Metallica Revenge
Yes, to all iPhone Metallica fans out there, your cries have been heard by developer Tapulous, and Metallica Revenge is the latest in the Tap Tap Revenge franchise. The game offers 10 tracks from the Thrash metal legends spanning across their 26 year career and features some intense tapping gamep... Read More
DEMONS' SCORE Review
When you bring together notable composers responsible for the stunning soundtracks of games like Final Fantasy 11, Nier, and Secret of Mana, you’d like to think their work is showcased appropriately. I’m not entirely sold on the ‘appropriate’ part when it comes to the magic-transforming-teenager-and-skimpy-clothes department of Demons’ Soul by Square Enix, but the rhythm-based gameplay is perhaps the best way to showcase its music. You play as Ser...
Michael Jackson The Experi... Review
Michael Jackson the Experience is indeed a well made game. With that said, there's a litmus test that needs to be applied before purchase. Do you have fond memories of growing up with Michael Jackson's pop music? If the answer is yes, then chances are you will enjoy yourself. If you're not a fan of the music, despite this being a solid rhythm game with impeccable presentation, we would recommend you look elsewhere. The game begins with a tutorial that really doesn't explain how the ga...
Bad Hotel Review
It takes a certain kind of mad clarity to sit there and take the genre of 'Tower Defense' as literally as Bad Hotel does. Conceptually Lucky Frame's game is the same as it ever was - drop blocks as defenses against an onslaught of creatures bent on destroying your base, but this time around you're actually building the eponymous hotel, adding rooms to accommodate tourists and shoot down sentient clouds. I may have lost you on that last point. See, your task is simple - build a profita...
Synesthetic Review
Since music can muster such a visceral reaction in us of like and dislike, when a game comes along that allows us to interact with music, it is usually received favorably. If it's a game like Guitar Hero which has a set track list, the game can be lauded or decried based on if the list resonates with fans of those songs, but games like Audiosurf and Synesthetic, which allow the player to use their own music collection favor much better, also because these games are tied to playable versions o...
Dance Fever Review
Rhythm games have always been at a disadvantage on the iPhone. While home consoles allow a player to live out their rock and roll fantasies with Rock Band, or dance up a storm with DDR, the swipe and tap inputs of the mobile device just can't compete with these unique control methods. That's not to say rhythm games haven't been enjoyable on the iPhone (or other handheld devices), it's just that you really need to design a simple and elegant system to allow the player to interact with the musi...
Mad Acorn Review
[Mad Acorn was featured as the Mini-review for the Friday News Wrap-Up for the 22nd of June, 2012] Despite my personal belief that Mad Acorn by APD deserves a much larger review, I can't begin to express just how unexpectedly perfect this title ended up feeling upon first playing it, so it's probably best I keep things short. The game, which is ostensibly a rhythm title, is the first in the developer's new TapTap Comix project, providing interactive artistic collaborations. Combining ...
Circadia Review
When Circadia loads up and you find yourself staring at the title screen waiting for something to happen, tap on the colored dot. That small interaction is all you need to know for this minimalistic puzzler. OK, well it's not everything you need to know, but let's call it at least two thirds. Tapping a colored dot will send out a ripple of color and sound. When that ripple hits the white dot, the next stage unveils itself. That's just the beginning however. Soon enough two colored dot...
Beat Hazard Ultra Review
Games that revolve their play and mechanics around music are something special. What's even more special are those games that allow you to use your own music library as not only this ensures you have levels based around music you enjoy listening to, but it creates almost limitless content. Beat Hazard has been around on Steam for a while, turning any song in your library into an adrenaline pumping twin stick shooter. Now for a lot of people the visual assault of this game made it unplayable, ...
Beat Sneak Bandit Review
Simogo are quickly establishing themselves as the quirky, but undoubtedly rock-solid sort of developer you can trust to bring quality gaming to the App Store. Beat Sneak Bandit is the latest release from the Swedish developers and is easily their greatest triumph as it elegantly blends addictive gameplay with audio/visual elements to create a jaw-dropping puzzle experience. All the clocks in the world have been stolen, but the Beat Sneak Bandit has a good idea where they've all been t...
Time Ducks Review
There are two ways to approach a game like Time Ducks by Tough Guy Studios. One is to simply say "it's Frogger, combined with Flight Control after a heavy session of drinking in the Hot Tub Time Machine" and just leave it at that... I'll even pat you on the bottom as you scamper away to your room to enjoy it. The other is to put on a legitimate reviewers hat and wait for the inevitable gaming coma that comes when you finish a round, not quite knowing what happened, but knowing you did somethi...
Russian Dancing Men Review
In 1999 Japanese developer and musician Masay Matsuura, along with his company NanaOn-Sha, released Vib-Ribbon upon the world. While not garnering nearly the same attention as previous releases PaRappa the Rapper and UmJammer Lammy, it carved a niche for itself thanks to its unique approach to rhythm gaming - giving players obstacles timed to music to navigate via a semi-intuitive control scheme. Its lukewarm reception was followed up with relative silence in the rhythm game sphere as...
Tune Rider Review
Like many people, music forms a large part of my life; something my eclectic collection of music ranging from 80s New Wave to modern Gangster Rap can attest to. As such I love it when a game lets me turn my music in to something visceral (such as in AudioSurf), which is why I had to give Tune Rider by H2indie a try. There aren't any real grandiose promises made by the developer outside of being able to ride along with your music. This honesty has in retrospect worked in the game's fav...
Groove Coaster Review
The release of Space Invaders Infinity Gene by TAITO was a pleasant surprise a couple years ago, thanks mostly to its focus on 'evolution' - that is to say, the way in which the game modified based on how you played and the decisions made within the game itself. Much like Infinity Gene was a refreshing shift from the usual shoot'em-ups, Groove Coaster is a refreshing shift from the usual rhythm games. With that said, it's far from unfamiliar. The usual concept of tapping away to an el...
Current Review
We've all played one game or another within the 'three-match' genre, be it something as iconic as Bejewelled or a little more abstract like Puzzle Bobble and their popularity resulted in the App Store (over)reacting accordingly. Over time the flood of copy-cats reached an equilibrium, leaving only the giants of the App Store as they stood on the backs of those who perished. The unique way in which these games explored a simple concept helped to contribute to their survival and Current by Tink...
Wave - Against every BEAT!... Review
Bullet-hell type shoot'em-ups have certainly had their dash on the App Store and much like any fad its appeal, even to genre fans, starts to fade even despite the attractive, eye-popping visuals and challenging, fast-paced gameplay. Undaunted by this, developer Colobox has released its own beat/rhythm based bullet hell title 'Wave - Against every BEAT!', but sadly its unique ideas fail to excite despite cranking every aspect of the game up to eleven. Waves upon waves of neon-shaped en...
ROCK BAND Reloaded Review
With over a year since the previous release of ROCK BAND on the App Store, Electronic Arts and Harmonix have finally released their next in the series, Reloaded. Much like the first release you're given 15 songs in the initial pack and a handful of paid and free song packs on offer right away. However the real standout feature with this release is the ability to sing your way to victory. Players can choose to jump in to the role of playing the guitar, bass, drums or vocals of a band a...
Red Bull BC One Game Review
Whether or not you're in to the B-Boy scene, watching professional dancers whipping up a flurry of agile moves is easy to appreciate and Red Bull Championship BC One by Digital Chocolate attempts to bring the best of this dance style to the App Store. However, it might be a bit of a stretch to call BC One an 'authentic dance game' as it's really just a straight rhythm game, but a good one none-the-less. Players need to tap out a tune matching rhythm by using four colored buttons on th...
Tapic Review
Freemium style titles can be a risky investment, either consuming your time utterly or requiring more money than a regular game to be worthwhile. Tapic by Zentertain is an interesting mix of paid and freemium and for fans of rhythm games it's an investment that may just be worth your time. And the reason for this is a simple one as you can finally play a tap-rhythm game with your own music library. Much like advanced rhythm games like Audiosurf, Tapic doesn't come with a preset or pur...
Riddim Ribbon Review
If you're a fan of rhythm games then it's hard not to have come across Tapulous and their Tap Tap Revenge series. However, the company has since decided to spread its wings and attempt something new and now players can try their side-project Riddim Ribbon without needing to listen to The Black Eyed Peas. Much like Tapulous' other basic packs this is a free title packaged with a few songs and access to a store with song packs to add to your collection. In this title you'll be presented...
BIT.TRIP BEAT Review
If we consider Pong to be the equivalent of a popular child actor of its time - seen everywhere, but not quite fulfilling its potential - then BIT.TRIP BEAT is that child actor's attempt to reinvent itself during the heady early 90's period, full of synth beats and slatherings of neon to hide its aging concept. That may sound harsh, but BIT.TRIP BEAT by Namco is a hard title to enjoy despite its basic gaming roots of hitting pixels back with a paddle you can move up and down the scree...