Booting up Patapon 2 for the first time, you might find yourself wondering if there wasn’t some sort of mix-up at the factory and your precious UMD was accidentally encoded with the original game instead. It’s hard to shake the stinging sense of déjà vu as you trawl through a series of almost identical menu screens, accompanied by those same familiar tunes. Patapon 2 sends you right back to the start. You are once again forced to accumulate a powerful army, gather materials and equip them for battle, but most importantly seek out the sacred drums once again and learn the almighty chants of the Patapon. Pon Pon Pata Pon!

It’s easy to brush these early stages of the game as merely restabilising the game’s foundations. Unlocking Yaripon and Tatepon first and foremost comes a logical and fundamental step in establishing an army. As you find yourself once again fending off Dodonga and learning Miracles in the same order once again It feels almost certainly like the game follows its predecessor to a tee. In addition to the game’s plentiful reuse of animations, sound and graphics, you can’t help but feel you’ve been duped by the proverbial ‘2’ at the end of the title to repurchase the same experience all over again. Then again, the original Patapon was fantastic title so why is that such a problem?

For those that missed last year’s number one rhythm-based strategy title on a handheld console, Patapon saw you sign away life to guide the cutest walking eyeballs you ever did meet to the mysterious Earthend so that they can achieve their ultimate goal and gaze upon “IT”. With the sacred war drums in hand, it was upon you muster up rhythms using the four face buttons, each representing a different drum, to deliver your orders as your army echo your commands through chant. The rhythmic command system served surprisingly well, placing as much emphasis on maintaining the beat as delivering the right commands. Adorable, innovative and addictive, Patapon saw you grow to customise and cherish your army on your journey to Earthend. When the Patapon finally reached the coast in their debut adventure, they anti-climactically realised they needed to take to the seas and continue their journey to reach the true Earthend to find “IT”. Pre-planned sequel much?

The question must be asked, what really is there that’s new to be seen in Patapon 2? At its core, Patapon 2 doesn’t differ much from its predecessor. To the untrained eye, the two games are nigh on identical on first impressions. It takes a while for any new features to shine their way on through, but come as more as a refinement than a straight up overhaul.


The key focus in Patapon 2 is the inclusion of the new Hero Patapon. Signified by their colourful masks, the Hero figure effectively serves as the leader of your army as they head forth into battle.

The Hero character plays on one of the original’s greatest strengths, the emotional attachment to your army. The Hero character is fully customisable to your choosing, able to adopt any class type you desire. Each different hero class has their own unique special attack, which rewards players for having faultless rhythm. An extension of Fever mode essentially, your Hero’s special attack is activated by chaining beats together with perfect rhythm. The special attacks are a godsend. Be it defensive in the case of the Tatepon, creating an impermeable protective shield, or all out offensive in the case of the Yumipon, unleashing a flurry of arrows at the enemy, the special attacks make the precision timing all the worthwhile. On one hand, the Hero Patapon introduce an added complexity that can be disheartening for new-comers, but on the other their implementation encourages you to maintain perfect rhythm and develop a character uniquely crafted to suit your strengths and weaknesses. So long as you’ve got good rhythm (a necessity for a rhythm title you’d presume), the Heropon should come as more a blessing than a hindrance.

The introduction of the Hero character also leads to one of Patapon 2’s most exciting new features, the addition of the long desired multiplayer. Rather than pitting armies against one another (as would seem the most logical option…), multiplayer allows you and three friends to take your hero characters out on the battlefield, transporting mysterious eggs through boss battles to retrieve the rare materials contained within. Short, timed battles of about ten minutes, multiplayer works great for simply jumping straight into the action without the usual careful preparation. You can also play with three non-Patapon 2 owning friends through game sharing mode or employ the skills of AI-controlled Heroes, which is a nice way of ensuring that this mode wont be sorely overlooked. The only disappointment is perhaps that multiplayer is not supported online, but then the joy in audibly communicating chants with friends is perhaps the main reason to play multiplayer. Nothing would be worse than a comrade who wants to ‘Pata’ when all you want to do is ‘Pon’.


Another key change in Patapon 2 is the introduction of the evolution tree, which eliminates the trial and error approach of combining materials to form new Patapon warriors seen in the original title. The statistics and required materials of each Rarepon type are clearly indicated this time around, with Patapon now progressing through stages as the evolve through different forms. By progressing through the different stages of evolution you not only create new Rarepon, but also unlock additional unit types including newcomers like the Robopon, Toripon and Mahopon, as well as old favourites like the Kibapon and Dekapon. It also means you don’t have to go through the heartbreaking process of euthanising a Patapon each time you want to experiment with a new type of Rarepon, enhancing the emotional attachment you feel with your individual warriors.

The biggest changes to Patapon 2 are perhaps the subtlest. Gentle tweaks to the game structure have been implemented, not to make the game easier, but simply more forgiving. When Fever mode is activated, the Fever logo now pulsates in time with the beat. When your rhythm starts to slip, a warning flashes on screen before disappearing for good. A timer has also been included when Miracles are used, a handy reminder so you don’t find yourself burnt to a crisp in the scorching desert sun when your ingenious rain dance gives up the ghost. To further ease any frustration, difficulty selection has also been added, to help the rhythmically challenged. The game is not entirely perfect as yet though and a few lingering issues remain unfixed, namely that there is still no way of pausing the action without putting the whole console to sleep.

Patapon 2 sits comfortably halfway between an upgrade and a sequel. While not a necessary update for the series, it subtly refines the game’s mechanics and introduces a selection of welcome new inclusions. Patapon 2 may lack the same startling ingenuity and innovation of its predecessor, but it justifies the core mechanics are far more than a gimmick. Uninspired, but arguably the better game. Newcomers are probably best off starting with the original title first, but Patapon 2 welcomes new and returning players alike with open arms.

Not an essential purchase, but one that diehard fans will love all the same.