PaRappa the Rapper is a timeless classic to many of us, and with its Remastered version now available, creator Masaya Matsuura got together with Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida for a special interview trailer.
Yoshida starts out by talking about how the word “multimedia” was a big deal at the time, and having an interactive software on CD-ROM was what led to the creation of PaRappa.
The concept of having someone create drawings on a computer while Matsuura handled the music was an interesting idea for the creator, and the light bulb sparked for the man the moment themes such as “multimedia” and “interactive” became a big deal in the early ‘90s.
When PaRappa the Rapper was first completed, a lot of staff asked “is this even a game?” and Matsuura admits that he, himself, wasn’t even sure about that either. Yoshida adds that PaRappa the Rapper paved the way for all kinds of rhythm and music games, but when it first started, the people around them didn’t know how to take it.
However, Matsuura says that it was after creating PaRappa that he realized just how fun it can be to make video games. He feels that for some reason, in the realm of emotions, the feeling of cheerfully laughing and enjoying something is often underrated, so he and the rest of the staff wanted to make PaRappa into a game that can bring big smiles to the players.
PaRappa the Rapper Remastered is now available in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4. The game releases in Japan on April 20, 2017.
