UmJammer Lammy

UmJammer Lammy
Developer(s)	NaNaOn-Sha Namco (Arcade version)
Publisher(s)	Sony
Designer(s)	Masaya Matsuura
Platform(s)	Arcade, PlayStation, Playstation Network
Release date(s)	Arcade JP 1999 PlayStation EU 1999 JP March 18, 1999 NA July 31, 1999 PlayStation Network JP February 27, 2008 NA October 1, 2009
Genre(s)	Rhythm
Mode(s)	Single player Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: E (Everyone)
Media/distribution	CD-ROM

UmJammer Lammy (ウンジャマ・ラミー, Un Jama Ramī) is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony for the PlayStation video game console in 1999. It is a follow up to 1996's PaRappa the Rapper. On September 1, 2009, the ESRB rated the game for release on the Playstation Network for PlayStation 3 and PSP; the game was released on the PlayStation Network on September 30, 2009.

Like the original PaRappa game, Um Jammer Lammy features the hand-drawn, paper-thin characters of Rodney Alan Greenblat. Improvements include multiplayer mode, higher-quality cutscenes, and character lip-sync.

In a joint creation with Namco, Sony of Japan released an arcade version of UmJammer Lammy which features updated visuals and a differing song list. Furthermore, similar to Konami's Guitar Freaks series, the game boasts a guitar-shaped specialty controller which gives the player a better sensation of playing a real guitar.

Plot

On the night before Lammy's band, MilkCan, is due for their first concert, Lammy has a dream where she's performing a rocking stage show with Chop Chop Master Onion (the lyrics here foreshadow the rest of the game), only to realise she had been playing a vacuum cleaner the whole time. As Lammy laments how she is nothing without her guitar, Chop Chop tells her that, despite losing his dojo, it remains in his mind, complete with a casino. With the words "Dojo, Casino, It's all in the mind," Chop Chop assures Lammy that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it.

Upon waking up, Lammy realises she only has 15 minutes to get ready for her live concert alongside her bandmates. As she finds the roads blocked off by a fire, her impatience leads the fire Chief Puddle to get her to help put out the fire. As she becomes confused by this situation, she spots a casino billboard and remembers Chop Chop's words, picturing the fire hose as a guitar and gaining the confidence to put the fire out. After putting out the fire, Lammy ends up eating so much pizza that she is confused for a pregnant lady and, upon digestion, is forced by Nurse Cathy Pillar to help put hundreds of new born babies to bed. After spotting babies playing roulette, she plays one like a guitar, seranading them to sleep.

Lammy starts to leave, but slips on a skateboard and lands on a low-flying plane. Here, she has to help schizophrenic pilot Captain Fussenpepper safely pilot the plane. However, upon exiting the plane, Lammy discovers she has left her guitar on board and has to build a new one with help from Paul Chuck.

As Lammy rushes out of the store, she ends up slipping on a banana peel, which kills her and sends her to Hell (In the US version, her clothes snag on a door, and is slingshot onto an island). The manager for a nearby Teriyaki Yoko concert recruits her to fill in for the regular guitarist. Lammy explains her problem to Yoko, and she offers her the chance to get to her gig, should she perform well. After successfully giving a good performance, Lammy escapes through Yoko's supersonic transportation device, but not before running into her evil twin, Rammy. After a madcap dash, Lammy arrives at the gig to find that Katy and Ma-san had also been running into similar problems too. Together, they perform at their live concert and rock the stage.

In Parappa's side-story, Katy asks Parappa, PJ Berri and Sunny Funny to help prepare for her live concert. This inspires Parappa and PJ to start up their own rock and roll band, which kind of falls short due to PJ's idea of what's considered 'rock and roll'.

Characters

Main article: List of PaRappa the Rapper characters

MilkCan

Lammy-the game's protaganist. The left-handed guitarist for MilkCan. She has a knack for being shy and showing up almost late for gigs, but is known to rock the stage when she has her guitar in hand.

Katy Kat-MilkCan's bassist and lead singer. She's fashionable and confident.

Ma-San-The drummer; short in stature and powerful in drumming, and the only notable character who doesn't speak English, instead speaking her own unique language. However, the others always understand what she says.

Singers

Chop Chop Master Onion reprises his role from PaRappa in Stage 1 as a mentor and teacher. He mentions that he has lost his dojo, but remains mentally connected to it in his mind; it even has a casino in his mind. His advice gives Lammy the confidence to play no matter what the situation is.

Chief Puddle is the local firefighter, and the teacher for Stage 2.

Cathy Pillar runs a maternity ward, but has a barfing problem. She is the teacher on Stage 3.

Captain Fussenpepper is an airplane pilot who has a split personality: he is either calm, flaccid, and a bit senile, or loud, angry, and the personality of a drill seargent; his personality switches back and forth whenever he is clunked on the head. He is the teacher on Stage 4.

Paul Chuck builds and sells a custom guitar with Lammy's help, who takes the word "anything" seriously. He disapproves of Joe Chin brand chainsaws and jokers. He is the teacher on Stage 5.

Teriyaki Yoko is a diva performer who tours unusual venues like Hell (Japanese version) or a seemingly deserted island (US version). She gets a bad temper if anyone screws up during a performance. She is the teacher on Stage 6.

Misc and returning characters

Rammy-the evil Lammy, also constantly late for gigs. Lammy is blamed for anything bad that happens to Rammy, including no beeper messages.

Gameplay

Level four of the game.

UmJammer Lammy follows on from the gameplay of PaRappa the Rapper, albeit with a stronger focus on guitar playing. Each of the levels sees Lammy playing alongside a teacher, with play alternating between the teacher and Lammy. Symbols appear on a scrolling score at the top of the screen, with an icon depicting whose turn it is. After the teacher sings a line and the player's controller vibrates, the player must hit the corresponding buttons to make Lammy play a response. The player can either follow the symbols exactly, or attempt to freestyle to earn some extra points. Successfully performing freestyle lines successfully will allow the player to advance from the normal Good rank to Cool, in which the teacher leaves the screen and the player can freestyle however they feel until the end of the song, or if their freestyling isn't good enough, they return to Good. If the player successfully inputs a code displayed on the loading screen whilst in Cool Mode, they will enter Fever Mode where massive points can be earned. However, if the player performs badly, they will drop to Bad and subsequently Awful rank, and will need to perform well to climb back up to Good. The song is failed if the player drops below Awful, or if the player is in Bad or Awful rank when the level ends. The player progresses by reaching the end of the song in either Good or Cool rank.

There are two levels of difficulty: Normal is the default level, as pictured, with specific buttons to press and saving after each level. Easy is a practice level for stages 1-6, where any button can be pressed on the line, but there is no option to save.

In Lammy's storyline, the start of Stage 3 onwards unlocks various sound morphers that can be selected with the Select button whilst playing as Lammy or Rammy. These morphers affect the sound of the guitar playing, with certain morphers further modified by using an analogue controller. The player may also use the back shoulder buttons (L2 and R2) to use the guitar's wammy bar.

At the beginning of the game, the only mode available is Lammy's Solo mode. After clearing a level with Lammy (except Stage 1), the player unlocks Co-op and Vs. modes for Lammy and Rammy. These modes can be played with a second player, or one player with a computer partner (with the option to use one controller for both available after completing all Co-op levels), controlling Lammy (purple line) and Rammy (black line) with play alternating between the two. In Co-op mode, the two players must play harmoniously to progress, with points and rank changes determined by how well they both performed (eg. if Player 1 performs slightly well on a line but Player 2 performs really badly on the next, the result will be a negative score and a rank drop.) Conversely in Vs. mode, players must try to outperform each other, with points earned or depleted depending on the differences between each player's scores for each set of lines. Completing Lammy's solo mode also unlocks PaRappa's Solo mode, in which players control PaRappa the Rapper as he uses rap skills in his own interpretations of each of the stages. Clearing his mode unlocks more two player modes in which Player 1 plays as Lammy whilst Player 2 plays as PaPappa.

While Stage 1 can only be played as Lammy, the arcade version has an option of playing this stage as PaRappa. The soundtrack contains both versions as well.

Clearing all of the levels in all the modes unlocks a bonus mode where players can listen to the various songs, without the riffs or raps, and the characters on sceen can perform actions with the face buttons.

Arcade version

The arcade version of the game, entitled Um Jammer Lammy: NOW! is played using a unique guitar controller. The buttons for Triangle, Circle, X and Square are represented by strummers in the middle of the guitar, the L button is represented by a slider at the top of the guitar, and a scratch disc at the bottom represents the R button. The gameplay is identical to the console version, albeit some of the game's lines are changed to make it easier to play with the guitar controller.

Censorship

Several changes were made for the game's North American release, which are not found in the Japanese and PAL versions of the game. The most notable change revolves around Stage 6, where Lammy no longer dies and goes to Hell, but instead snags her pants on a door handle and winds up on a volcanic island. This results in some different graphics for Lammy during this stage, as well as the following cutscene, as well as a slight change in lyrics in the first stage. Lyrics were also changed in various stages, such as references to the devil and chopping trees down for fun.

Music

A single release of one of the game's songs, "Got to Move! (Millenium Girl)", was released in Japan on April 21, 1999. Three soundtracks inspired by the game have been released in Japan by SPE Visual Works. The game's original soundtrack was released on November 20, 1999. An album, MilkCan, Make It Sweet was released on June 19, 1999, which features variations on the original songs, the majority of which feature vocals by Michelle Burks as Katy Kat. Finally, Parappa & PJ: I Scream!, which features remixed versions of the game's songs with original lyrics performed by Dred Foxx as Parappa, was released on September 22, 2009.

Reception

Praise and criticism

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	83% (21 reviews)
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame
Computer and Video Games	5 out of 10
Game Revolution	B
GameSpot	8.4 out of 10
IGN	8.6 out of 10

The game was given generally favorable reviews, receiving around an 83% on GameRankings. GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann commented on the game's sound, graphics and originality and gave it an 8.4, stating, "While the game isn't a strict sequel, it does take place in the same universe, with the same graphics style and nearly identical gameplay. ... [T]he additional levels, the two-player option, and the inclusion of the Parappa remixes in Um Jammer Lammy add a value that Parappa the Rapper simply can't touch. But keep in mind that the game doesn't stray far from the formula, and the game's difficulty will put off those who never mastered Parappa. So, to put it another way, if you didn't play Parappa to death and love every minute of it, you might as well skip out on Um Jammer Lammy." Similarly, IGN gave it an 8.6 and commented on the gameplay, story, graphics and sound, stating, "If you can look past all the crazy effects and wild animations, the plot isn't as funny, or as cute, as Parappa the Rapper's. In fact, it was kind of bland. ... But the rest of the game is sweet. ... Um Jammer Lammy is a great addition to the Parappa cosmos... [and] has so much more that Parappa didn't have." Game Revolution also gave it a B, calling it "a cool game, if for no other reason than to entertain sufficiently inebriated party guests. It's easily the most insane mish-mash of psychadelia [sic] yet seen on a console, and at least deserves a shot (or the whole bottle, even)", but criticized the story, calling it "the most obtuse, disjointed, drug-induced mess of a story that has ever been conceived, period." (the site even went so far as to rate the game as #40 on the list of the Top 50 Worst Game Names Ever).

The alternate U.S. version of Lammy's Stage 6, however, drew mixed praise and criticism. IGN called it "a far off island [that] has that Japan-idol-talk influence... So if you were expecting to see one of the levels being in hell, well, it's not in there." Similarly, GameSpot's Gerstmann made a later update on his March 26, 1999, review by commenting on the U.S. alterations to Stage 6, exclaiming, "It doesn't really affect the game too much, since much of the game doesn't make a lot of sense to begin with." Game Vortex, however, criticized the alteration, calling it "the only unfortunate thing" and stating "Did I miss some logical leap? I think our kids can handle such a basic concept as Hell."

Awards

• E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game, Outstanding Achievement in Sound

External links

• UmJammer Lammy at GameFAQs
• UmJammer Lammy at GameSpot
• UmJammer Lammy at IGN
• UmJammer Lammy at the Open Directory Project
• Game highlights by The Rubber Chicken
• UmJammer Lammy Stage 6 intros video (Japan/Europe version vs. U.S. version) from YouTube