Patapon

As special as it was ten years ago, Patapon Remastered is a glorious example of when art, music and gameplay coalesce into something far more intoxicating than its sum parts would have you expect.

Back on PlayStation 3 this was a unique as well as challenging mixture of rhythm game and realtime tactics. Thankfully nothing has changed. It feels and plays as good as always.

There's been nothing quite like this conducting-meets-combat mashup since its original release, and it's still as wonderfully barmy and deeply moreish as ever. [Oct 2017, p.94]

Ten years after it debuted on a handheld a fifth the size of a PS4, Patapon remains an utterly unique experience. For the life of me I couldn't tell you what lessons it could hold for future games, but I'm glad it's in a position for more folks to enjoy all over again.

Patapon’s primal rhythmic challenges and its keen real-time strategy blend together to create an unusual yet still unique game that’s as charming as ever. It does however, feel better suited to being played on a handheld than on the big screen.

Patapon Remastered is a worthy remastering of a classic game that deserves to be checked out. If you can’t take an intense difficulty curve, however, you may find yourself frustrated at a lack of progress early in on the campaign. Sticking with it, and getting used to Patapon’s many mechanics being used, however, will likely result in a slow but steady mastering of all your drums.

This game is better on a handheld system, but it's visual style does look excellent on a bigger screen. The game mixes music and RPG elements perfectly.

Patapon Remastered entertains just like the original did. Its looks fantastic and plays away just right. The hunting part however is still far too stretching. Nevertheless, Patapon is a game you have to play.

It's still a great game, and visually it hasn't aged at all, but it feels like a missed opportunity to add something new or add some other titles of the series. In any case, a great way to enjoy Patapon.

Patapon was a huge success on PSP due to it's beautiful gameplay and marvelous idea. After 10 years the game is still really enjoyable but this remaster just bring a new resolution and nothing else to our monitors. A collection with all the three chapters would be much more appreciated.

If you’re new to the game then this is the definitive version, even if it still possesses the design flaws the original had, but make sure you come into Patapon knowing full well what you’re getting yourself into.

Patapon Remastered is a decent new version of a great PSP game.

Gorgeous eye-candy (mostly) and tunes that stay with you for decades. But years of rhythm games make the once revolutionary Patapon feel simplistic. [October 2017, p76]

Patapon Remastered is let down by an input lag issue and some low resolution assets ruining an otherwise fantastic game.

Ten years later Patapon is still an original game thanks to its rhythmic and strategic gameplay methods and the beautiful visual style.

Patapon aged very well and it’s nice to play it now on the PS4. This remastered version is just a decent way to enjoy the rhythm and strategy of the PSP classic with polished graphics.

Patapon is still a great game on PS4 and its rhythm sticks to you like it did on PSP 10 years ago. If you don't know the classic, here's the perfect chance to let yourself get entangled with its war drums, aesthetics and originality, as long as you're up for a not so competitive price.

Thought it suffers from input lag, Patapon brings back old-school rhythm and RTS genre back to the Playstation 4 with its fancy soundtrack and graphics.

Patapon Remastered is a decent port of the madcap PSP title. It’s a unique, challenging game with real personality that fans of rhythm and/or strategy will have fun with over its ten hour campaign. Difficulty spikes and some well hidden key items can put a dampener on things, while the audio mix isn’t quite up to scratch. Fortunately, the fun, simplistic gameplay is compelling enough that you won’t be too worried about its flaws. Fans will love the trip down memory lane, but we also hope newcomers will drum up the enthusiasm to give this a go.

Even though we didn't experience any input lag during our playtime with Patapon Remastered, we're not fully satisfied with this remaster, which adds nothing in term of new content and doesn't alleviate the little problems the original had. Still, Patapon is as fun as it was ten years ago.

The mix of rhythm action and strategy gameplay is still as inspired as ever, with visuals that polish up impressively well on the PlayStation 4.

Like the original, Patapon Remastered proves that rhythm games can hide many other genres inside to have a fun as well as complex game.

Quotation forthcoming.

Patapon Remastered most certainly looks and plays the part, shining beautifully on the PS4 with zero hiccups in gameplay during my experience. Due to the repetitive grindy nature, however, it is best left bookending longer play sessions of other games, and is ill-suited to a home console, unless you could take it on the go as well, as with the Switch.

Patapon’s charm is timeless but the PS4 edition underlines the game’s drawbacks, especially tedious grind necessary to progress, which was not so painful when you played the game in short sessions on a handheld. [11/2017, p.77]

If you enjoyed Patapon back for the PSP, it’s a safe bet to say you'll still enjoy it in this glorious HD remaster. The remaster is completely barebones and features no new special features, which is kind of disappointing. I also wonder why they didn’t just remaster all three Patapon titles and release a pack, similarly to what they did with the Crash N-Sane Trilogy. The Patapon titles got better with each new sequel and going back to the original can seem like a bit of a step back, but I still recommend Patapon overall. Patapon is a great looking, affordable digital remaster for rhythm fans, and of course it plays and holds up much better than PaRappa the Rapper.

Patapon Remastered is a broken game and a frustrating experience. What a pity!