UmJammer Lammy

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UmJammer Lammy

Developer(s) NaNaOn-Sha
Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation
Release date PlayStation
JP March 18, 1999
NA August 17, 1999
JP April 12, 2001(PS the Best)
JP March 28, 2002 (PSOne Books)
Arcade
JP 1999
NA 1999
EU 1999
Genre(s) Rhythm
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone
Media CD-ROM
Input methods DualShock Analog Controller (PlayStation), Guitar Hero Controller (Arcade)
Arcade system Namco Bandai System 12

UmJammer Lammy (ウンジャマ・ラミー Un Jama Ramī?) is a rhythm video game developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Sony for the PlayStation video game console. It was first released in Japan on March 18, 1999, and was later released in North America on August 17, 1999. It has since been re-released in Japan twice - first on April 12, 2001 under the PlayStation the Best line, and again on March 28, 2002 under the PSOne Books line. UmJammer Lammy is a spin-off of PaRappa the Rapper, also released for the PlayStation.

In a joint creation with Namco Bandai Games, Sony of Japan released an arcade version of UmJammer Lammy which features updated visuals and a differing song list. Furthermore, similar to Konami's Guitar Freaks series and Activision's Guitar Hero the game boasts a guitar-shaped specialty controller which gives the player a better sensation of playing a real guitar.

Recently, in March 2008, the game was released into the Playstation Network in Japan.

Contents

[edit] Plot

UmJammer Lammy stars an anthropomorphic lamb named Lammy, a member of the band MilkCan along with her other anthropomorphic friends Katy Kat and Ma-san. Lammy is the guitarist, with Katy Kat is the vocalist, the bass player, and the band front-person, while Ma-san is the drummer.

UmJammer Lammy opens with a nightmare Lammy has of being late for a gig, running to the stage door and ending up on stage at the last second, only to find Chop Chop Master Onion, the sensei from Parappa, at the microphone. He then leads Lammy through a song whose lyrics foreshadow the events that unfold across the rest of the game. At the end of the song, Chop Chop asks Lammy what she is playing, she then realises her guitar is actually her vacuum cleaner. Lammy begins to panic, as she believes she is nothing without her guitar, but Chop Chop explains that she doesn't need her guitar to be cool — "I lost my dojo, but the dojo remains in my mind. It even has a casino. Dojo, casino, it's all in the mind.". Thus, whenever Lammy sees or hears a reference to gambling, she recalls that "My guitar is in my mind!" and she adapts whatever task she must perform into invisibly playing the guitar, therefore becoming confident again. Note that this is the only level in the game which is never available for multiplayer play of any kind.

Lammy then wakes up, the previous level having been a dream sequence. She realises she only has 15 minutes to get to a concert with her band, Milkcan, at the Chop Chop Master Arena. She runs out of her apartment (returning to turn off all the appliances she left running, and kiss her teddy panda for luck), and runs downtown, only to find the pizza shop has caught fire, and fire marshals have sealed off the area. She tries to break through, but the Chief Puddle will only allow her passage if she helps put the fire out. Lammy begins to doubt, but she sees an advertisement for Joe Chin's Casino and realizes she can use a firehose in a similar way to her guitar.

After putting out the fire, Lammy and the firemen start to eat the well-cooked pizza. This makes Lammy bloated. Lammy remembers she has to hurry to her concert, but she can't run very fast. She collides into a parade of pregnant rabbits and their spouses, and the head nurse Cathy Pillar mistakes Lammy for a pregnant teenager. After taking Lammy into her maternity unit, she finds Lammy wasn't pregnant after she's finished digesting the pizza, but insists she at least help put hundreds of baby rabbits to sleep. Lammy sees some babies playing a roulette wheel and makes a connection between the baby rabbits and guitars.

After putting all the babies to sleep, Lammy dashes out and slips on a skateboard. She goes flying through the air, and lands on a low-flying jumbo jet. She discovers the pilot, Captain Fussenpepper, has forgotten how to fly. He is normally sedated and confused, but when a loose ceiling panel in the cockpit falls on his head he thinks he's a military hero and becomes angry and strict. The ceiling panel falls frequently causing Captain Fussenpepper to change personalities often. An in-flight announcement tells passengers in the onboard casino to fasten their seatbelts and Lammy can fly an airplane as if she is playing a guitar.

After landing the plane safely in a parking lot (and putting change in a nearby parking meter), Lammy dashes off only to find she's missing her guitar. She regretfully recalls that she left her guitar on the plane and, unfortunately, the plane has taken off once more. She then spots a guitar shop and tries to buy a guitar, but there are none on display. The hillbilly shop owner, Paul Chuck, then leads her out the back door to a wooded forest and hands her a chainsaw. Lammy and Paul Chuck then use their chainsaws to make a guitar out of a tree. Lammy accomplishes this because she hears the tune "Casino in my hair" on Paul Chuck's record player.

With her new guitar in hand, Lammy dashes off, but she slips on a banana peel left by P.J. Berri (from PaRappa) and tragically dies. She then realises she is in Hell. She is mistaken for Rammy, her grunge-rock rival, by the diva Teriyaki Yoko, and forced to perform lead guitar at a concert in Hell. Teriyaki then uses a "super teleportation device" (a fax machine) and faxes Lammy back to the real world. In the U.S. release of the game, Hell was removed and instead, Lammy is catapulted back in time when her clothes catch on the store's door handle, and she lands on a tropical island where Teriyaki is a respected idol.

Finally, Lammy makes it to the gig, only to run into Katy and Ma-san. It had turned out that everyone was late, so now united, the trio make their way to the stage, and rock the house in one final song.

At the end of this level, both Rammy and PaRappa are shown in the audience. The player can now play all the levels again as PaRappa, rapping to hip-hop versions of Lammy's songs. There is no linking plot when playing as PaRappa (according to the title cards at the start of each level, PaRappa's levels are spaced out over the course of a week), but some short comic sketches featuring PaRappa, Katy Kat and P.J. Berri are shown in between levels. Lammy can also play each level either cooperatively with, or competitively against Rammy or PaRappa.

[edit] Gameplay

Level four of the game.
Level four of the game.

[edit] Basic Gameplay

UmJammer Lammy is based on the PaRappa the Rapper engine. UmJammer Lammy is a rhythm game which uses rock music, unlike PaRappa the Rapper, which uses rap music. Each level has an original song which is sung by a different character. As the character sings, a yellow line appears at the top of the screen with an assortment of symbols taken from the controller (X, Square, Circle, Triangle, L button, and R button) to indicate which button the player must push to hit the beat. As the character sings the song, an icon of the character moves across this line. A separate purple line will follow it, either to the side of it or below it. This purple line contains the same pattern of symbols as the previous line. On this line, an icon of Lammy will move across. As the icon moves over a symbol, the player must push the respective button on the controller at the exact right moment, attempting to match the singer's beats. The game will continue going back and forth between yellow and purple lines until the level ends. If the player chooses Easy mode, the unique symbols will be replaced with one type of symbol, allowing the player to only use one button. However, the player cannot save in this mode. On top of that, the game will end at the completion of level six, and the player will have to start over from level one.

There are four ranks that the player can be at during the song - Awful, Bad, Good, and Cool. To clear the stage, the player must be in Good or Cool rank at the end of the song. The player always begins at Good rank, and depending on the accuracy of the player's button presses, he or she will either move up in rank eventually or steadily fall. If the player does too good or too bad, the rank will come close to increasing. Before the player can change in rank, it will first show that the player's rank will change if he or she does good or bad enough. If the player does as good or bad as he or she did, the rank will rise or drop. Depending on what the player's rank is, the song's quality will decrease, and the activity in the background will increase in some levels. As the player's rank drops more and more, the song will sound worse, and if he or she falls below Awful at any time in the level or is not at Good or higher at the end of the level, the level will end, and the player can then choose to either try again or quit.

Like the first Parappa game, freestyling on certain lines will make the rank meter flash "Cool". If players are able to freestyle two Cool lines in a row, the teacher will leave and the player is free to freestyle to gain more points. If a player can keep in Cool mode by the end of the song, he/she'll get a Cool ending. However, if the freestyling is bad, the rank meter will flash "Good" and if it continues, the teacher will return and normal play will resume.

[edit] Sound morphers

At the end of stages 2-6 on Lammy's storyline, she is handed an obscure object with a property. These are Flanger (a fire siren), Harmony (a caterpillar rattle), Wah Wah (Capt. Fussenpepper's False Teeth), Distort (a piece of wood with a miniature axe) and Reverb (a lighter.) When playing as either Lammy or Rammy, players can press Select to cycle through the sound morphers, changing the sounds as they are played. Certain morphers, such as the Wah-Wah, can be affected further by activating the analogue mode on the Dual Shock controller and moving the analogue stick up and down. Besides the morphers, players can also morph the pitch of the guitar by pressing the L2 or R2 buttons while playing. These features are not available whilst playing as Parappa.

[edit] Fever Time

Entering a level after it has been completed once brings up a chocolatey screen full of symbols before the level's cut scene is loaded. If these symbols are input in the right order in the relevant level whilst in Cool mode, the screen goes hyper and several symbols fly all around. During the time this is up, players can hit the featured button repeatedly to gain massive points.

[edit] Modes

  • Solo - Lammy: The main storyline featuring Lammy.

This mode must be played to unlock all other modes. At the end of stages 2-6, Lammy receives a sound morpher. Players can use the Select button to cycle through the available morphers and morph the sounds of the guitar, but only while playing as Lammy or Rammy. This is the only mode in which Stage 1 can be played.

  • Co-op - Lammy & Rammy: Unlocked after clearing Lammy's Solo Mode.

A co-operative mode in which Player 1 plays as Lammy and Player 2 plays as Rammy. Each line is played alternatively by the players. After every 2 lines, the combined scores each player achieved during that line is added to the score and the rank changes accordingly. For example, if player 1 did well and scored 10 points in his/her line but player 2 did badly and got a score of -13, the total score for those lines would be -3 and it would count as a bad line. This mode can be played with either 2 controllers, against the computer or (once cleared) one controller.

  • Vs - Lammy & Rammy: Unlocked after clearing Lammy & Rammy Co-op.

Works in a similar way to the co-op mode, only the scores are differentiated and the difference is awarded and taken away from the respective players. For example, if Player 1 scored 10 and Player 2 scored 8 points, Player 1 would get 2 points added to his/her score and Player 2 would lose 2 points. The loser is the one with the lowest score at the end of the level, whoever hits below Awful first or whoever reaches 0 first. The game can be played with 1 or 2 controllers, or can be played against the computer with varying levels of difficulty.

  • Solo - Parappa: Unlocked after clearing Lammy & Rammy Co-op.

Parappa plays through rap versions of stages 2-7. The storyline involves Parappa and his friends PJ and Sunny helping Katy Kat out with her band's concert. Later on Parappa and PJ decide to start their own band, although PJ's definition of 'rock and roll' leaves somewhat to be desired. There are also commercials for Joe Chin products.

  • Co-op - Lammy & Parappa: Unlocked after clearing Parappa's Solo Mode.

Works in the same way as Lammy & Rammy co-op, only this time, player 1 plays as Lammy with her tracks and player 2 as Parappa using his tracks, with the music alternating between the two depending on who's turn it is.

  • Vs. - Lammy & Parappa: Unlocked after clearing Lammy & Parappa Co-op.

Same as Lammy vs Rammy.

  • Special Mode: Unlocked after getting COOL on a certain amount of stages. A player can listen to any of the songs from Lammy or Parappa's stages, in GOOD, BAD, AWFUL or COOL mode. However, Lammy's riffs or Parappa's raps are not featured. As the songs are played, the buttons can be used to make Lammy, Rammy, Katy Kat, Parappa, Ma-San and PJ perform actions.

[edit] Characters

[edit] MilkCan

  • Lammy: The lead guitarist of MilkCan. A lamb who is extremely shy and jittery, but once she gets a guitar in her hands, she becomes confident and ready to take things on. Since she lacks a guitar for most of the time, she takes heed to Chop Chop Master Onion's wisdom, 'Dojo, Casino, it's all in the mind,' she pictures that whatever's she's holding is a guitar and gets her confidence back.
  • Katy Kat: Lead vocalist and bassist of Milkcan. Whenever Lammy's feeling down, Katy is usually on hand to keep her spirit's up. As well as having distinguished folk-style vocals, she's also enjoys disco and dancing.
  • Ma-san: The drummer of Milkcan. Not much is really known about Ma-san except that her dad runs a pharmacist and that, according to Rodney Greenblat, is a mouse. She generally speaks in gibberish which can only be deciphered by turning the game's subtitles on. She also happens to have a dynamite stick in her head and a very short temper. If something ticks her off, her fuse lights and her drumsticks do the talking. On the album Make It Sweet!, she was listed as producer.

[edit] Teachers

  • Chop Chop Master Onion: A karate teaching onion. His dojo was destroyed but it remains in his mind, complete with a casino. He shows up in Lammy's dreams to teach her the valuable lesson, "Dojo, Casino, It's all in the mind" when he points out that Lammy was actually playing a vacuum cleaner instead of her guitar.
  • Chief Puddle: A firefighting dalmatian. He enjoys his work but not as much as pizza. He also enjoys checking out ladies, even when fighting a fire.
  • Cathy Pillar: A caterpillar midwife. She is in charge of helping mothers give birth and looking after the babies that follow. She also has the habit of throwing up all over the place, much to Lammy's dismay.
  • Captain Fussenpepper: A pilot with a dual personality. At times, he is a fierce pilot with strict discipline and a short temper. However, with just a bonk of a head, he becomes a dozey dope without a clue about which one is his right hand, let alone how to fly a plane. He also wears false teeth.
  • Paul Chuck: A woodchucking beaver who makes fashions guitars out of trees. Although he looks menacing and has an assertive voice, he is quite gentle sometimes. He loves his chainsaws and would never ruin them with Joe Chin brand chains.
  • Teriyaki Yoko: An idol residing in hell (or a volcano in the US version) and lead singer in her own band. While she does pride herself on beauty and talent, she has a mean streak and does not take kindly to failure from her bandmates. She can also grow 100 times her size and enforce the power to ban people from every game.
  • Rammy: Teriyaki Yoko's guitarist and Lammy's rival. When she shows up late for her show, only to find Lammy playing in her place, she blames all her misfortune on her and demands to see who the better guitarist is. However, Lammy manages to escape via the 'super teleportation device' and the dispute has to be settled in Vs mode.

[edit] Parappa and Co

  • Parappa the Rapper: The hip hop hero. A talented rapper, if a little timid sometimes. If there's one thing he likes better than rap, it's probably Sunny Funny. He's put in charge of moving stuff around for Lammy's concert, 'like always.'
  • Sunny Funny: Katy's gal pal and Parappa's love interest. She is cheery and is rarely seen without a smile. She's put in charge of designing outfits for Katy's concert.
  • PJ Berri: A lazy bear with a big appetite for food. By night, he takes on the persona of 'PJ the DJ' and livens up any party. He's put in charge of stage design, but can't get food out of his mind. He also has very poor perception on what rock and roll means.
  • Joe Chin: Now a businessman, Joe Chin has spread himself over a variety of products and services, such as casinos, nature preservement, chains and 'the theft-proof laptop.' Generally comes with the slogan 'Buy it now! And I mean Now!' Accepts cheque or credit card.

[edit] Censorship

Several changes were made for the game's US release. These changes are not found in the original Japanese version or the European release. For stage 5, Paul Chuck's lyrics are changed to discourage chopping down trees for fun. For example the line, "chopping down trees just for fun" changes to "knowing that we're here for the fun". For stage 6 (Teriyaki Yoko), Lammy no longer dies and goes to Hell. Instead, she snags her belt while running from Paul Chuck's guitar store and is slingshotted back in time onto an island. The lyrics in stage 6 no longer refer to the devil, but strangely, none of the stage scenery is altered (the audience are souls of the dead). The cutscene preceding stage 7 then features Katy Kat in jungle gear and Ma-san riding a camel. Finally, Chop Chop Master Onion's stage 1 song at one point foreshadows all the events to come the lyrics refering to her playing in hell is changed to reflect the new storyline. However, the demo of Um Jammer Lammy released in PlayStation Underground has the unedited version.[citation needed]

[edit] Soundtracks

In 1999, three soundtracks were released in Japan. In July, Make It Sweet was released featuring music from the game performed by "MilkCan" with vocals by Michele Burks as Katy Kat. In September, I Scream! was released featuring remixed versions of the songs and original lyrics performed by Dred Foxx as PaRappa. An original soundtrack was released in November.[citation needed]

[edit] Awards

[edit] External links

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PaRappa the Rapper series
Games
Soundtracks
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