Lammy's a 2D mongrel rock chick with an insecurity complex. In the rock business, it's a dog eat dog world.
Catherine Channon

If a rapping pooch didn't have your fingers tapping as furiously as your feet the first time around, then this garish, karaoke-inspired sequel to PaRappa The Rapper might fall as flat as its 2D characters. For those who took instantly to the original's bizarre characters and impossibly catchy tracks, though, Um Jammer Lammy is likely to achieve the same kind of perfect post-pub videogame status.

The game's premise is simple: button symbols scroll across the top of the screen, your task being to match them with your joypad as they flash in time to the music. It sounds easy, and in principle it is, but as the symbol combinations become ever more complex and travel faster and faster, one split second mistake can ruin your chances of ever making it to Lammy's final Big Gig. The more combinations you successfully pull off, the higher up the 'quality indicator' you'll travel. End the level on 'good' or above, and it's on to the next; finish on 'Bad' or 'Awful' and you'll need to give it another shot.

En route through the levels you provide the accompaniment to the vocal talents of (amongst others) an Eddie Cochrane-inspired insectoid midwife and a canine firefighter with a nice line in R&B. Each character is set against their own specific location too, meaning that as you practice your axe skills you're helping them to achieve such tasks as extinguishing burning tower blocks, keeping a plane in the sky or rocking babies to sleep. Colourful madness it may be, but a fundamental storyline somehow manages to link every set piece together, mainly thanks to some inspired cut-scene cinematics blended seamlessly with the actual gameplay.