"Validates parking for my car..."

I've played for maybe a couple of hours, but the songs still got stuck in my head.

I'm not a big fan of rap, at least not the stuff commonly heard on the radio. I don't deny that some tunes stick in my head or that I've even tried to rap along to something catchy (which never goes well), but overall I'm more into electronica and pop or... whatever its genre name is. It seems that most "rap" songs that get stuck in my head aren't mainstream, and they normally aren't by professional rappers either. Basically, if it's a rap song I like then chances are true rap fans won't. Odd sense of taste? Yeah, but I'm used to it.

My odd sense of musical taste and my love of video games come together in the rhythm game Parappa the Rapper. In it you follow a dog named Parappa as he goes about everyday life and raps about it. With only six stages it's a fairly short game, but the songs are catchy enough to replay multiple times.

Basic gameplay is as follows: The rap master (the person Parappa's rapping with) says their line with the rhythm displayed on a bar at the top. The bar shows the buttons the player will need to hit, and when it's Parappa's turn the player hits the appropriate buttons in rhythm. Easy enough. Still, I've found that the timing required throws me off a bit. Sometimes I'll try and punch out my rhythm a bit sooner than the indicated time in order for it to work right, but perhaps I'm just doing it wrong.

Your success obviously depends on how well you replicate the rhythm, and your progress is monitored via the "U Rappin'" meter in the bottom right. Generally you want to be rappin' at either "good" or "cool." I can't ever achieve the cool rank because it involves first beating a level with a good rank (not a huge problem), and then being able to freestyle when replaying the level. I'm a freestyle failure so I think I'll stay out of an explanation on how to become an excellent rapper.

There's not much to Parappa beyond that. The story is just whatever happens on a day in Parrapa's life, but a recurring theme seems to involve the lovesick puppy trying to win the heart of his crush. The game's graphics won't give you that "Wow!" feeling, but the paper-like appearance of the characters fits well enough. If you dislike bad rap then this probably isn't the game for you. Anyone who feels otherwise, the original Parappa was remade for the PSP, and I picked up a used copy for $10. Just keep in mind that it's incredibly short before you spend your hard earned cash on it.

And with that I shall end my post. Next week I'll break off from games that are little known and that involve main characters who share the same name as the game's title. Instead the discussion will turn to a game from my favorite RPG series; Namco Bandai's Tales of Series.

Next week on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: Tales of Vesperia

What a cute rabbit... cat... thing...

I've been playing for a lot of hours, and I still I wish my PS3 could play all PS2 games correctly.

In truth I haven't played a Klonoa game in a while, but as a whole it's taken up a good chunk of time. Kaze no Klonoa (Klonoa of the Wind), simply the Klonoa series in America, is probably one of my favorite series. With cutesy graphics and characters, it's pretty hard for me personally to not "awwww" at the sheer amount of adorable in the game. Not that cuteness is all Klonoa has to offer though. The series consists of about eight games if I'm correct, five of which are in America, most of which are side-scrolling platformers.

The titular character of the Klonoa series is a cute little guy with a debatable appearance.He's either rabbit, or a cat. I'm of the opinion that he's a rabbit, despite Namco calling him a cat. Cats don't have long ears or short tails (well, most don't), but then again rabbits don't have fangs or eat meat (Klonoa's very fond of hamburgers). Many a fan has settled this predicament by referring to Klonoa as a cabbit, which I find a very charming little name. All in all, he's adorable and undeniably sweet.

The basic plot line for a Klonoa game, while it varies from title to title, is this: Klonoa, aside from wind-inspired title, is also known as the Dream Traveler. Someone in another world calls for help, and (to my understanding) Klonoa is transported there in his dreams. Much like Musashi (see last post), he doesn't get to go home until the job's done and the world's saved. Unlike Musashi, the Pacman hatted cabbit takes it all pretty well; in fact he normally either A) doesn't realize it's not his own world to begin with, or B) gets pretty attached to his surroundings and his new bestest buddies.

The graphics and bright colors give the games a cute made-for-children feel, and in fact they are very playable by children. However, when I play through Lunatea's Veil, as well as the other games, I always feel some kind of melancholy behind all the happiness present in the game, especially when some of the darker themes come into play. One of my reasons for enjoying the game is that it can be so light-hearted and cute, but still manages to get serious when it wants to. Lolo for instance, a recurring character from Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil, suffers from acceptance issues and ridicule from her peers.

I love Klonoa music. It's whimsical, beautiful, and cheery when appropriate. Depending on your position in a level, the background music shifts to something more appropriate. In the first level of Lunatea's Veil the music starts off pretty solid, but once you waltz into a cave, it switches to a track that kind of has an echo to it, but still contains the theme of the previous song. Most of the tracks are instrumental pieces that really set a level's feel, many of which may seem moderately slow and mellow.

I'll cut this off here before I start rambling too much, so um... happy gaming!

Next time on I've been playing for 40 Hours: Parappa the Rapper

I've been playing for five hours and fifty-eight minutes, and I've stopped the Vambee attack.

Granted, this isn't the first time I've played through Square Soft's (now Square Enix) PS1 title, Brave Fencer Musashi, so I vaguely remembered stopping the half zombie, half vampire menace before. Not that's it's any less fun the second time, though I did get tired of ambling around in the dark trying to avoid bats, Vambees, and globs of slime only to fall in a spike pit due to the lack of vision...

Brave Fencer Musashi is, as mentioned before, a game for the good ol' Playstation. You play as Musashi, a pint-sized kid samurai that bears no other resemblance to the Musashi of Japanese legend save for his name, and the fact that he's a samurai. Musashi is "hero summoned" out of his own cozy world, and into the land of Allucaneet (All-you-can-eat) Kingdom during an attack on Allucaneet's palace.


Caution: Not as tall as he appears.

Long story short, Allucaneet's Princess Fillet, Steward Ribson, and the rest of the small palace posse tell Musashi that he has to find the super awesome sword Lumina, collect the five elemental scrolls, and stop the Thirstquencher Empire before they turn Allucaneet Kingdom into the One Plate Buffet Kingdom. Of course, Musashi just wants to go home, and makes that fact quite clear. Unfortunately for him, it's either save the kingdom and go home, or not save the kingdom and ultimately die after his "Bincho energy" dissipates.

Yeah, he goes and gets the sword.

Sometimes referred to as Square's "Zelda Killer" Brave Fencer Musashi requires the player to explore various parts of the kingdom in attempts to complete whatever task assigned at the time, including heading into the dangerous Twinpeak Mountain to find a dog, and exploring the dungeon that just so happens to be beneath the restaurant in order to stop the Vambees. Battle is pretty simple. Musashi, aside from Lumina, is given a katana named Fusion with a special ability. By filling up a gauge in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and pressing the square button, Musashi can chuck Fusion at an enemy and can, after repeatedly mashing the square button, assimilate the enemies' ability. Other than that, battle is mainly just swinging Lumina or Fusion around to take out your enemy. It's more fun than I make it sound.

Brave Fencer Musashi's soundtrack adds quite a lot to an already wonderful game. The main theme, titled "The Musashi Legend", makes one want to take on the entire empire at that very moment. Each track, whether upbeat, slow, or a reprise of the main theme, gives the different areas in the game that epic Musashi feeling, and are very enjoyable to listen to.

The game's characters (most of which have food-related names) add humor to a game that already tends not to take itself seriously (I mean really, Vambees?). Princess Fillet (played by Sandy Fox), for example, thinks she's pretty spiff for summoning a hero, and, after being kidnapped, thinks Musashi should "like, hurry up and save her." Musashi himself is excellently portrayed by Mona Marshall, and his equally hot-headed nature led him and the princess to start arguing very shortly after his arrival.

Many other features add to the charm that Musashi already has, but talking about them here would cause far too long a blog post. The best thing I can recommend is picking up a copy if you happen upon it at a reasonable price somewhere, and playing it for yourself. If that idea doesn't appeal to you, then that's cool too... I guess. Though you're missing out on a great game...

Thanks for taking the time to read this, pal! Happy Gaming!

Next time on I've Been Playing for 40 Hours: The Klonoa series