There’s a special kind of nostalgia when you pick up a game you thought had been left behind in the PSP era. For me, Patapon was one of those titles that lived in the back of my memory. With Bandai Namco reviving Patapon 1+2 as Replay, I wondered if this quirky game that blends rhythm and strategy has aged well for old fans like me and newcomers alike.
In any case, the setup hasn’t changed much. You don’t play as a character on the battlefield, but as a godlike presence issuing commands to your Patapon army through drumbeats. Each face button on your controller represents a different drum, and chaining them together in time with the beat translates to orders: move forward with “pata pata pata pon”, attack with “pon pon pata pon”, and so on. Miss a beat and your little tribe stumbles; keep the combos going and you’ll trigger Fever mode, powering your Patapon army up.
Not your typical rhythm game
Image: Bandai Namco
Playing Patapon again, what struck me most was how little the core loop needed changing. Missions are short, often just a few minutes long, which makes sense given their PSP origins. You’ll repeat them plenty, farming Ka-Ching (the game’s currency) and materials to upgrade or spawn new unit types. It sounds grindy on paper, but in practice it works because each attempt is a quick rhythm puzzle. Mess up, and you’re back in very quickly. Succeed, and you’re rewarded with a new unit type to experiment with. The grind is still there, but each missions are bite-sized and easy to put down, take a break, and retry when you fail – and you’ll fail a lot of times.
And this is where Patapon sits in a curious place. It’s not exactly a rhythm game in the in the traditional sense. The rhythms are functional, a language that bridges you and your army. The music exists, sure, but it’s more call-and-response than catchy tunes you’ll hum after. The drums aren’t here to entertain your ears, they’re here to keep your army alive. It’s strategy dressed up in rhythm, rather than rhythm with a dash of strategy.
That distinction also explains some of its frustrations. Fever mode, for instance, is powerful but requires absolute consistency. Miss a single beat and it’s gone, which can be brutal when you’re juggling both rhythm and battlefield awareness. There were times I felt robbed of a combo because the game didn’t quite read my timing right, even though I was sure I’d pressed it on beat. There’s an option to tweak input delay, but the game doesn’t make it easy for you to discover this. In a game this rhythm-dependent, that feels like an oversight.
But when Patapon flows, it really flows. There’s a genuine satisfaction in getting into that zone where the beats become second nature and your army charges forward like a living metronome of spears and arrows. Failures are usually your fault, and successes feel earned because you kept the rhythm alive. That loop remains addictive in a way I didn’t expect to hold up after all these years.
Still very charming
Image: Bandai Namco
If there’s one part of Patapon that hasn’t aged a day, it’s the game’s visuals. The silhouetted Patapons themselves are adorable in their own odd way, like comic-book mascots brought to life. Watching them bounce, march and cheer to your inputs always make my partner go “oohs”. And the environments – deserts painted in burnt oranges, forests in deep blues, volcanic backdrops glowing in reds – are timeless. I thought they’ve aged pretty well, actually. Hooking up my Switch 2 to the TV, those colours pop even more, though handheld still feels like the most natural way to enjoy it, just as it once was.
Performance is solid across both docked and handheld, with no real compromise either way. It’s just that Patapon feels more at home in short bursts, something you dip into during a commute or while winding down. If the name isn’t obvious enough, Patapon 1+2 Replay also has added value since it’s essentially two games (the original and sequel) in one package. Patapon 2 isn’t radically different from Patapon 1 as it mostly just adds more unit types and some quality-of-life refinements. Having both together gives you a broader view of how the series evolved.
Quick thoughts
Image: Bandai Namco
Patapon 1+2 Replay is (still) one of the strangest games that blend rhythm and strategy in a unique way. And despite some of its flaws and it being a product of its time, it’s surprisingly easy to slip back into. For old fans, this is a welcome reunion. For newcomers, it’s a window into one of Sony’s most inventive PSP ideas that still feels unique today.
Patapon 1+2 Replay is available now on the PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
