Goldentoe's Full Review: Um Jammer Lammy for PlayStation 1
When the PS2 came out and I knew I couldn't afford it for quite a while I went into a depression and figured on doing very little in the terms of video game reviews until I got one. Well the funk that I was in was quickly lifted when I went to Wal-Mart and found that about half of the original Playstations' games had dropped to $15 or less. Um Jammer Lammy had dropped to $5 (!!!) and I figured why not give it a shot, what was there to lose $5? I had the game "Bust-A-Groove" and had thoroughly enjoyed it despite the fact others would laugh at me for liking such a "girly" game (check BAG out).
"Bust-A-Groove" was a music based game that had followed many of the same ideals that the game "Parappa the Rapper" had created. What I found however was a game that is Busta-A-Groove-On-Crack. First off they base the story on the journey of the guitarist Lammy who has to get to her first concert in time, okay so far so good. On her way she has to fly a plane with a psychotic pilot, play a baby like a guitar and chain saw out a guitar from a tree and she even gets faxed to the concert all the while there are singing onions and dancing hammers and milk cartons. It's better that you don't know the full story since all it does is confuse. Then they load up the bizarre and colorful graphics singing about using chain saws and they even have a character that talks slow and has the munchies all the time.
The graphics in Um Jammer Lammy are to say the least unique. They have the same style graphics as its predecessor Parappa the Rapper. With all the characters being paper-thin cutouts. They look strange as they interact with the partially polygonal environments. They are very colorful and harmless looking. All and all they give the game a very kid friendly feel if not a ideal thing to watch for someone stoned out of their mind (I wouldn't know for sure since I've never touched any drugs).
The controls are excellent considering what they're used for. You use the square, triangle, X, circle buttons as well as the R1 and L1 shoulder buttons to play different notes and riffs. You can also use the select button and the R2 and L2 buttons to change the sound of what you play. All these controls give a great feeling of actually playing the music, but it comes nowhere close to the control you would get by actually playing an instrument (but this game is much easier to learn). You are usually trying to play along with the on screen cues of what to play that your "teacher" sets up, which is very hard to get right (even if you are right they'll say you aren't) so you're highly encouraged to just improvise some parts. If you get lucky enough to get a "COOL" rating the teacher will leave and you can just improvise a solo for as long as they say your doing good.
Needless to say that the sound in a game based on music is very important. Going into this game that seems so glaringly "kiddy" I was expecting a bunch of songs that would end up on "Teletubbies", or at best be some annoying pop music ripoffs. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a wide range of types of music that is all very well done, and on top of all that it is very original. It ranges from rock, metal (yes it actually has metal), punk, pop and several others. True the songs are about odd things like putting babies to sleep or cutting down trees. None of the lyrics in the game are offensive (no rapping about homosexuals and Vicatin here), so no one should have problems with the lyrics. The music is done so well it is probably the only music that actually works with duck quacks and bicycle horns. I'm afraid to admit this but I've found myself humming some of these songs when I'm away from the game.
The gameplay is overall very fun just with one large problem. While playing this game that would seem to be best suited for children, you will find that it has a migraine inducing difficulty level. First off if you decide to try to follow the on screen cues you will find you have to have very quick fingers and the ability to stay on time despite trying to find all the buttons so quickly. Even if you do they generally are extremely strict as to what was correct and you'll be left clueless why they thought it wasn't any good. The other option is to just try to improvise your parts of the song. The game still decides whether it was a good improv or not, but you'll never figure out what they are wanting. Here is a normally what you will be saying to yourself while you play the game "...Hey That Rocked! WHAT!!!! NEGATIVE 100 POINTS!!! .....(next musical riff)..... Wow that really sucked! WHAT!!!! PLUS 200 POINTS!! ARE YOU INSANE!!!". There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why they rate some good and some bad. Other than some of the strangeness about the way they rate some of the music you play the game is good overall. It is decently long while just playing threw the game as Lammy, but after you complete the game with Lammy you get to play threw again with Parappa (the star of the first game), which is a very different experience. On top of the one-player game they have also included a two-player co-op mode and versus modes. You can either play against/with the computer or one of those fleshy things that walk around and talk, if only I could think of what you called them. I've never had the opportunity to play with a human counterpart so I can't say how well it works, but it would seem to work just fine.
Overall this game still feels like it was created by someone who was sniffing glue. The music and concept are brilliant, with only some strange scoring and a nonsensical story holding it down. If you have played "Parappa The Rapper" or one of the "Bust-A-Groove" games and liked them then you should try this game for some more great music action.
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