''Project Rap Rabbit'' is a cancelled rhythm game formerly in development by NanaOn-Sha and iNiS for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. The game, directed by Masaya Matsuura in collaboration with Keiichi Yano, is pitched as a revival of story-based rhythm games such as '' PaRappa the Rapper'' and '' Gitaroo Man'', and features rap battle gameplay mixed with Japanese culture. Following the game's failure to secure financing on crowdfunding website

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

, the game's development has been placed on hold.

Gameplay

''Project Rap Rabbit'' aimed to build upon the rhythm-based gameplay of the two companies' previous games, ''PaRappa the Rapper'' and ''Gitaroo Man''. Set in 16th Century Japan, players are put in the role of a rabbit named Toto-maru, who must use the power of

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

to battle against powerful overlords who have corrupted the land. The gameplay revolves around three phases; Listen, Respond, and Rap. During the Listen phase, in which the opponent raps, the player can pick up certain words that they themselves can use during their phase. In the Respond phase, players use an emotion wheel, inspired by dialogue wheels from games such as '' Mass Effect'' and '' Fallout 4'', to determine how the player will respond to the opponent. Finally, the Rap phase has players press buttons in time to the music to perform some of the rap lyrics, which differ depending on what emotion was chosen. Both the player and opponent have Swag Gauges which go up and down depending on successful raps, and certain boosts may be applied depending on how the chosen emotion matches up with the situation. Toto-maru's status varies depending on how much Swag he has, and the game will end if he ran out of Swag.

Development

''Project Rap Rabbit'' was first revealed through an article on Rice Digital on May 2, 2017. The game was officially announced on May 12, 2017 and a

campaign launched on May 15, 2017. The campaign was criticised for featuring no gameplay footage and setting stretch goals at unreasonable levels. The campaign ultimately failed, with pledges only reaching £161,557 of the £855,000 required. As a result of this failure, work on ''Project Rap Rabbit'' was discontinued and canceled until further funding could be found.

References

{{reflist Music video games Cancelled PlayStation 4 games Cancelled Windows games Crowdfunding projects Single-player video games Unreal Engine games Video games about rabbits and hares Video games set in the 16th century Video games developed in Japan Video games set in Japan NanaOn-Sha games PQube games Liona Interactive games