Review – Patapon 1+2 Replay

I arrive in July celebrating almost two decades of one of the most singular and creative titles ever released for portable consoles. In a collection developed by SAS and published by Bandai Namco, the package brings together two classics that enchanted in, revitalized for the new generation and being able to maintain the essence that made the series worshiped. This historical rescue is fundamental, not only for nostalgia, but because it allows new generations to experience the creative explosion of the early 2000s.

From a bold proposal, he was born with the idea of mixing rhythm, strategy and narrative in one game, in the golden times of the PSP. Created by Hiroyuki Kotani with characters design by French artist Rolito, the original concept came from simple sketches, with eyes on legs, carrying weapons, which soon evolved into a charismatic tribe in search of the legendary earthend. The sound of drums was an essential inspiration from the beginning, reflecting both tribal rituals and historical battles commanded by music, a connection that Kotani considered vital to translate the feeling of divine command, as the player takes on the role of God of patapons, and almost mystical communication with small beings.

Pura nostalgia papaya!

Through musical commands with “Pata”, “Pon”, “Don” and “Chaka”, you will be transformed into the driver of an army guided by the rhythm. Thus, Patapon not only innovated with his artistic and narrative proposal, but also boosted the genre of rhythm games, uniting percussion, strategy and interactivity like never before. Its influence can be felt in later titles by showing how music can be mechanical, aesthetic and even emotional element for the progress and identity of a game. This rescue of Patapon in a remastered collection is a celebration of the lasting impact that the franchise has caused in the way we play, hear and feel the games to this day.

Like God of the patapons, the player leads the village for scenarios full of unusual colors and threats, guiding everything to the rhythm of the drums. In Patapon 1, the plot is more direct and presents the epic journey against the Zigotons, the rival tribe, in a search of the stubborn patapons for “It”. Already in Patapon 2, the narrative advances with the promise of a new land, but after building a ship to cross the sea, patapons and zigotons are attacked by a kraken and wreck in unknown lands, now facing a new tribe, the Karmen. The game deepens Lore by introducing the figure of Heropon, a mysterious and central hero to the plot, and expands conflicts to a more cosmic and introspective level, expanding the scope of adventure.

When playing, you will realize that in mechanics, Patapon 1 presents simple rhythmic commands with four drums that move, attack and defend, betting on a few unit classes by offering Hatapon, Tatepon, Yaripon, Yumipon, Kibapon, Dekapon and Megapon. In Patapon 2 we have a greater freedom and more strategy for having a system that adds new units such as Toripon (aerial knights), Robopon (robots), Mahopon (wizards) and, especially, Heropon, a unique hero capable of adopting different classes and performing special attacks during Fever mode. In addition, the sequence introduces an evolutionary tree to create rare patapons, level upgrade with a RPG “Que”, and an even greater variety of weapons and skills, making the game more dense, customizable and challenging.

Creative but limited Don Don!

Visually, both shine in high definition with clean image, vibrant colors and soft animations, further raising the iconic silhouette -based art direction. The main technical difference in Patapon 1+2 Replay is in the uniform graphic improvements to both games, making both of them closer, as Patapon 2 had, from the original, new scenarios and characters, as well as more detailed special effects for battles and skills. Already the soundtrack of both games remains a show apart, built from the rhythm of commands, and growing with the second game by the expansion of the instrumental repertoire that adds variations of melodies according to types of troops and bosses, making the experience even more engaging.

Among the news of the collection, quality of life improvements boil down to difficulty adjustments, which can be configured by phases of each of the two games, permanent display of the drum commands, as well as improvements in menus and shortcuts to equip weapons, allowing a fluid and modern experience. However, the adjustable timer for commands, with input timing level, should not exist and complicates the accuracy of the commands. Because it is a more current generation, you need to regulate on the main menu how much you imagine you need to eliminate or add delay to test during the game, in an intuitive system that could be eliminated because of updated communication between consoles and TV or monitors.

Still in trouble, which are linked to the input of commands and the rhythm, Fever mode is an additional challenge because of the delay the game has brought. After reaching the 10 commands perfectly, you need to keep the drum beaten to take advantage of the increased power and the use of skills, but developers have complicated how to keep this special active because the command does not come in perfectly, even with several attempts to correction in the delay of commands. What was already a difficult task in the PSP is even worse, especially in Switch 2 while in the dock.

Another negative point that can weigh for younger players is the sense of repetition in both titles, mainly because in Patapon 2 the increase in grind and the requirement of materials to evolve their troops becomes more present, generating an even slower progress curve. Add to the fact that the collection does not bring extra content about the franchise, the development of the games and the content of the PSP era, to further preserve the historical legacy, to generate the doubt about paying a high value because it may seem like a simple high quality emulation.

Pon Pon Pon Pon Choices

Dividing opinions, Patapon 1+2 Replay brought multiplayer mode as a unique differential only to the Nintendo Switch version, where up to four players can connect locally to explore cooperative challenges together, in an experiment that rescues the multiplayer elements present in the original Patapon 2. In this mode, each player takes on the role of a commander to lead his Patapon troops into specially designed missions for cooperation and who are divided into two stages: working together to cross areas full of enemies and obstacles, gaining a large egg, and then synchronizing rhythmic commands to make an egg ritual, releasing rewards for customization of patapons and who will help in the and that will assist in Progress of the main campaign.

Unfortunately there is no online alternative, much less for other platforms, but even though they did not bother to adapt the drum icon design to follow this switch exclusivity. You will need to keep in mind that square, triangle, xis and circle are in their positions of Y, X, B and A, which can generate extra confusion for those who are not familiar with both consoles.

The release of Patapon 1+2 Replay arrives at a time when publishers are seeking to appeal to nostalgia in an attempt to deliver experiences that dialogue with the current generation without losing the freshness and creativity of their origin. Even if simple and without extra content, the remastering published by Bandai Namco offers a package capable of making two PSP classics relevant to both veterans and for those who first discover the series.

In the end, Patapon 1+2 Replay is more than a simple remastered collection, being able to be an intelligent tribute to the evolution of the series, presenting both the inventive foundations of the first chapter and boldness and expansion of possibilities of its sequence. Titles complement each other, showing how a simple concept can unfold in depth, creativity and challenge, always marching to the immortal rhythm of the pate-pan paw and paving the way for those who are curious about experimenting Patapon 3.