Pokemanz in your iPhone!
Seeing a Nintendo franchise on something other than Nintendo licensed hardware was once thought to be impossible. Fast forward to 2011, where a sizable number of people are carrying very capable devices with them on a daily basis that can not only make calls and check emails, but are also able to play games. Smartphones are here and are becoming more and more complicated day by day. Although Nintendo has sworn off game software on these devices, one of their largest affiliates, The Pokémon Company has not ruled it out, and thus, Pokémon Ie Tap? was born.
Pokémon Ie Tap? is a music based game where the player has to tap the screen at the correct time along with a Japanese Poké-rap. To make it easier to tap the screen at the right time, the top of the screen features scrolling emblems of the various Pokémon types that are being rapped about. The emblems scroll from left to right. The player is cued to tap the screen when the emblem reaches a circle toward the right side of the screen. With each successful tap, the player is awarded with either a “perfect,” “good,” or “so-so” rating. If you miss judge the taps and make three mistakes, you get game over. After getting through the song for the first time, a hard mode is unlocked which is more or less the same, except that the player no longer has the scrolling emblems at the top of the screen to help out. The hard mode definitely makes the game a bit more challenging and takes practice to perfect.
The application also has a few other notable features as well. Players can save their high scores to their devices and are also able to post their latest scores on Twitter via a twitter button built into the game. While these are interesting features, the lack of online leader boards is a bit of a letdown, especially considering that the iPhone has the capability to be constantly connected to the Internet.
What's the bottom line here? Pokémon Ie Tap? is a fun title that will provide you with a good option for a pick up and play music game on your iPhone. Not only that, but the price is right (i.e. free). Currently the game is limited to the Japanese Apple App Store, but will be making it's away to the Android Market soon in Japan.