Released for the PSP in Japan on December 7th, 2006, was a re-release of PaRappa The Rapper, the famous PSOne game, at a price of 3,980 Yen (the Yen equivalent of $34 or €25 or £17). The game has been re-released by Sony on the PSP in celebration of ten years. What’s more, the game is in English, and since the PSP is region free, this title is high on the list of import friendly games.
This isn’t just some lousy port of an old game either. The PSP re-release comes with wireless multiplayer for 1-4 players enabled, and a game sharing demo.
Held in a restaurant somewhere in Tokyo, Rodney Greenblat – illustrator and visual designer for Parappa The Rapper – gave around 70 randomly-chosen fans from his fansite the chance to meet and have their photo taken with him. Before the party he gave a little interview to Dengeki Online. “No,” he laughs when asked if he designed the visuals of the game with a Japanese audience in mind, “because the game was made completely in English. Even Matsuura-san (the game’s director) wanted to do it in English”. Regarding the PSP, he said “I think Parappa really suits a personal machine like the PSP. Please show Parappa to your friends or kids that don’t know about it yet.”
More good news for the PSP. Things might be starting to look up for Sony’s portable black beast, after all. With the recent release of Portable Ops, the upcoming remake of Final Fantasy Tactics, and now this, will the PSP finally come into its own, and maybe even be able to compete with the DS? Not very likely, but this is, at the very least, a start. Who knows what could happen?
[Via Pocket Gamer]
