Teased over the weekend, rhythm-action adventure game Project Rap Rabbit was officially announced for PlayStation 4 and PC today by NanaOn-Sha (PaRappa the Rapper) and iNiS J (Gitaroo Man). Carrying a goal of £855,000 ($1.1 million USD), a Kickstarter campaign was launched today.
According to the Kickstarter page for Project Rap Rabbit, it will launch in August 2018. $39 USD gets you a digital copy of the game, $45 USD gets you a physical copy, and $77 USD gets you a physical copy, artbook, soundtrack, and a remixed soundtrack.
The stretch goals for Project Rap Rabbit include an Xbox One version at $3.1 million, another level at $3.5 million (bringing the total to eight), a multiplayer VS mode at $3.9 million, an extra difficulty level at $4.4 million (bringing the total to four), and a Nintendo Switch version at $4.95 million.
Here’s what to expect from Project Rap Rabbit:
An Epic Rapping Adventure
Our grand hip hop saga takes place in an alternate history, circa 16th Century Japan. All is not well. The world is becoming a hostile place as people object to the growing diversification of their homelands. Citizens and neighbours are becoming increasingly suspicious of, and isolated from, one another.
A toxic atmosphere of protectionism is taking hold.
At the height of this culture of fear, an Earth-shattering calamity befalls the world. As the universe trembles from the aftershocks and the survivors try to rebuild what’s left of their lives, one rabbit embarks on a journey for truth, justice and liberty – and steps forward to do battle with the land’s most powerful overlords.
A Genre Perfected
With a combined 54 years of development shared between studios NanaOn-Sha and iNiS J, we’ve had plenty of time to master the art of rhythm-action. And it’s all been building to this: Project Rap Rabbit’s unique rapping gameplay represents the culmination of our experience across the genre’s biggest and best hits, and a true evolution of rhythm-action mechanics.
The key to battle rap is the ability to defeat your opponent with lyrical jabs and rhyming uppercuts, which is why Project Rap Rabbit ensures YOU are in control of the raps. Songs aren’t just a series of linear lines to tap through, but full dialogue trees of variable verses filled with creative put-downs, bragging and clever rhymes.
Here at both NanaOn-Sha and iNiS J, we have a long-held belief that rhythm-action should be about so much more than simply attaining perfection and mastering button presses to reach an S Rank climax. We want to encourage experimentation, not punish deviations from a critical path. To that end, we have designed a flexible and dynamic bonus system to reward self-expression.
You can learn much more about Project Rap Rabbit on the Kickstarter page.
Will you be backing Project Rap Rabbit?
[Source: Kickstarter, PlayStation Blog]
