Any of the old faces in the sequel?
Chop Chop Master Onion makes a special guest appearance at the start of the gig. He tells Lammy that she's got to use her brains as well as her axe if she's going to make it through the seven levels. Lammy has to get through them to meet up with her band (the group's called Milk Can - tremendous name) to play a concert. That's the 'plot'.

What about the new characters?
Well, there's fireman Chief Piddle, Paul Chuck - a chainsaw-wielding beaver (and scary redneck-style backwoodsman to boot), and jumbo jet pilot Captain Fussenpepper. So you find yourself in the most amusing, bizarre, guitar-based set pieces. Can you help Fussenpepper land his jet while knocking out headbanging riffs? And Piddle requires your assistance to put out a huge fire - the guitar acts as a hosepipe.

Is the music any good?
If you like holding your belt loops while swinging to Status Quo's What You're Proposin' then you'll have a ball. Actually, there's a wide range of musical styles on offer but you don't buy videogames for their musical content - if we did, we'd all have committed suicide by now. Anyway, there's a bit of thrash, a portion of lullaby and the odd parcel of soft rock.

Is it better than PaRappa?
Not better, but Um Jammer Lammy is pleasantly quirky and quite amusing. Obviously, you won't get the jaw-dropping incredulity that surrounded PaRappa's debut but if Sony keep the sequel under £30, then it should find favour. The best bit is the two-player mode which is revealed at the end of the game, where you go head-to-head with a friend. Also, you can access PaRappa and take him through all the new character scenarios, but with new songs.


*Bizarre, quirky, funny, bonkers
*Rocking riffs for a strumming sheep
*Great new characters - especially Piddle
*Yes, it's more of the same
*Doesn't take too long to finish