Developer Ratata Arts has debuted the first gameplay for its spiritual sequel to PlayStation’s Patapon, Ratatan.

The side-scrolling rhythm game, which was crowdfundedwithin an hour of its Kickstarter launchin 2023, will launch sometime this year with online co-op gameplay for up to 4 players.

Here’s the first look at the spiritual successor to a PlayStation classic

A closed beta test forRatatanis planned for later this week, on February 27, giving Kickstarter backers a chance to try the game’s opening stage.

“The three main game concepts are over 100 cute characters fighting it out on screen, four-player simultaneous battles, and more adventure and roguelike elements than Patapon had,” producer Kazuto Sakajiri explained in aninterview with VGC.

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Originally released forPlayStation Portablein 2007, Patapon is a rhythm-based 2D platform / action game in which players command an army of cute anthropomorphic eyeballs known as “Patapons” that can be instructed to move forward, attack, defend and retreat by using a sequence of drum beats.

The game received two sequels on PSP, and the first two games were remastered with 4K visuals forPS4. Last year,Sony appeared to tease a new project in the Patapon franchise.

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