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 In
1997, Sony released Parappa the Rapper, much to the amusement
and confusion of gamers. The game featured a paper-thin, rapping dog
and gameplay resembling the old electronic toy, Simon. Not exactly a
recipe for success, but thanks to catchy tunes, a generous helping of
charm, as well as some great advertising and press, the game found
it’s way into many gamers' hearts.
Flash
forward to 1999. Rather than going with a true sequel in the form of Parappa
2, Sony released Um Jammer Lammy, a game that follows the
adventures of the guitar-playing Lammy. With only 15 minutes to get to
her band's gig, Lammy has to overcome all sorts of obstacles to ensure
Milk Can's show goes on.
Before
the playing even begins, Lammy already has a strike against it
when compared to Parappa: the storyline. Parappa's
amusing story of forbidden love between puppy and flower (okay, maybe
not forbidden) was much more charming and fun to watch than Lammy's
race against time. Through
the game you'll meet a bunch of new "teachers," as you did
in Parappa, starting with the familiar face of Chop Chop Master
Onion. Unfortunately,
they are, by and large, a lot less interesting than those in Parappa.
This begs the question; can Lammy make up for this deficiency
in gameplay?
The
answer is mixed. Where Lammy shines is in its multiple play
modes. The more levels
you beat, the more options open up to you. Unlike Parappa, Um
Jammer Lammy offers a number of different play modes that make the
game worth returning to after its first completion. After beating the
game with Lammy, you can play cooperatively with Parappa or Lammy's
rival, Rammy. If that's not your speed, you can whip their butts in
versus mode. But the biggest plus is the ability to replay the game as
Parappa alone. In this mode, the storyline and songs change, although
you're essentially trying to accomplish the same things Lammy does,
whether that means putting out a fire or building a guitar. The funny
thing is, while the movies behind Parappa's levels seemed to make no
sense, I found them more entertaining than Lammy's.
 For
anyone who is familiar with Parappa, playing Lammy
should be nothing new. As before, your teacher sings and you repeat by
pressing the appropriate buttons in the correct rhythm, although a
couple of changes to the interface makes everything come together a
little better. A nice update is the scrolling rhythm bar, which gives
you an opportunity to read ahead of the music. And while not an
incredible addition, your Dual Shock controller will rumble when it's
your turn to play. The one frustration is that in places, the scoring
seems a bit off. Occasionally I thought I nailed a riff, only to get
knocked down to "bad" for my efforts.
As
for the songs, they're a real mixed bag. Out of the seven tunes, three
are really memorable (and better than the best songs in Parappa), and
the others are generally good or at least passable. The one exception
is the second to the last song in the game, which is just plain bad
and frustrating to play, as your guitar melody is a bit too far
removed from the singer's melody in places.
Lammy's
guitar sounds cool, but a few other sounds aren't as good as they
could be. Parappa's voice seems a little muffled and scratchy. Worst
of all, the sound effects that emerge when you dip into bad ratings
are too loud and intrusive, as if when you drop to bad, the game is
trying to push you to your doom, instead of simply alerting you to the
fact that you're sucking.
As
with Parappa, the graphics are not photo-realistic, but they're
definitely not intended to be. The PlayStation is completely up to the
task of making them look as they should, and the game's visuals are
great. The FMV scenes between the songs are a bit grainy, though, and
could look better. But overall, everything looks vibrant, colorful and
quite a bit more detailed than it did in Parappa.
 In
the end, Um Jammer Lammy is a solid sequel to Parappa,
with some great new songs, more of Rodney Greenblat's trademark art,
and multiple new game modes that give the game much more
replayability. But while it's a solid effort, the game falls short of
the original in terms of charm and character designs. In summation,
it’s a mixed sophomore outing, but definitely worth playing.
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Um
Jammer Lammy