Half a bottle of tequila and Parappa the Rapper

[Maximus]

Back in 1996 or so I was sharing a house in London with some friends. It was a Friday night and everyone was pretty much broke, so we decided to all pitch in for a big bottle of cheap tequila, some beers and rent some games for the communal house PSX from the local video store.

By the time we got to the video store we'd already polished off the beers and were feeling pretty good, we flicked through the games but all of the 'popular' titles were already rented out for the evening. Then I picked up the box for Parappa the Rapper, read the back and announced 'Oh Hell Yes!!! We're getting this one!!'

So we all wandered back to the house and the disk got dumped on the coffee table where it sat for another hour or two while everyone chatted and proceeded to tear into the tequila.

Finally I pick up the disk, wander over to the TV and fire up the PSX with Parappa in the drive. Everyone else was still yapping in the back room and kitchen while I sat mezmorized by the story screens that open the game thinking to myself through a slightly foggy brain 'WTF is going on?'

Then I started into level 1 with Chop Chop Onion Master in his Dojo and my gaming life changed forever!!! Never in my gaming history have I laughed and cried so hard while trying to play a game, even more so watching other pretty wasted people control our Hip Hop Hero. The Parappa party lasted long into the early hours with everyone in the house giving it a go, that will always be one of my fondest console gaming memories.

So just to bring back a little of the magic, here are two of my favorite songs/levels in the game...


Stage two driving the car


Stage three down at the market

[UFO]

I remember this game ... it came free with my PSONE...

I too was slightly disturbed by the unfolding action before me, but enjoyed many a game in between Tomb Raider!

Thanks for those memories!

Sent from my GT-I9100

[404]

Yep, there was always a handful of games where I was absolutely convinced that the developers were either heavily on drugs or invented new kinds of drugs in home made lab on their spare time.

This was one of those drug lab games.

[Le Chuck]

I picked up this game about half way through my freshman semester at college.  Everybody always kept their doors open and we had a very communal floor (coed natch).  I can 100% credit this game with starting one of the most epic dorm parties to have ever happened.  Within an hour of playing we had the room filled with people shouting, giggling, and yelling. Eventually the game was lost in the noise of the party but I owe some really awesome memories to Parappa.  When Um Jammer Lammy came out we tried it with her but she didn't have the same magic, Parappa was good for about a month. 

"In the rain or in the snow, I got the funky funky flow"

[jdbailey1206]

Yep, there was always a handful of games where I was absolutely convinced that the developers were either heavily on drugs or invented new kinds of drugs in home made lab on their spare time.

This was one of those drug lab games.

I don't think drugs were involved in the invention of this game.  Just like Maximus said...A few beers and a bottle of tequila and a whole bunch of free time.   

Either way good memories.  The only game that could beat this one in all out wackyness would probably have to be Conkers Bad Fur Day on N64.

[marioxb]

Hey now, I never got into Um Jammer Lammy, but we can't forget Parappa 2 on PS2. I don't drink or do any kind of smoking or drugs, but these games are STILL awesome to me!

[Drnick]

I think Parappa the rappa and Bust a Groove were the games that got the most love in our household.  Even know we will ocassionally plug the PSOne in and fire up a game.  I can ace Parappa it until it comes to baking that cake 

[Le Chuck]

Parappa doesn't really get interesting until you've played through once and can start free styling. We need more games with this kind of replay value

[Maximus]

Parappa doesn't really get interesting until you've played through once and can start free styling. We need more games with this kind of replay value

I think I passed out upside down behind the TV before level 4

[DaveMMR]

I think my late 90's social scene incorporated Parappa the Rapper in some way. Used to take the PSX to my friend's house in Pennsylvania, hook it up with Parappa and just sat and watch each other play while drinking heavy amounts of alcohol. The gameplay is terribly dated by now but it remains a permanent part of my collection.

Didn't like "Part 2" as much; UmJammer was decent on its own.

Though a little part of me died when I found out the "Driving" song was swiped from an early 70's song from a West German avant-garde band named Can:

[shmokes]

My wife and I rented this game and got really drunk while playing it. A few hours in, when I was completely wasted, I suddenly . . . like . . . became one with the game. I became the Parappa Whisperer or something. I could, every single time, without even putting in effort, score well into the 600s (IIRC a good score is something like 120). It seriously felt sort of like Neo at the end of the first Matrix when he's fighting Agent Smith with one hand. Like I didn't have to think about it because all of my cells were suddenly tuned into Parappa the Rapper.

Then the next morning, after sobering up, it was gone. I could still do well, like 120 or whatever. But I'd lost the thing from the night before. I tried to get drunk again and recreate it and never could. One of my best gaming moments of all time, though. I wish cell phone cameras and Youtube were what they are today cos it would have occurred to us to document it for posterity.