Home

Um Jammer Lammy

Platform: Playstation Release Date: 1999 Players: 1-2

Every once in a while when a game is a big success a spin off is formed. Um Jammer Lammy may look as good as Parappa the Rapper but if you keep looking you will see it is just a shallow reflection of a great game.

Um Jammer Lammy is about a lamb named Lammy (go figure) that is part of the band Milkcan. She has a big concert coming up and on the day of it she wakes up and realizes she is going to be late! As she is rushing to the concert, whining all the way, she is flung into many strange situations. And that is pretty much the whole story. Unlike the Parappa games Lammy sure isn't that interesting of a stand-alone character. She pretty much just whines about being late and cluelessly gets into big trouble.

And suddenly the onion attacks!

Since this is a music game you can expect the simon says gameplay. But what you wouldn't expect is just how horrible the gameplay is. The game is hard, not the good hard but the cheap @%$# hard. The game will tell you that you missed a note when you clearly hit it right on and if you "miss" a few notes at the end of the song and go down to the "bad" rating then you have to start over again. But apparently the developers knew this would happen to you and made each song 2 minutes long or less. Some songs can take half a dozen tries before you beat them but thankfully they are painlessly short.

NEVER! NEVER I SAY!

The levels take place in areas such as a in an airplane and on an exotic island. What is by far the creepiest level is the "birthmart" that is having a "after school sale". Right after Lammy ate way too much pizza she is grabbed by a strange bug thing and is mistaken for being in labor. I still have no idea why the centipede thing barfs all over her all the time and I am still too spooked to figure it out.But as bad as some levels are there are 2 levels (the 2nd and the last one) that are almost as good as the levels in the Parappa games. They are easily the highlights of the game and help you forget about some of the other levels for a while. Once you finish the 7th and last level you are able to play as Parappa himself. Sadly this is too little too late. It feels like this was added in the last minute and it makes no sense why Parappa would be in these levels. Plus they were made for Lammy's guitar and rapping the horrible lyrics is bad enough. If you have a friend that won't mind playing Um Jammer Lammy then you can do a whole bunch of options such as a Lammy & Parappa co-op, or versus. But it really doesn't add that much to the game.

Like Parappa before it, Um Jammer Lammy has a destinct paper-doll like look to it. While the game doesn't really take advantage of its unique look like the Parappa series, it still looks great today. The FMVs (Full Motion Video) look great and are one of the game's greatest strengths. They are very entertaining and are occasionally funny and always strange. Not much happens in game though. Characters move around slightly during the songs but not much to look at. There isn't much to talk about since you will be mostly staring at the on-screen cues but what is on the screen looks very good.

Hoedown at the redneck club

Being a music game, it is obvious that this is the most important section of the game. But this is probably the biggest dissapointment in the game. Aside from 2 of the songs, the music is horrendous. Especially the 2nd to last song, it sounds like a bunch of strambled words and noises and hurts the ears. Don't be surprised if you have a strong urge to mute the TV. The lyrics in most of the songs make no sense and makes you wonder how they could mess up so bad. Thankfully Lammy's guitar sounds great and isn't very choppy, a problem that has plagued the Parappa series. Unlike other music games, this is not a soundtrack that you would enjoy if you bought the CD. While it does have some good things about it, such as the guitar, the audio mostly isn't that enjoyable as it should be for a music game. It isn't so bad that you won't listen to it, except the 2nd to last level, but it isn't great either.

Yes the truth does hurt sometimes

Like most games, the replay value depends on how much you enjoyed it and if you want to play it again or not. Most likely after you have finished the game you won't be that eager to play it all over again as Parappa but at least the game tried to extend its life. It doesn't take that long to beat the game, about 2-3 hours because of all the retries, but replaying the good songs does help make the game last longer. For a music game it's not that bad but when compared to other games it is pretty short. If you like the 2 player mode then you can expect to add a couple of hours to the already short time span.

Closing Comments

Due to my love of the Parappa series, I thought this spin-off would be a sure fire hit for me but sadly it was not. If I didn't get the game for 2 bucks then I would have been pretty ticked off. The graphics and the FMVs are very good and add some personality to the game but it's too bad the songs are so bad. If you find the game cheap you might as well pick it up and play it because of its weird story but overall steer clear from this game if it is over $10.

Gameplay: 5/10 Graphics:8/10 Audio: 6/10 Replay Value: 4/10 Overall: 6/10

Cons: Most songs are bad A shame to the Parappa name Creepy at times Bad hit detection for notes

Pros: Great graphics Strange FMVs Some good songs