PaRappa the Rapper (PlayStation)

PaRappa the Rapper is one of the first rhythm-based games, starring a rapping puppy.

It would later be ported to PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 4 even later to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its release.

Sub-Pages#

Development Info Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Unused Stage#

The S8 directory is what was to be an unused encore sequence that would take place after clearing Stage 6 in Cool Mode. While it no longer has any functionality in-game, the audience would join PaRappa on-stage, copying whatever the player inputs. This would later be incorporated in PaRappa the Rapper 2 when completing the final stage on Cool Mode.

Unused Graphics#

S0/COMPO00.INT#

In the Japanese version are unused legal graphics.

SONY.TIM is a generic Sony copyright with no specific date.

RODNEY.TIM (Unused)	RODNEY2.TIM (Used)

RODNEY.TIM is a slightly larger Rodney A. Greenblat / Interlink graphic.

S1/COMP01.INT#

YU_GRD.TIM, found only in the Japanese version, is the sky seen in cool mode. However, the sky actually seen is rendered in-engine. It was removed in all subsequent releases.

S3/COMP03.INT#

SALE.TIM is an unused sale sign.

S5/COMPO05.INT#

Unused graphics of Cheap Cheap facing completely forward with her beak open and closed. There are also graphics for the back of her head where the beak is unviewable due to Cheap Cheap facing forwards. It's possible that she was meant to face towards the screen whenever she was in the TV while the player was at a "Good" rating.

Footage of these in action can be seen here.

S6/COMP06.INT#

HOT_H.TIM is out of view in during gameplay, but can be seen in the cutscene before this level starts. This appears behind the G sign in the level.

While ENTOTU.TIM is technically used, it is completely unseen due to the camera angle, and while the camera does move to where it is, the screen is covered in a rainbow background. This can be seen if the player gets cool and uses a rank changing cheat to change the rank back down to good.

CAKE2.TIM, while used in stage 4, for some reason is among stage 5's textures in the Japanese version.

S8/COMPO08.INT#

The aforementioned unused S8 stage contains some unique assets.

PJ Berri, the bear seen only in cutscenes and in stage 6 (albeit in his DJ outfit), has his normal appearance in-game with facial expressions.

Joe Chin and a unique generic audience member are found here but not in S7.

• In addition, every audience member seen in KT & The Sunny Funny Band are present, albeit at a slightly lower resolution.

Unused Audio#

Stage 2 has an odd quirk with its Bad/Awful ending since, while most Bad/Awful stage music have endings (which don't usually play because the game already has those endings as separate VB files), the ending for Stage 2's Bad/Awful music is slightly different.

The raw track's ending starts with "That's because". What plays in the actual game replaces that with a seamlessly rerecorded "You" for the VB file, and turns the start of the piano instrumental into a short loop. It was likely changed because losing prior to the end of the song would have been strange had this quote been used.

A much cleaner "Oops!" sound for PaRappa when he messes up. The unused one is found in the files, but because of the inferior quality of the PlayStation's audio, it's slightly bitcrushed. The unused one would later be heard clearly in PaRappa the Rapper 2 and later in the 20th anniversary Remaster.

Unheared Music#

Because the player doesn't start on bad or awful rating, the beginnings of stages on those ratings can't be normaly heared.

Debug Cheat#

Changing RAM adress 0x0916FA to 01 and holding down will make the player gain 250 extra points at the end of a measure (the player still needs to rap or nothing will happen).

Regional Differences#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: There's definitely more, but this is all I can find so far.

The game had a few minor alterations from the original Japanese release.

North America	Europe / Asia

• In the European version "Masaya Matsuura Produce", the game's creator, comes up after the Sony copyright. In the North American version, it says "Masaya Matsuura Presents,". Neither of these screens are seen in the Japanese version.

Japan	North America	Europe	Asia

• The Japanese title screen has a stylized Japanese rendering of the title, reading PaRappa Rapper. The international versions remove the subtitle. The North American title screen also has more copyright information which causes the subtitle "The Hip Hop Hero" to cover PaRappa's feet. The Asian title screen is similar to the Japanese version but without the Japanese subtitle and has the copyright date updated to 1997.

North America / Europe	Asia

• Both North American and European versions have the language select options arranged in a smile shape while the Asian version has them in a circle pattern, additionaly having Japanese and Chinese.

Japan	Europe / Asia	North America

• The Japanese loading screen text has solid colors, while in the international versions, they're translucent. In the North American version, the message was changed from "A moment" to "Hold on".

Europe / Asia	North America

• The message "A second" to "Hang on".
• The “TRY AGAIN!!” screen continuously plays the duck noises without stopping in the Japanese and Europe versions, the North American version only plays it twice before stopping. This was not changed in the PSP release.
• PaRappa’s walking animation is disrupted when the player makes any inputs during Stage 5’s COOL sequence in the original Japanese version, this would be fixed in all future releases.
• The European version of the game uses an image of PaRappa's head as the memory card icon. In all other versions, it is an animation of PaRappa's beanie bouncing.

References#