Edit: See correction below, original story follows:
Strangely, rhythm game pricing controversy isn't new to TouchArcade as many people were upset at the piecemeal way in which Square Enix brought Theatrhythm Final Fantasy [Free] to the App Store, but NamcoBandai may have just one-upped them with the US release of their hit Japanese rhythm game iDOLM@STER on iOS.
The gist of iDOLM@STER (yes, that's how they stylize it) centers around managing an up-and-coming pop star and taking them to the top of the charts, using your typical rhythm-based gameplay of tapping various combinations in time with the beat. The game has seen a few different releases on various consoles and handhelds since 2005, and as best as can be determined by some fans in our forums this iOS version is based off of the Sony PSP release from several years back. Also, the band management portion and arguably the one thing that sets this apart from being just another rhythm game doesn't appear to be in the iOS versions of the game.
The real kicker here is that iDOLM@STER has been split into three separate apps: iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa Rhythmic Record [$54.99], iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa Melodic Disc [$54.99], and iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa Harmonic Score [$54.99]. The difference between each seems to be the selection of idols and songs that you can play with, basically chopping the PSP game into three $55 chunks. Also, each app is roughly 2 GB to download and around 3 GB installed.
So this is a perplexing release on several levels. For one, I think there's definitely an audience who are stoked for an English version of iDOLM@STER, and if you're absolutely nuts for the series then maybe you're down to drop the $165 to get all three games on your iOS device. But I can't imagine there are a significant number of people who feel that way. If the goal is to broaden the audience for this niche genre, which has blown up in Japan and other markets but never really hit hard in the West, then this pricey and split-up iOS release is a tough barrier to entry for newbies. Finally, why the heck would they strip out the actual band management mechanics when that sounds like the most interesting part?
I guess we'll just keep our eye on iDOLM@STER and see how it shakes out, but if you are a huge fan who has been waiting for a native English version of the game and you have both the money and device space to spare, then feel free to check out the iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa games with the links below or hit up the forums for more impressions and discussion.
Correction: As pointed out by several readers, the original iDOLM@STER Shiny Festa was released on PSP late last year in Japan and was indeed 3 separate games, each featuring different pop idols and focusing exclusively on rhythm gameplay without any management. So the iOS versions are merely ports of those games, and not a split-up version of the 2008 PSP release as originally thought. We apologize for the error.
In my fourth year of university, I took a class called Canadian Experimental Shorts. I wasn't optimistic going in (I mean, that title alone puts you to sleep, right?). On my first day, however, instead of handing out notes or instructions, the professor dimmed the lights and showed us something I had never seen before: a film without cameras. Barely longer than two minutes, it was animated entirely onto physical film strip, and packed with color that danced, twinkled, and exploded to the sound of classic jazz. Its name was Cameras Take Five, and it sold me on Canadian Experimental Shorts. Good news if you're looking for something completely original: Melodive [Free] is basically Cameras Take Five: The Game.
Fair warning: like experimental film, this one isn't the most approachable at first blush. Before embracing the game's persistent feeling of being lost, I felt...well...completely lost. Unable to understand the controls, not quite sure what shapes I was looking at, and disturbingly confused as to which way was up. Fascinated by the ambient noises and sea of floating jewels, I decided to re-read the instructions section and give it another go. And another. And then another. And while I can't say I ever fully came to terms with which way was up, it ultimately didn't matter soon enough.
Fans of Dance Dance Revolution have probably been disappointed ever since the previously released Dance Dance Revolution S+ was removed from the App Store some time ago. Well, Konami is back at it with DDR Dance Wars [Free] a new rhythm game that unfortunately doesn't offer backwards compatibility with the previous title. While Dance Wars obviously does a good job bringing back DDR's music and style to the App Store, its move to a freemium system for unlocking songs feels forced and is highly disappointing.
Veterans of DDR S+ or any of the countless previous versions of Dance Dance Revolution will feel right at home with the core gameplay of Dance Wars. The same four-direction rhythm scheme returns, complete with a virtual dancepad in the same format as the physical controllers. The standard difficulty and ranking system rounds out the basics, along with its unique brand of music. In this regard, Dance Wars plays like most other rhythm titles on iOS, although I really don't like the virtual dancepad and think it's a far cry from being an optimal control scheme.
While anyone that's played DDR will recognize the the layout of the virtual dance pad, in practice it's a pretty inferior control scheme compared to say, Tap Tap Revolution. For starters the virtual pad is located on the bottom of the screen while notes are slowly moving towards the note line at the top. This means that you need to simultaneously keep track of your finger placement while still trying to pay attention to the appropriate notes as they hit the note line.
This seems like it shouldn't be a huge deal but I found it to occasionally be a frustrating experience as my hands would drift from the button placement while distracted by the ascending notes. With enough practice, one should be able to overcome this issue, although it'll still rear its ugly head on harder difficulties. The whole scheme feels like a choice of form over function and in terms of iOS devices there are far better alternatives.
Dance Wars may feel familiar in its controls, but deviates from previous titles in its method of unlocking songs. Each song can be unlocked via completing a number of set missions associated with that song or by engaging in Battle Mode with other players. Mission mode is pretty standard with objectives centered around completing a song with a certain score or ranking in order to complete it.
Battle Mode tasks you with competing with other Dance Wars players, with a win netting you a piece of the sticker. Collect all six, and you unlock the song. Meanwhile, other players will be trying to take stickers from you, and you can set your favorite (and best) song run as your ghost that others will challenge. Players can also join up, form 'Crews' and use each other to gain scoring edges against the opponents. So far, the changes in Dance Wars seem pretty interesting and the social interaction is a nice twist. However, this all changes once the freemium comes into play.
Each song played in Mission Mode or Battle Mode consumes 'stamina.' While stamina consumption varies between modes, a full stamina bar will last you between 5-7 songs. Once your stamina has been exhausted, you can either wait for it to recover at a rate of full stamina bar in 24 hours (!) or you can consume food items that instantly recover stamina. Food items can occasionally be earned by completing various achievements, but for the most part you're going to have to shell out for some premium currency in order to purchase them.
Obviously not all freemium systems are equal, but I found Dance Wars system to be particularly unfair. The 24-hour wait time (which averages about being able to play one song every two or three hours) for stamina recovery is absolutely ridiculous. When you add in the fact that you consume stamina regardless of if you win or lose at your respective mission or battle, it makes the system even more onerous. In addition, the premium currency itself is convoluted, as players have to purchase "DDR Coins" within the Gree system which can then be used to purchase the premium items. In fact, the only part of the system that's friendly is the fact that songs that are unlocked can be played in 'Free Play,' allowing you to practice on any difficulty to your heart's content.
If all Dance Wars did was take the standard DDR gameplay and music selection and infuse it with some social features, I would have happily played it without much complaint. The problem is its excessive freemium system not only prevents you from playing, but blatantly puts monetization ahead of any semblance of balance between unlocking songs and having to pay for IAP items. It's really a shame and is a far cry from the previous DDR offering. Meanwhile, I'd recommend rhythm fans go back to games like Cytus [$1.99] that get it right.
Mobile games have left their roots behind, no longer relying on entertaining us with a dozen variations of Snake and Bejeweled. Our habits haven't quite kept up. For every one of us that sits and plays an iOS game for hours straight there are many more who will never load up a game for more than five minutes in a sitting. That's reasonable: these games are a diversion on the go for most people. It's just a shame because there are games that can't be digested in five short minutes. Take Lucky Frame's Wave Trip [$1.99].
I didn't fully grasp Wave Trip until I played with the level editor. The studio's latest comes off like a competent cave flyer that makes pretty music—to Lucky Frame's usual impressive standard of pretty music, of course. The scoring rules seem a bit opaque, and you're never quite sure what's coming next. In fact, what's coming next seems to change each time you start a level over. But open up the level editor for a few moments and the whole game unfolds before you.
We've been waiting for Lucky Frame's follow-up to Bad Hotel [$0.99] since the studio announced its existence back in November, and as of today Wave Trip [$1.99] has finally arrived in the App Store. Like the developer's previous titles, Wave Trip has a clean aesthetic and game mechanics tied closely with music creation.
This is essentially a cave flyer like many you've no doubt played before, but every element in the game has a musical sound attached to it. So as you fly through a level collecting items and avoiding obstacles, a song is slowly and progressively building up until you reach the end of the level. By that time you've got yourself a reasonably complex, funky little tune. It's really beautiful as an audio/visual experience, but it's quite fun and challenging too with its 3-star system for each of the 25 song levels.
What's more is that Wave Trip comes with an extremely easy to use grid-based level creator, so you can make levels and upload them to share with the world or conversely download levels created by others to play yourself. You can even remix any of the included levels using the editor just to put your own spin on the default setups. It's pretty sweet actually.
Right now we are definitely digging Wave Trip in our brief time with it, and we'll continue to dig in to see how well the game parts of it stand up. When it comes to the visuals and sounds though, it's already easy to see Lucky Frame has totally nailed it. You can get more early impressions in our forums and you can snag your own copy of Wave Trip for $1.99 with the link below.
When Square Enix first released the 3DS version of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy in the US this summer, it was a welcome departure from the standard fare we've come to know from the Final Fantasy name. Instead of creating a standard RPG, Theatrhythm celebrated the incredibly large catalog of music that spans the entire Final Fantasy series with a good rhythm game wrapped in some light RPG garb. With the iOS port of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy [Free], Square Enix has made some significant changes to the game, both good and bad. While some of the changes (particularly in regards to IAP) might turn-off a lot of players, I think the upgrades outweigh most of the bad, making this a rich music game worth checking out.
Like most music games, Theatrhythm challenges players to perform moves on the screen to the tune of songs. Songs are divided into two stages, Field Music and Battle Music. Battle Music Stages have players tapping, swiping and holding notes with each successful note doing damage to enemies that are encountered. Field Music Stages, meanwhile, follow your lead character on an overworld journey and operate similarly with the exception that hold notes require you to trace up and down the screen. Finishing songs reward experience for your party, which go towards leveling up your characters.
In July of last year, Taito released their psychedelic rhythm game Groove Coaster [$2.99] to much critical acclaim. It was created by the same team that did the epic Space Invaders Infinity Gene [$4.99 / Free], so you know it had a wild visual style and a unique progression mechanic as you played and slowly "evolved" the game, unlocking new tracks to play as well as new modes and other fun stuff. We thought Groove Coaster was simply awesome in our 5 star review.
Today, Taito has released Groove Coaster Zero [Free], a free-to-play take on the original game. I'm not totally sure what prompted this after a year and a half, but likely they wanted to remove the barrier of entry to get more people to try out the game, something I can get behind.
How to explain Arranger [$0.99]? It doesn't quite fit into any bucket I'm familiar with. It's a mini-game collection, a classic adventure and a music game all rolled into one strange-looking package, each part coming together into a surprisingly cohesive whole. It's about using the power of music to help people, but also about solving the strangest of problems. It features boss battles that involve shooting brains with musical instruments while emotional defenses try to stop you. It's quirky, yes, but also immensely loveable.
You might think from its screenshots that Arranger is a chaotic mess. In practice, that chaos seems much cleaner. The game has its own logic, visually and experientially, and it hews to it consistently. Still, its look may take some getting used to. Don't let that stop you; composer Arman Bohn has crafted a weird, wonderful experience that's only occasionally brought down by reality, and it shouldn't be missed.
Reflec Beat + [Free] feels like the Tron equivalent to a one- or two-player rhythm battle game. You're not zooming on bikes, but all the flashing neon, the flinging of note-pucks, and high-energy music makes each round feel like the stakes are high and that the winner painfully earned their survival. This is how you do touch-based rhythm games, on the iPad, anyway.
The goal is to get the highest score by tapping, holding, or flinging notes when they line up on your bar or the two hi-hat-like green cymbals above the bar. Players earn 1-3 points based on their timing, double that for hold notes, and 10 points for flinging notes.
This last, fast technique is referred to as a "just reflec," and has various conditions players must meet. It requires a golden note and perfect timing while sliding your finger. Players must build their Just Reflec Gauge to use this powerful slide attack. This gauge fills in proportion to how well you time each tap, too. For a music game, this is very intensity in ten cities!
In true Konami fashion, score rating is both intense and bizarre: a 90% achievement rate equals a AAA and 95% is AAA+. Getting a C is the lowest form of failure. Yes, this is grad school gaming.
Bad Hotel creator Lucky Frame has announced its next game, Wave Trip. It's a "two-button, arcade-style" sandbox title that'll revolve around music and task users with making their own content in addition to "saving their friends" as they play.
We've embedded Wave Trip's first teaser trailer just below. After watching it a couple of times, we're pretty stoked. It certainly looks fun conceptually, at least.
We'll have to wait and see if the user-created content angle pans out; seems games that lean on it tend to suffer as communities dry up after release. Regardless, Wave Trip is slated to hit the App Store "soon" for iPhone and iPad.
Confirmed: the re-imagining of Karateka is coming to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch this month, according to a press release. That settles the issue of if it's coming, at least.
When specifically is another matter. The press materials don't pack in a solid date for the iOS release, but it's probably safe to assume that this version will hit after the XBLA version's release this coming November 7. No price for iOS has been announced. The Steam, XBLA, and PSN versions will be going for $10.
Billed as a "rhythm-based story fighter," this new Karateka will tasks users with doing a familiar thing: fighting dudes in order to save "the lovely Mariko" from "the evil warlord Akuma." We've got some screens above.
Considering Square Enix's recent foray into music rhythm games, I admit I was a bit surprised to see something as standard as Symphonica [Free / Free (HD)] hit the App Store. However, just because it conforms to genre norms doesn't make Symphonica necessarily bad. In fact, with its emphasis on classical music and easy controls I'd say this music game is pretty enjoyable, though a superfluous story and a somewhat lacking song selection are the biggest detractors holding Symphonica back.
Symphonica follows the story of a young conductor named Takt as he heads to Einsatz, the city of music. After arriving, he teams up with the Fayharmonic Orchestra on a journey to play at King Hall, a musical tradition that hasn't been accomplished since the time of the legendary conductor Carlos. Along the way, Takt encounters friends, enemies and ghosts of the past as he and the Fayharmonic rehearse and play music.
Almost a year ago to the day, at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Square Enix announced a card battling game called Demon’s Score. Well, at least that’s what we thought at the time, but thanks to some sketchy translation issues that wasn’t actually the case. Square Enix WAS working on a card-battling game, and in fact it launched just last week. It’s not called Demon’s Score, though, it’s called Guardian Cross [Free] and it’s free to download and check out for yourself, or you can see what people have been saying about it in our forums.
Now, Demon’s Score [$4.99] is actually a thing, too. In fact, back at E3 in June we got our hands on an early version of Demon’s Score, and thought it was pretty cool in our brief time with it. Visually, the game plays out like an on-rails shooter type of thing, but the gameplay is based mostly around rhythm-tapping, similar to Elite Beat Agents and many other titles. Demon’s Score is also built using the Unreal Engine, so it looks pretty darn good. You can check it out in this trailer, though I’ll leave no comment about the music.
So hey, just a head’s up that Square Enix has been on a roll as of late. First they released a brand new RPG called Drakerider [Free / Free (HD)] earlier this month, then it was Guardian Cross last week, and now Demon’s Score this week. What’ll it be next week? I don’t know, but I’m hoping it’s something. At any rate, we’re tearing through these games as we speak, but you can check out our forums for even more impressions and discussion on Demon’s Score.
Lucky Frame's music/tower defense hybrid Bad Hotel [$0.99] is the best kind of weird there is, the kind that makes you wonder exactly what the developers were thinking and if there's anything you can do to encourage them to keep going down that Rabbit Hole. More attuned towards its tower defense roots than its musical background, Bad Hotel will have you doing what few tower defense games have ever attempted to do before: defend towers.
Sort of. In theory, you only really need to protect the little hotel you're given at the beginning of every stage from the evil machinations of the game's antagonist Tarnation Tadstock. If that falls, you're going to have to restart the round. However, in order to defend that precious spot of real estate, you're going to cultivate a nice little collection of healing rooms, turrets, money-generating quarters and more.
iPad users have had the pleasure of checking out Michael Jackson: The Experience [$2.99 / $4.99 (HD)] for a few months, but it wasn’t until last week that iPhone/touch users were finally able to jam with the King of Pop. Now that both versions are available, we thought we’d see how it plays out on iOS. Unfortunately, the excellent presentation and fan service that it offers aren’t enough to overcome a variety of issues concerning controls, song selection and visuals.
If you’ve never played one of the many iterations of Michael Jackson: The Experience, you’re in for a treat from a fan service perspective. Songs take place in environments from their music videos, with backup dancers and scene changes as appropriate. Cutscenes and familiar choreography set the stage and do a great job helping you remember the time of classic (and dare I say, better) music videos. You can also change Michael’s costumes between songs (for a price), adding to the nostalgia. There’s a lot here in terms of presentation and production values. Unfortunately, the game goes downhill from there.
Being based off the Vita version of Experience, you’d expect this iOS port to have decent visuals and to a certain extent you’d be correct. The game looks nice enough, but behind the mask you’ll find stunted (and repetitive) movement. In addition, I encountered slowdown spikes at random intervals during some song runs, which can be really dangerous and mess up timing (particularly in a rhythm game). Still, outside the slowdown the visuals work well enough for a rhythm game, until you get to the controls.
Experience’s gameplay centers on swipes and taps that must be done to the beat of the music. Prompts will appear on the screen indicating the direction and timing of the move, with two indicators slowly coming together until they merge (indicating the right time to swipe/tap). Harder difficulty levels add in curve and circle-swipes, as well as moves requiring both hands.
There are several issues with the rhythm controls in Experience. First, the timing mechanism just feels off. There are not enough visual cues to really differentiate between a ‘Perfect’ and a ‘Great,’ leaving you guessing a lot. In addition, there aren’t any auditory cues if you miss notes. Finally, while I understand hard difficulties are supposed to be, well, difficult, but Experience’s difficulty seems to stem more from a confusing mess of control prompts rather than actual difficulty. Other silly issues, such as the inability to see which difficulties you’ve beaten, and the lack of a song progress meter, keep the game behind the curve.
One area that is really disappointing in Experience is the song selection. For the price of the game you get four full songs to play, with 9 others available as IAP (separate purchases, no packs). Strangely enough, the IAP selection seems to vary between the iPhone version and the iPad version. For example, Thriller is available as IAP for iPad, while it’s not for iPhone (which makes no sense to me). I’m not sure of the reason for this fragmentation (besides monetary reasons), but I don’t like it. Adding insult to injury is the fact that all the IAP is pre-downloaded, with purchases simply “unlocking” the songs vice downloading. Maybe it doesn’t make much of a difference but it just feels wrong.
Unfortunately, offering a recommendation for Experience isn’t as black or white as one would hope. The imprecise controls, and surprisingly small song selection hold the game back. Of course, that’s not to say that the game is necessarily bad – it just isn’t as good as the better iOS rhythm titles. Regardless, if you’re a fan of Jackson songs and you’re willing to put up with the above issues, you can do a lot worse than Michael Jackson: The Experience. Just don’t expect much more than the fan service if you get it.
