In the summer of 2006, LocoRoco was released for the PSP - and with precious little in the way of fanfare. With the exciting launch of the first next-gen console forthcoming and a crowded release calendar, which included new installments of such venerable franchises as Half-Life, Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell and Final Fantasy, it wasn't a surprise to see this excellent new IP fall under most gamers' radars. Today, however, it stands shoulder to shoulder with Katamari Damacy as among the most innovative platformers to come to video games in decades. Its simple, yet distinctive aesthetic proved uniquely appealing, while its gravity-oriented game play mechanics were a breath of fresh air next to more traditional fare.

LocoRoco was a brief thrill, admittedly, but an unforgettable one nonetheless. Considering how much it has in common with Patapon, one can only hope that Japan Studio's latest effort proves able to carve out a more appealing fate. And let it be said: this game demands your recognition.

Patapon won't be for everyone. Simple rhythm-game controls belie an experience that is equal parts God game and real-time strategy, but it straddles these genres with such conviction, you'd be forgiven for thinking its creators have made such games before. Assuredly, they have not, and Patapon is all the better for their invigorating new approach. You do not so much control the titular creatures - a tribe of eyeballs with legs, fallen on hard times - as inspire them. Each of the PSP's four face buttons is mapped to a particular sound, be it pon, pata, don or chaka, and by combining these voices to the songs your army discovers throughout its journey, the player is able to drum out certain rhythms which the Patapon understand to mean such things as attack, retreat, charge and defend. There are no on-screen prompts beyond the initial tutorials: you will memorize these songs, or you will fall to the Zigaton, a warring tribe which controls the eastern part of the island.