Rhythm Control
Rhythm Control is, of course, a music/rhythm game for the Iphone and Ipod touch, in which you try to achieve the highest score possible by pushing on the corresponding button(s) at the correct time. Its intuitive controls will have you tapping away immediately, even if you skip the “how to play,” screen. The first notable thing is the music. There are only about 12 songs, but each song delivers, with just under a dozen artists from Asia and Europe. I’ve never heard of any of the artists or bands, but this game gladly introduced me to a great array of different sounds, from “Can you save me,” by Sophie Rimheden, which is a slower paced song with beautiful vocals, to a faster paced “Gratefull Para-die-se,” by Die!!Die!!Color!!, which sounds like it can be the intro song to a quirky Japanese Anime.
Gameplay
The main idea of the game is that there are six circular buttons laid out on your screen and when the music starts, gold rings spawn around certain buttons which you must tap when the ring closes into the best position. The best position is when the ring overlaps with the circular button itself. Sometimes a pair of red rings will appear, in which case you have to tap both of those buttons at the same time. The game features some of the best music-to-game synchronization and in that aspect can be compared to the famous console franchised Guitar Hero or Tap Tap Revenge for the Iphone/Ipod Touch. There are 3 possible performance evaluations for each tap: Mediocre, Good, or Amazing. Each one gives you a different score. If you don't tap a button in time a red cross is displayed, it counts as a miss, and it ruins your combo (combo is how many buttons you tap consecutively without misses).
There are 3 difficulties to choose from, but it's almost not worth your time to play it on easy mode, in fact it should be renamed "never played a video game in my life" mode. Then again, some of the songs on hard mode are ridiculously difficult. If you want a challenge, try to complete the song "I miss you," on the hard difficulty without a single miss, it's impossible.
One thing that i find weird and annoying is the absence of a pause button. When you tap on the score you can tap again on the middle of the screen to quit the game, but that does not pause the game. It doesn't make much sense. Why would i want the game to continue while I'm in the process of quitting the game? Another thing that bothers me is the lack of incentive to get a high score. I mean at the end of each game you get a grade from an A to an F, but there are no unlockable songs or bonus game types. It would have been slightly motivating to at least be rewarded more stages or dynamic backgrounds. The only extra bits that the game offers are the information about the artists, links to their websites and the ability to tune gameplay by randomizing where the rings spawn and increasing the ring speed.
There are 3 difficulties to choose from, but it's almost not worth your time to play it on easy mode, in fact it should be renamed "never played a video game in my life" mode. Then again, some of the songs on hard mode are ridiculously difficult. If you want a challenge, try to complete the song "I miss you," on the hard difficulty without a single miss, it's impossible.
One thing that i find weird and annoying is the absence of a pause button. When you tap on the score you can tap again on the middle of the screen to quit the game, but that does not pause the game. It doesn't make much sense. Why would i want the game to continue while I'm in the process of quitting the game? Another thing that bothers me is the lack of incentive to get a high score. I mean at the end of each game you get a grade from an A to an F, but there are no unlockable songs or bonus game types. It would have been slightly motivating to at least be rewarded more stages or dynamic backgrounds. The only extra bits that the game offers are the information about the artists, links to their websites and the ability to tune gameplay by randomizing where the rings spawn and increasing the ring speed.
Verdict: 7/10
+Really outstanding songs
+Great synchronization
- Not enough songs
- No unlockables
- No powerups
- No pause button
- Virtually only one game mode
+Great synchronization
- Not enough songs
- No unlockables
- No powerups
- No pause button
- Virtually only one game mode
