Brimming with a unique sense of style coupled with an approach to design that manages to balance both minimalism and resplendence at the same time, the Patatpon series is arguably one of the better things on Sony’s PlayStation Portable device.
Its simple yet devilishy addictive often elaborate rhythm mechanics, twinned with the aforementioned baroque fusion of bold colours and contrastive imagery, makes the first two Patapon games guilty indulgences. And it’s not just us who fell for their quirky charms, as both games scored highly with critics. More importantly, the Sony handheld buying public responded with their wallets accordingly.
Patapon 3 sees developer Pyramid up the ante once again. With a bigger emphasis on multiplayer, more units to command, and backgrounds set to surpass their predecessors in terms of realism and ornateness, the third chapter in the tapathalon is set to take the series to the next level.
Rhythm games have cemented themselves as a core pillar of gaming for some time, while the god-game concept has also been around for decades – Molyneux’s Populous just one of the earliest, if not best, examples of deities wrecking havoc on gullible disciples. Patapon has always offered up a marriage of both of these genres as a heady mix of fun, music and challenging gameplay, marking it as one of the few PSP titles that qualified for our century of anticipated games of 2011. Watching the tribal idolising silhouettes marching ever-forward to the beat of your incessant drum-tapping, there’s very little like it on the PSP – or anywhere else for that matter. In fact, few other titles achieve such a perfect blend of sound, strategy and playfulness.
We’ve got our war-drums ready for the imminent third wave of what looks to be yet another wonderful display of cyclopean struggle against the odds. Pata-pata-pata-PON!
Note: At the time of voting for TSA’s Top 100 Games of 2011, Patapon 3’s release date in Europe was TBC, with the expectation that it would arrive in early 2011. It has since been announced that Patapon 3 will be released in Europe at the end of 2010, with the North American release remaining in Q1 2011. These things happen. We broke the Internet. Again.
dude90
Played the demo, won’t buy it though.
Teabags
Same here. I still haven’t got around to finishing off the second, mainly because I couldn’t find the correct resources to buff my troops. They are good games, though trying to play them on the go can be frustrating, especially if you leave your headphones at home.
Voganlight
Still can’t get the songs out of my head.
Pon pon pata pon, pata pata pata pon..
teflon
I still don’t understand why Patapon and LocoRoco don’t have proper entries on the PS3… It baffles me why this isn’t being done…
Charmed_Fanatic
Its out this year! Woooo :D
tonycawley
I’ve never played any of them. The concept amuses and intruiges me. I own a Psp. They can now be picked up cheap. Why have i never tried them? Haven’t touched my Psp for years!
SpikeyMikey23
I couldnt get past the 3rd level on the original. havent been back since but i want to. until ive done that, theres no real point in me buying another patapon game, although i may do if i can find copies on ebay for proper cheap (£1-3