My feelings toward PaRappa the Rapper are as inconsistent as the controls.
On one hand, I enjoy the style it went for, and the songs present are catchy as hell. On the other hand, the timing for inputs varies wildly with each song, which induces unnecessary frustration despite seemingly pressing the buttons on time. Button inputs in a rhythm game are the primary aspect, so why they didn't program the game correctly for this mechanic is fucking beyond me. I struggle to choose whether to give this game a four solely for the terrible input lag. Or an eight for having a charming aesthetic and fun story. Feelings of "wow, this game is amazing" and "holy shit how did I fail that" always hit back to back with one another that I never know which to decide on. A mechanic this game has is one where you can spam the buttons to chain them for a better score, which did help me beat certain sections of songs. However, the fact that a mechanic like this is sometimes required to be used to complete a level instead of just following the button prompts given, especially in a rhythm game, is simply a terrible design.
I'll admit that the charm it has and the legacy of it being the first true rhythm game convinced me to give it a positive rating. It's a 6 out of 10 that I'll remember a lot about as the songs are still stuck in my head, while also disappointedly considering how the game could've been better.
On one hand, I enjoy the style it went for, and the songs present are catchy as hell. On the other hand, the timing for inputs varies wildly with each song, which induces unnecessary frustration despite seemingly pressing the buttons on time. Button inputs in a rhythm game are the primary aspect, so why they didn't program the game correctly for this mechanic is fucking beyond me. I struggle to choose whether to give this game a four solely for the terrible input lag. Or an eight for having a charming aesthetic and fun story. Feelings of "wow, this game is amazing" and "holy shit how did I fail that" always hit back to back with one another that I never know which to decide on. A mechanic this game has is one where you can spam the buttons to chain them for a better score, which did help me beat certain sections of songs. However, the fact that a mechanic like this is sometimes required to be used to complete a level instead of just following the button prompts given, especially in a rhythm game, is simply a terrible design.
I'll admit that the charm it has and the legacy of it being the first true rhythm game convinced me to give it a positive rating. It's a 6 out of 10 that I'll remember a lot about as the songs are still stuck in my head, while also disappointedly considering how the game could've been better.