In creating a sequel bursting with new features, Studio Japan has lost some of the essence that made Patapon such a simple, fun game. Sure, the core gameplay remains fundamentally unchanged and therefore there's a lot of enjoyment to be had, whether you're fresh to the series or an experienced pro. But the introduction of a clunky evolution tree that overcomplicates the levelling up system will inevitably test the patience of most players, as will gameplay mechanics – the Fever mode and Hero special move in particular – that are needlessly unforgiving. Patapon 2 is certainly not a disaster: the multiplayer mode, while light, is enjoyable enough and we'd certainly recommend giving it a go if you're a fan of the first game, but after such a promising start to the series IGN expected something really special in the sequel, and in that respect Patapon 2 falls short of the mark.
In the past, these games wouldn't have received a second lease of life. While it's sometimes easy to roll an eye and dismiss remasters as double-dipping, in the cases of the games that time (almost) forget, there's an undeniable joy in seeing a new audience discover them for the first time.
It's been well documented how gaming has struggled to hold onto its past, in terms of older games becoming inaccessible due to hardware moving on, in ways that film and music have never quite had to. With remasters like these, the hope is that foundations are being laid for these sort of cult curios to exist for a long while yet.
"Through a series of opinion articles on biweekly basis, I (Joaquim), Gil and Carla will present and share our experience with several Nipponese game series that have been marked over the years, whether they are, all It depends exclusively on the experiences we had with them and their origin. Thus, both can present an article a lot less known as Patapon, as other more popular, as Sonic, Final Fantasy or The Legend of Zelda."
Hardcore Gamer: If you haven’t checked out the PSP yet, you’re missing out on some great portable gaming.
I would just pay the difference and get a Vita. That + 1 month of plus = a far better deal than a PSP in this day and age.
Not to mention you can play most PSP games on the Vita, with much better controls, screen, and filtering options.
"I would just pay the difference and get a Vita. That + 1 month of plus = a far better deal than a PSP in this day and age"
And yet I clicked on the article as I was thinking of selling my Vita for a PSP because my PSP just broke. I also have 42 UMDs and have the cable to hook it to the TV and I think that is a better deal than what I have and what I can see going on in the future for the Vita ATM.
The offer is in the USA and not Canada by the looks of it though.
i cant disagree. the psp is a fine gaming machine and i play a lot of psp games on my vita. id get another one if i didnt want to spend that 100 on ps1 and psp games.
"And yet I clicked on the article..."
Do you really need to one up my opinion with yours? I submitted this article because I know the world doesn't revolve around what I believe and I said "I would" not "you should". There will be situations where this makes sense (existing backlog) and situations where this doesn't make sense (no psp).
Well, you could always put CFW on it.. then download emulators and have a portable arcade machine.
For the past month, and even more so in the last few days since PS Vita slim has been announced here in the UK theres been some really good deals on it £130-140 with a 16gb memory card.
same, mainly becvause of all the games PS+ puts out for PSVita. Feels like wasted potential on my part!
I love my PSP though. Favorite traveling companion.
