A PlayStation tracking site has found data indicating that a remastered classic PSP title will arrive on the PS4 in the coming weeks. Patapon 2, the second entry in the rhythm-based RPG series, is making its way onto Sony's modern home console a decade after its handheld debut.
Players faithful to Sony's PlayStation line of consoles should remember the PlayStation Portable, the company's first take on the handheld gaming market, fairly well. While its sales were dim in comparison to the success of the Nintendo DS in the mid-2000s, the PSP packed an impressive amount of processing power, multimedia features, and a sizable library of beloved games in one package.
The system was ahead of its time in many ways, and while Sony has more or less pulled out of the handheld gaming market due to the PlayStation Vita's failure to reach a large audience, the company hasn't forgotten about either console, or the games that came to life on them.
The last news on Patapon 2's PS4 remaster was its announcement in 2017, as a followup to the remastered version of the original Patapon. Both games, as well as the third entry, put players in charge of an army of small warrior creatures fighting their way through a set of colorful landscapes in a unique 2D style. Players have to follow the beat of the background music and time the right inputs to press onward, blending the musical gameplay of titles like Rhythm Heaven with elements of strategy games and RPGs. While quirky, the series has a dedicated fanbase thanks to the unique style, and it's just one of the many cult favorites on the PSP and Vita worthy of a larger audience.
The Patapon series isn't independently developed, being made internally by Sony's Japan Studio and partner developer Pyramid, but fans of distinctive indie titles will probably find it interesting, along with those who remember the earliest days of the PSP and Vita. Sony hasn't made an official announcement on when the remaster will arrive, but the Twitter for PS4 tracking site Gamstat expects the game to emerge on the PlayStation Store early in 2020. With rumblings of another beloved PlayStation title, Legend of Dragoon, making its way to the PS4 as well, it looks like part of Sony's plan to send off this generation is by modernizing games that came long before it.
Source: gamstat.com on Twitter