PaRappa The Rapper’s Rap Rabbit Almost a Wrap, But Needs Your Help
Ribbity-robbity, hibbity-hoppity ra-ra-ra-ra real talk, my peepios! Alright, that’s enough of that. You remember PaRappa the Rapper, right? It was a delightful 3D-in-a-2D world with Chop Chop Master Onion and a panorama of other characters. Also, the game taught me how to drive. How can we give back to a game that shaped pop culture? We give back with money, of course – a new Kickstarter project just launched for PaRappa’s next hit, Rap Rabbit!
Masaya Matsuura of the company Nana-On Sha and Keiichi Yano of iNiS J are widely regarded as the founding fathers of the genre, and two of the finest rhythm-action developers working today. They have been responsible for Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (big hit in the US, you all remember) and UmJammer Lammy (PaRappa’s lesser-known sheep cousin). Now, both Matsuura-san and Yano-san have teamed up to create a new generation of rhythm-action and a different anthropomorphic animal to spit hot fya at all the haters.
Project Rap Rabbit will see the rebirth of narrative-driven rhythm-action. Set in an alternative version of 16th Century Japan (where animals are king and humans are dead), the world is growing more hostile as the populace becomes increasingly concerned by the growing diversification of their lands. It is amongst this backdrop of growing isolationism and protectionism that a young rabbit farmer, Toto-Maru, steps up to unify his home. Using the power of Rap to draw strength from music, he finds he’s able to influence the world’s ruling powers through rhythm and rhyme. Also to toast fools who step to him in epic rap battles and bring peace to this divided land. Super heavy plot for a rap game.
Combining their vast experience in the genre, Matsuura-san and Yano-san are looking to push the boundaries of the genre in a new direction. While modern rhythm-action frequently asks players to strive for linear perfection, Project Rap Rabbit will allow gamers to alter the flow of their rap battle in real time, changing the lyrics and emotional direction on the fly, as they look to best their opponents in dynamic one-on-one encounters. This sounds fun, and gives the chance for a bipolar attack of sympathy and aggression in your mad flows.
But Matsuura-san and Yano-san are mindful of the PaRappa experience, and want to stay true to what makes that game fun. Expect the same goofy feel amidst these troubling times in an alternate 16th Century Sengoku-period Japan, where Rap was most definitely created, and was more powerful than the Shogun himself.
Donate to the Kickstarter and find out more about the game here.
SOURCE: PRESS RELEASE