Courtesy/MCT

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune

"PATAPON"
For: Playstation Portable
From: Interlink/Sony
ESRB Rating: Everyone (mild cartoon violence)

Genre-blending is all the rage nowadays, but that doesn't mean you can mix just any two flavors and expect peanut butter and jelly.

A huge hat off, then, to Interlink, which mixes two wildly different genres (rhythmic gaming and real-time strategy), dresses them in a side-scrolling graphical style that's almost completely foreign to both, and somehow makes the whole thing not only work, but sing.

In "Patapon," you command a strange-looking group of creatures (called Patapon) as they march from left to right, encounter hordes of creatures, and complete objectives as dictated by a surprisingly charming storyline. But rather than move your units with a cursor or even just the d-pad, you control their actions with a drum, pressing different combinations of face buttons in time with a beat that plays in the background. One set of button presses advances your troops, for instance, while others prompt them to attack, defend or perform context-sensitive actions.

At first, it seems wildly simplistic and repetitive, with the first mission asking you to execute the advance command ad nauseam in order to outrun an unstoppable monster. The second mission isn't much more complicated, prompting fears that "Patapon" never evolves beyond a rote exercise of memorizing button combinations and rhythmically executing them.

With time, though, the game surprises with its depth. The mission structure quickly opens up, forcing you to focus as much on formulating a smart attack strategy as keeping up with the beat. Different Patapon have different abilities and liabilities, and you can manage troops by acquiring new equipment and elements that go toward the creation of new troops. As with any good strategy game, success in "Patapon" comes down to how efficiently you distribute your resources.

None of this is to suggest "Patapon" is for everyone, because it isn't. The continual focus on rhythmic button presses while also managing an army makes this a demanding game in spite of its implied simplicity, and the reliance on music and lack of in-game pause means this isn't the easiest game to pull out for a quickie on the bus. Never mind that this combination of two rather niche genres simply isn't for everyone in the first place.

But those intrigued by what they've read are in for an extremely unique treat. "Patapon" deserves major kudos not only for trying something new, but for nailing it on the first go. That the whole thing only costs $20 sure doesn't hurt, either.