Patapon 2 is the sequel to the multi-award winning PSP game from 2008. The story continues on from the first game, with the Patapon trying to reach Earthend. There’s no need to worry if you haven’t played the first game though, as it’s just as easy to pick up and play as the original, and very easy to get into. There are occasional references to the previous game but really the only things continuing on are the characters. Fans of the first game will be happy to know that nearly all the characters return and there are also dozens of new ones.

As in the first game, Patapon 2 has you playing as the god to the one eyed tribe called Patapons. The Patapons are controlled using the Drum of Valour, where you use the four face buttons (cross, circle, square and triangle) to tap out short rhythms to tell the Patapons what to do. The game starts off simply with just a couple of different commands but soon it starts to build up, giving you even more commands to use allowing you to develop your own strategies.

The games customisation is one area the developers have really improved. The customisation still happens at the Tree of Life but this time each individual Patapon can be upgraded as you like. The three main classes of Patapon; Yaripon, Tatepon and Yumipon can be upgraded and specialised in terms of abilities, strengths and resistances. These upgrades need resources which can be found in various levels in the game. Much fun can be had replaying levels just to find that one item as the levels may vary according to the weather conditions. Thankfully the developers have allowed you to import your Patapon save game into this game to allow you to keep all the items you spent hours searching for, but people without the original game fear not, this doesn’t give anyone an advantage as there are lots of new items to find.

The main two additions to Patapon 2 are the Hero ability and Multiplayer. The Hero ability makes one of your Patapons the “Heropon”. This Heropon is sort of the leader of your small army, leading them in charges and dealing a large amount of damage to enemies. However this Heropon has access to a special ability, which can be triggered after a string of four perfect beats. These new attacks are key to completing the game and defeating the bosses. The Heropon can also change its class, giving you access to a wide variety of abilities, such as whole army immunity from attacks or extra damage.

Patapon 2 is incredibly charming, with the colourful backgrounds and adorable little one eyed tribal warriors. The new Patapon types are a welcome addition and help enhance the game more. Patapon 2 doesn’t completely change the formula but has a fair number of new features to make the game more enjoyable for fans and newcomers alike. So if you haven’t picked up Patapon yet, there’s still nothing like it on the PSP and players of the original game will find new things to love in this one.