[rating: 4/5]
Action Puzzle Metal Review: If we took a group of Heavy Metal music fans, then a cross section of jigsaw puzzle fans it’s unlikely that you would find many people that fit both groups as in general that are two hobbies that are at different ends of the spectrum. However, with Action Puzzle Metal for iPhone and iPad, it’s exactly that puzzle with a metal theme.
The action part of the title comes in due to the fact that the puzzles aren’t simple static images of spandex clad metalheads heads banging, instead the puzzles are made up of music videos from “legendary” heavy metal bands, and it’s this feature that makes this puzzle game interesting.
The main part of the game is Classic Mode which initially has only 1 track available to you and further tracks become available as you complete each puzzle. As the video starts the playing area is split into numerous pieces that you can drag and drop around the screen to the correct place. Not only do the pieces need re-positioning though, they also need rotating and a combination of dragging and tapping achieve both of these things.
The fact that all of the pieces are moving with the video adds an extra challenge to the puzzles but I found it a lot of fun even not being a huge fan of Heavy Metal music. There are 3 different styles of puzle pieces too from the traditional style jigsaw piece, simple squares and abstract shapes. As you correctly position two or more matching pieces they snap together with clink, signalling that you got a match.
The length of the song is the time limit that you have to complete the puzzle in and some of them can be quite challenging due to the lack of variety in the video and the limited amount of time you have to complete each level.
Once, you’ve completed all the video puzzles they become available in Squares and Challenge modes where you can play all the videos again with a range of shapes and squares, if you fancy a real challenge you can select to play with 40 squares, the ultimate puzzle challenges.
The song list includes the following and although I didn’t recognise any of the artists some of the songs were pretty good especilly the two tracks by Sonic Syndicate.
Once you’ve completed the puzzles the game still has more to offer in the form of watching and listening to the videos and collecting bonus codes online to unlock a selection of Heavy Metal wallpapers. While the individual parts of the game don’t seem the great the sum of those parts certainly exceed the individual parts leaving me with a game that I was eager to complete.
Pros
Cons
muBlip [rating: 4/5]
muBlip was a finalist for the Audio Achievement award at the 2010 Independent Games Festival and the game has now finally hit the app store. Created by para9 muBlip is a unique one player rhythm based puzzle game. It requires your memory and music skills and you are going to be challenged to get your groove on to the beat!
The game is very easy to follow, it has been described as a simon says type of game. You copy what you see but with a great unique twist to it. First you can choose to follow the tutorial which I recommend as it does help you understand exactly what you need to do to get it right. Then after that you start the game. The music plays in the background and whilst it does you have to watch what shapes light up, what direction they drag them in and the timing that you need to press the shapes. You have to follow all those three things to get it right, so lets hope you all have a bit of rhythm somewhere hidden away, you are going to need it! The patterns on the shapes light up to the rhythm of the song and timing is key.
There are shapes to tap, shapes to drag across your screen and some shapes you just have to hold your finger down on. All making different sounds in time to the beat of the great ambient music in the background. As you go through the level the rhythms getting slightly harder and faster.
There is casual mode and hardcore mode and I must admit I am still on casual mode as it is a bit easier. Then you have different levels the ‘Introduction’ where after completing the tutorial it is just a few levels with starter rhythms but I must admit they are still quite hard. Next is ‘Into The Groove’ and thats for when you are starting to get the hang of it and can do it quite well. There is also an ‘Advanced’ section which I tried, but it was a little fast for me so I would save that level for when you really have picked the game up and are quite good at it. The last part was ‘Mnemosyne’ which was a level to test your great memory. Just watch all the shapes and then copy what you see in time to the rhythm.
Altogether there are 10 levels and at the end of each level you get your percentage of how well you did, so each time you can restart and try achieve a higher percentage. I know it will take me a little time to complete them to a good score. Once I have though, I’m not sure how much I would carry on playing over and over the levels I’ve already completed so it would be great if the developers consider future updates and add more levels.
The user interface in the game is truly beautiful and the music playing in the background is a credit to the developers. The ambient, yet up beat music just gets your feet tapping to the rhythm. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and I’ve yet to master the art of the advanced mode. I’ve not really seen any other game in the app store like this. muBlip from para9 is a challenging, beautiful and unique music game.
The Good
The Not So Good
Price: $1.99 (iTunes Store Preview)
Released: Mar 15, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0.0
Size: 31.0 MB
Language: English
Seller: para9 inc.
© 2010 para9 inc.
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
If you think that Boom Shake is just going to be another rhythm game in the same style as all the other, a tap here and shake there etc… then you are in for a surprise. The fact that you swipe your finger left or right to hit the notes rather than tapping them isn’t a huge departure from other similar apps but what sets this game a part from the others is the fact that you get to play the game with your own tracks from your iPhone/iPod touch music libraries meaning that you can play along with your favorite tracks rather than being limited to tracks in the game. That’s the claim at least, so how does it work?
You play the game in the same way as so many other rhythm type games, notes in time with the beat of the track you are playing travel done the screen and as they reach the bottom you touch them to earn points. In Boom Shake rather than tapping them you swipe left or right across the bottom of the screen or shake the iPhone/iPod touch depending on the type of shape that the note is.
You get to calibrate your moves at the start of the game and the controls work really well and they are very responsive especially when a lot of notes need to be hit in quick succession as you don’t need to lift your finger off of the device as in other similar titles. As with a lot of these game RSI can be a bit of an issue and certainly after playing a couple of songs my hand did begin to ache.
The game looks nice, strong, slick graphics and nice animations make playing the game enjoyable, while the idea of playing with your own tracks seems like a great idea in reality it doesn’t work in practice quite as well as I’d hope.
You can only play with the tracks that are already on your iPhone if notes have been created for them and you can download them to sync up with your songs. Now I don’t have a massive music library and perhaps my musical tastes don’t match that of Boom Shake but I was able to find one track that had notes available for it so I clicked to play and the notes were downloaded. The problem with matching your own library with that of the tracks available to download is that you can only search 25 tracks at a time and so for people with even a relatively small music library such as mine the time to find a match can be quite long and tiresome.
Downloading notes to match the songs you already own will cost you ‘Booms’ the games currency. You start the game with 115 Booms and each set of notes you download will cost you 5 of those Booms. You can then purchase additional Booms via in game purchases or earn Booms by getting high scores or by uploading your own notes for others to download. 115 Booms to start with is a decent amount and should get you going especially if you have songs in your library that have notes available to download.
If you don’t have many tracks you can easily browse the range of songs that are available and you can click on the link to download the track directly from iTunes, after paying for it of course!
I initially played the game by downloading the notes to an existing track, Queens “Somebody to Love“. Within 30 seconds I was playing the game and with a choice of Kid, Normal, Hard and Extreme I chose Normal mode. The notes traveled down the track and as they pass over the target bar at the bottom of the page I was able to swipe left, right, clockwise and anti-clockwise circles and shake the iPhone in time to the beats. Unfortunately though the notes weren’t in time with my song and therefore it was difficult to keep in time.
However, this is where Boom Shake really comes into it’s own. With any notes that you download you can adjust the start time for the notes in relation to your track and after adjusting the start time for Queen “Somebody to Love”, my second attempt resulted in a much higher score as the timing of the notes to the music was now spot on.
The game also allows you to upload your own notes and earn Booms for spending later. The process for creating your own notes couldn’t be simpler either. First you navigate through your library of songs to choose the one you want to record your notes for and then start the track playing. The available types of notes then appear at the bottom of the screen and as th track plays you simply tap the required not in time with the music, very much like you are playing the game yourself.
You can stop the track, skip back and forward and manually remove and re-record the notes if you need to but the process is so simple that after a couple of attempts you’ll be laying down notes very easily especially if it’s a track you know well.
The track you record will automatically be given a ranking of Kid, Normal, Hard or Extreme depending on the number and frequency of notes that you have set and to prevent from anything being uploaded you then have to play the track in game mode and record a score of 80% or higher.
The one downside to this game is that it doesn’t have the level of social integration of others similar games with only an online scoreboard available to compare you skills with others, no chat, social media integration or multi-player options available at present.
If enough people take the time to upload their own tracks this game could be a huge hit as playing a game with songs that you know and love rather than being restricted to the songs the developers of the game are licensed to use will make it much more enjoyable to play. iPhone Gamers, it’s up to you to help make this great game reach it’s potential.
Boom Shake iPhone Music Game
The Good
The Not So Good
Reviewed By: Craig Willis
Price: $0.99 (iTunes Store)
Released: Feb 22, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0
Size: 39.3 MB
Languages: English
Seller: WON SEOK CHOE
© apalms
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.
The iPhone ecosystem has given the opportunity to thrive and succeed to big and small development houses alike. One of the small development houses that has leveraged its success into business dominance is Tapulous. Its long and prosperous flagship line of Tap Tap games has driven Tapulous in two years from unknown Palo Alto, California start up to iPhone game superstar. Building on the success of their trail blazing rhythm application, Tapulous has just released Riddim Ribbon.
Riddim Ribbon both borrows from the Tap Tap franchise and completely deviates from it. Instead of attempting to keep the beat to a song, Riddim Ribbon challenges the player to follow the song through a twisting course; the titular Riddim Ribbon. The player guides a speeding ball along the ribbon as it twists and turns through the level; collecting points, avoiding obstacles and playing through optional parts of the course. While game play in Tap Tap was focused on precisely keeping the beat, game play in Riddim Ribbon is focused on precisely following the ribbon.
The player steers their vehicle using tilt steering and attempts to stay on the track as closely as possible. Each track is divided into a series of checkpoints that the player has to achieve to complete the overall level. If the player deviates from the ribbon, two things happen. First they lose their points runs they’ve accumulated by staying on the ribbon. The second, and most important, outcome is the loss of energy. Energy is maintained by staying on the ribbon and collecting the energy spheres that appear on it. Running off the track and running into obstacles drains your energy. If you lose all your energy before the checkpoint you lose the level. Maintaining your energy levels allow you to achieve checkpoints and completing all checkpoints leads to winning the whole level.
The current version of Riddim Ribbon features the music of the Black Eyed Peas. Their music provides an excellent back drop to the game. Riddim Ribbon comes with the hit Black Eyed Peas songs Meet Me Halfway, I Gotta Feeling, and Boom Boom Pow. Players may also purchase Escape Me Louder Than Boom by Tiesto and Satisfaction by BennyBenassi. As usual, all of the music suits the game very well and the in app purchasing makes acquiring the additional tracks very easy. Although the current version of the game features the Black Eyed Peas, I am sure that future iterations of the game will feature other hit songs and artists if Tapulous follows the Tap Tap model.
In addition to the first rate game play and music, Riddim Ribbon also provides some nice extras. As I’ve stated in other reviews, I think social gaming is a very important aspect of the iPhone gaming experience. Riddim Ribbon delivers by providing local and global high scores. You can also e-mail your scores and progress at the end of each level in game. Challenge your friends directly and compare your progress with other Riddim Ribbon players around the world. Riddim Ribbon also provides good feature customization to change the interface to suit your needs.
Tapulous has another huge hit on their hands here. Riddim Ribbon is an innovative and interesting take on the genre Tapulous defined for themselves. The only addition I would suggest to this complete game is some form of competitive two player mode. Its absence does not detract in any way from this game, just a suggestion for the future. If you liked the Tap Tap series of games you’ll love Riddim Ribbon. Even if you didn’t like the Tap Tap series of games you’ll love Riddim Ribbon. Go out and download this game today, you won’t regret it.
The Good:
The Not So Good:
Reviewed By: Erin Peterson
Riddim Ribbon – I Gotta Feeling Demo
Price: $2.99 (iTunes Store)
Released: Feb 08, 2010
Version: 1.0.2
Size: 45.4 MB
Seller: Gogo Apps, Inc.
© Tapulous, Inc.
There are a number of iPhone games that use music as a backdrop for game play. Tapulous’ popular Tap Tap Revenge series immediately comes to mind. The thing about games like Tap Tap Revenge is that they require you to buy content to play with which, on an iPhone full of music, might seem like a needless expense. The upcoming game Tune Runner from Appy Entertainment takes a more revolutionary path, using your existing music library as the in-game content.
In Tune Runner, the player must make their way through various environments by drawing the shapes that move from right to left on the screen. Successfully draw the shape through touch on the screen and your robot Grov-ee continues on his journey, unsuccessfully draw the shape and your robot loses a little bit of his life. If you miss enough shapes your life meter drains and your mission is over. As I alluded to in the beginning though, Tune Runner’s revolutionary aspect is in the creation of the game environment. Tune Runner scans the music on your iPhone and for each level played you select a song. The game then generates the level dynamically based on that song. Every level is different, no two plays are ever the same. Even two plays on the same song are different.
Tune Runner for iPhone also implements some nice extras in addition to the solid game play. Tune Runner implements full OpenFeint support with global high scores and achievements. Additionally, after you complete a song, your score is submitted against all other scores for that song. This is an interesting twist on social gaming since usually overall global high score is usually king.
The other interesting extra is how game play and game price are connected. Instead of pasting banner ads to every empty space in the application or charging more for the game, Tune Runner takes another approach. Each new game is allotted a certain number of plays of the game. To earn more plays of the game the user can either purchase them or earn them the Recharge mini-game. Purchasing them is a straightforward proposition. The Recharge mini-game is a little bit more interesting. Play is the same as the main game but instead of Grov-ee, a battery is displayed. Each shape that is successfully drawn places a bit more energy in the battery. When the battery reaches full charge an additional play is earned. To subsidize this, banner ads are displayed during the Recharge mini-game which is a small price to pay for this fun little mini-game and additional plays of the game.
I look forward to playing the final version of Tune Runner. It looks to be an innovative game with a fun and interesting interface. I think Appy has a winner on its hands.
Previewed By: Erin Peterson
Early Screenshots
Rock Band is a music/rhythm based game, iPhone version of this genre defining game will feature 20 legendary songs and in-game Music Store to purchase additional tracks from OK Go, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Lenny Kravitz, Social Distortion, Devo, and more.
Games like Tap Tap Revenge 3 and Guitar Rock Tour have taken iPhone gaming to a new level of entertainment and with features like push notification and multiplayer, one can never get enough of it.
Game Features
Rock Band for iPhone: Song List
30 Seconds To Mars – “Attack”
AFI – “Girls Not Grey”
All American Rejects – “Move Along”
Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
Blink-182 – “All The Small Things”
Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
Foo Fighters – “Learn To Fly”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
George Thorogood & the Destroyers – “Bad to The Bone”
Jethro Tull – “Hymn 43″
Joan Jett – “Hymn 43″
Lynard Skynard – “Simple Man”
Motorhead – “Ace of Spades ’08”
Pixies – “Debaser”
Presidents of The United States of America – “Ladybug”
Rise Against – “Give It All”
Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Cherub Rock”
Steve Miller Band – “Take The Money and Run”
The Go Go’s – “We Got The Beat”
First Screenshots (Scroll down for Video!)
Rock Band iPhone_8
Rock Band iPhone_7
Rock Band iPhone_6
Rock Band iPhone_5
Rock Band iPhone_4
Rock Band iPhone_3
Rock Band iPhone_2
Rock Band iPhone_1
Rock Band: iPhone Gameplay
Video By: Touch Arcade
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