 Hiphoppa * Deluxe MC for Sony Playstation
The concept of overfamiliarity usually plays a large role in
our fascination with "knockoffs" – a term we use loosely to
encompass a number of similarly-based products, manufactured
either for competition, parody, homage, or to serve as a
cheaper alternative to something popular. By this definition, the Rutles are a
knockoff – granted, a very well-crafted knockoff that
more often than not, I'd rather
listen to than the Fab Four, largely due to overfamiliarity.
Other times, a knockoff is obviously just a pale imitation trying to score a few bucks while a given iron is hot. My interest is automatically piqued whenever I see a knockoff
whose sole raison d'etre is clearly to cash in and ride the coattails of
a current trend. Sure, everyone loves Saturday Night Fever, the official
soundtrack, but drop the needle on Saturday Night Fever – Not
the Official Soundtrack, featuring poorly re-recorded versions of the same songs, and you've got my brain churning.
The fact that the record was made to generate cash for some
budding "entrepenuer" is readily self-evident, but who, exactly, was the
target audience? Single mothers who couldn't afford the extra $4 to
purchase the real deal? Truckers at a convenience mart
who had to hear "Night on Disco Mountain" then and there, and
didn't care WHICH version it was? Faux smug twentysomethings
twenty years down the timeline?
I immediately fell in love with Parappa the Rapper as soon as I got my American mitts on him. Japan had already had Parappa fever for quite some
time, to the genuine "pheonomenon" level, selling over 750,000 copies. (In comparison, the game Pheonomenon,
based on the John Travolta vehicle, sold fewer than 500). So, it's
only natural that I'd become obsessed with getting my paws on the rumored
Hiphoppa * Deluxe MC, a game whose origins are still shady,
even with the assistance of the ever-omniscient Internet. Shortly after ordering my Playstation modchip from
modchip.com in
Scandinavia, my copy of Hiphoppa scored off a dubious seller on eBay arrived from South Korea with
no instructions whatsoever – just a freshly burned CD-R with "HH"
scrawled on it in Sharpie. Immediate bemusement, immediate
bafflement … immediate gratification.
The parallels between Hiphoppa and Parappa aren't in the same
vein as other classic bootleg ripoff duos such as Monkey Kong and
Donkey Kong. Those who were ever lucky to play
the former at their local tavern in the early-to-mid-80s
will tell you that the differences between the games were minute – gameplay, sound effects, and graphics were all the same, only
the order in which the levels appeared differed. Once again,
the concept of overfamiliarity was an integral factor in Monkey Kong's
"success." Hiphoppa is a ripoff on another scale entirely … the style
of play, graphics, sound, songs (which were especially key to Parappa's
success), and characters are ALL different, though obviously vaguely
similar to the original.
Hiphoppa's plot is not unlike Parappa's: a street-credible
dog-like character is trying to catch the eye of a cute young lass
(Suzie Q), and goes through a number of different experiences/stages
to win her love (a disappointing four stages as opposed to six on Parappa). For those not familiar
with either game, to get to the next level, you
have to repeat the rap of that scene's character by
pressing buttons at appropriate times.
Hiphoppa's songs are not nearly as rewarding as Parappa's – there's
nothing on the level of the "frog flea market" scene, for example –
but that's part of the whole "ripoff" appeal. The standout
tracks/levels on Hiphoppa include an alleyway confrontation with a bully
(an anthropomorphic bull, naturally) – very
fake Bone-Thugs-&-Harmony feel to that one – and a lesson in doing laundry (?)
with a poorly-defined, Charlie Brown-lookin' character named
Clean Mr. Dean (Hear audio).
I got the distinct feeling after playing Hiphoppa for a few
days that this project was very likely programmed by a handful of
Japanese high-school or college computer whizzes, perhaps to fulfill a class requirement. Programming credits at the end of
the game are written in kanji, which helps to keep me
blissfully in the dark, yet that act itself raises further questions: like, why are the credits in kanji, yet the majority of the game itself
in English? Granted, the flow is an often very broken English,
with lines like "I've got the sweetened smile, we are the kings of
the pile" leaving brows furrowed in disbelief. Hiphoppa doesn't
displace Parappa, a game that still ranks among my all-time
favorites, but for Parappamaniacs out there, this stands as
one amazing counterpart. Bonus points to Hiphoppa for wearing what looks like fake Adidas as well.
Review by Bradley Milton |