Ever since my prolonged run-in with Parappa the Rapper, a game that constantly reminded me I didn't have the split-second reflexes of a 16-year-old any more, I've avoided rhythm games, where you have to press buttons in time to a beat, moving note, flash of light, or other audio/visual device to make something happen. Most of the games I've played put an emphasis on what happens when you flub up, with supposedly cute taunting sequences. Yeah, big deal. So they programmed a video game so primitively it was bound to trip me up before I finished it.

I gave Patapon a glance every time I checked out the local Gamestop, and checked out the back a few times. Done by Sony, the company who made the unforgettable Katamari games, the graphics looked as if they were designed by some of the same artists. GIven Katamari's unyielding levels of quality and fun, I finally gave in two days ago and bought the game for $20.

After hunting down a long-lost PSP battery and charging it so I could update to the latest PSP software, Patapon fired up to blaring synthesized bagpipes. From there, the Patapons' story was told in a browse through an ancient tome, complete with animated illustrations of the tiny creatures' past battles, and a holy pact the Great Patapon (you) signed with his or her people. The game even recreated the signing with a dramatic, poetic version of the pact -- just sign there.

The screen went dark, and game text implored me to help the tribe members who had gone out looking for the first Holy Drum. A narrow square flashed around the edges of the screen, showing me the rhythm I needed to make. I pressed the square button as directed, and the screen brightened a bit, but it faded back into darkness. A single tribeman looked at the screen, and implored me to drum more. I understood I needed to press the button in a faster pace, and the beaten Patapon revived. After he(?) thanked me profusely from the bottom of his little heart, I was further drafted as a would-be savior by playing the Holy Drum and starting the surving Patapons on a march to safety. A dragon began chasing the beleaguered little folk, and a humorous encounter with a Zigoton (main bad guy) patrol marched the Patapons back the way the Zigs came.

WIth the reawakening of the Great Patapon, the tribe had a firelit meeting in my honor. They would have had a feast, but they were all hungry! So after a brief meeting at the tribe's four-eyed monolith, we all went out to the Patata Plains and tried our luck hurling spears at the local wildlife. More training went on as I got a tour through the camp. I met the local itch-afflicted tree, Ubo Bon, and played a horn to get him to shake some stuff out.

From there I got a tour of the altar, where all the goodies we brought in from our battles were stored. In addition to helmets, weapons and shields, there were a few pieces of low-grade Cafeteria Meat lying around. Yum. And I got a tour of the Tree of Life, where defeated warriors could be revived if you brought their caps back from battle, and new ones could be made with branches, meat, stones, rare items, and currency (Kaching).

After a few introductory missions, I learned how to equip each unit. There's a handy Optimize feature dumping the best of what you have on whichever unit you want. There are melee fighters as well as spear and bow units. As the game is a 2-D march from left to right, you configure your troops one section at a time.

The most common part of the game, marching, is done by pressing pata-pata-pata-pon (square three times and circle). When you successfully do so, your army marches from left to right. If you fail, you get trash talk and "we're doomed" chat in word balloons. Yeah, thanks. A later addition is attacking (pon-pon-pata-pon, or circle-circle-square-circle), and another is defending (chaka-chaka-pata-pon, or triangle-triangle-square-circle). Each mini-song is catchy when you play it.

Thankfully, Patapon is a forgiving rhythm game; it lets you work in a little sloppiness without bringing your whole adventure to a halt. The Fever mode, on which they base a few things like powered-up attacks and Miracle Songs, comes after a combo of 10 successful mini-songs (marching, attacking, and so on). While I've goofed a few times before reaching 10 combos, the game has rarely been totally frustrating, with the flashing border and the sounds working hand in hand to encourage me back into the groove. The marching songs, heavily used as they are, avoid becoming repetitive through variations at each number of combo numbers. After combo four, for example, they sound eerily inspired by Gwen Stefani. And when you reach Fever mode with them, after they shout "feee-vaaa!" in their squeaky voices, one of them starts freestyling with some really weird, ululating vocals. It makes you want to keep it up, to see how else they can sing, especially as the benefits of the mode can be lost. Different areas lead to different Fever singing; the desert area music sounds Middle East-tinged.

In all it's a fun side-scroller/RPG hybrid, with a few secrets (what's the deal with that flower that pops up and sinks into the sand in the desert?), a dash of building strategy, and a lot of wacky graphics, old-skool army combat, and button-pressing. This is a game the first Parappa the Rapper always wanted to be.

Graphics: A. A combination of acidesque Katamari body types and trippy backgrounds.

Gameplay: A-. Solidly designed, even ornate in its concepts and graphics/controls implementation. A little tough here and there to find out what you're supposed to be doing, but that's part of the game's value: to keep you from burning through it in a single afternoon.

Controls: A. The only thing I would take points off for is the confuseability of Pon and Don buttons -- it lost me about an hour of trying to do the Rain Miracle.

Bosses: B. Well-animated, but all I've fought so far are dragons. I'll change this rating as the game progresses. The snail miniboss with a mysterious mark on its back, the one I had to follow through the desert, is a new take on the typical uber-baddies; it just moseys along as you beat on it until it passes the level's finish line and, unless your troops are buffed,.you have to end without defeating it. Despite bosses wobbling back and forth after taking several power hits at once, it's a downer not knowing if you're even making a dent with your troops.

Game mechanics: B+. Sometimes troops don't all move forward like you want; the front soldiers bunch up and move backward and off screen till everything is all together again. It gets a little annoying, and there's no way to move the troops forward or back with real strategic positioning. A plus, though, is that the defensive song still drives everyone to attack at the same time. Lots of stats for the RPG junkie, though unit creation is a little simplistic (two items and money).

Learning curve: A-. You'll wander about for a bit, but that's part of the fun of the game. Despite well-arranged eye candy, the trail grows cold at times, leading you to search on your own for the right path.

Overall: A-. Patapon is boiling over with originality while delivering an involving, but never really exhausting, series of thumb-testing battles. If you like games that defy the status quo, I think you'll like Patapon.