Accompanied by Bonmucho, the Moja’s leader, the Moja start to spread their illness across the land with the help of the wicked Bui Bui. The Bui Bui are basically the evil version of the Mui Mui who are Loco’s little Blue friends. The little LocoRoco’s have an upward battle for this jelly-bouncing blob, but it is nothing the little fellah can’t handle with a little tilt action.

Not much has changed in terms of the controls from the first game to the second, as you still have to help lead your little hero, Loco through the maze of levels by tilting his world and helping him jump over obstacles. As well, you can still split your loco into smaller, multiple versions of himself in order to fit through smaller areas or solve puzzles.

Each level has various amounts of fruit that will increase the size of your loco and how many tiny pieces you split into. This is important because some puzzles require a certain amount of tiny locos to solve and levels require a certain amount to fully complete. You can also collect gifts that can be used to decorate your Mui Mui’s house later in the game.

Each level also has mini bosses for your loco to bounce into oblivion in order to save the inhabitants of that level. New additions to the game include rhythm games within the levels and underwater levels that allow your loco to swim.

At first glance, LocoRoco may seem like a kid’s game but the game is deceiving. Each level has a final score that tallies your efforts on each level and though you can finish a level, you really have to use your head to earn all the locos you can as well as find all the fruit and gifts in the level.

While LocoRoco 2’s graphics don’t match the polygon count of say, God of War: Chains of Olympus, the graphics are colourful and diverse enough that you still love every minute you spend traversing through the game’s environments. The big and bright shapes in the levels jump out on the PSP screen which make playing this game not only easy but enjoyable as well. I don’t think anyone could look at this game and deny how adorable it is to look at.

Much like the addicting tones of Patapon, the main theme song for LocoRoco will probably get stuck in your head permanently from the moment you first hear it. The fact that it’s sung by a child makes it all the more cute to listen to. Each element in the game from the Mojas to the Mui Muis has their own music which really makes listening to this game as much as playing it. Music plays a huge part in the mini games as well, so I would suggest keeping your headphones handy with this game for those times when you can’t hear over loud noises in the room.

When you have market so full of first person shooters, it’s nice to see unique games like Patapon and LocoRoco getting the attention they deserve and the sequels that they deserve. For anyone who’s looking for something different for the PSP, then I can easily recommend LocoRoco 2 as the game to buy. The levels are fun, yet challenging and the music will definitely get stuck in your head.

Rating: 9 out of 10
Buy it!