Let’s Tap
Could A Wii game that you play without touching the Wiimote possibly be fun?
Nintendo claims they are "innovators." With the Wii, the DS and the Dsi, many believe that Nintendo has lived up to their claims. Even with these innovations on the hardware side, there is little argument that there is a lack of innovation in third-party developed software. With a few exceptions in games like Boom Blox, not many games find interesting mechanics besides the basic waggle.
So if you are wondering what possible innovation games could offer, I will point you in the direction of "Let's Tap." This is a game so innovative, you don't even touch the controller. Confused? Let me explain.
"Let's Tap" is a collection of mini-games by a new studio named Prope, lead by former Sonic Team head Yuji Naka. The game immediately instructs you to grab a box and place your Wii remote on top of it, button side down. From there on you do not touch the controller for the rest of your gaming experience. You navigate the menus through tapping once to move to the next subject, and double tapping to select it (although you can pick up and use the Wii remote normally).
Then, a menu presents you with five different games. There is Tap Runner, Rhythm Tap, Silent Blocks, Bubble Voyager and Visualizer. There is also an options menu where you can adjust the calibration of your tapping as well as other features.
Yes, you are tapping a box to make little bright-colored stick men run in space.
The first game is what you have probably seen if you have seen trailers of this game, and provides the most "full" game experience. Tap Runner (above) puts you in control of one of four different colored stick men. The goal of the game is to guide your man across a course in a race to the finish. You control your character by lightly tapping rapidly on your box to run, and tapping hard to jump.
The controls have a high point of entry. There is a point where your character will actually run instead of walk, but to achieve this you must keep an almost perfect tempo and power in your tapping. While challenging at first, once mastered you can basically place in the top two of most races. There are over 16 courses, each with an increasing difficulty and an increasing number of obstacles to overcome. As in all the games, you can also play with up to four friends.
The second game is called Rhythm Tap, and it is, unsurprisingly, a rhythm game. It plays similar to Donkey Konga, where you have to time your taps as notes cross the screen. You have to tap in three different varieties (light, medium, and hard) as well as long successions of quick taps and tap from gradually light to hard. The game isn't too deep, offering only 16 songs to choose from, and the notes feel off in certain songs. It is fun in your first play through but due to the combination of the number of songs and lack of harder difficulties, this mode doesn't warrant multiple play throughs.
Covering multiple genres, Tap's third mini-game is a puzzle game called Silent Blocks. The game starts with a tower of red and blue pentagonal blocks with the goal of combining these blocks in groups of three. You select the block of your choice by tapping, and then must rapidly tap to pull it out of the tower. Once 3 are combined, the blocks form a copper-like block. Then you can go back to matching red or blue, or match three copper blocks to form a new kind of block, and so on.
Most of the controls are hard to grasp. You will often find yourself picking the wrong block to eliminate, which can quickly get annoying. It is hard to remove a block without causing a major disturbance in your tower, no matter how you tap. This can lead to games lasting very shortly, depending on how lucky you are. The four player mode offers a competition to see who can eliminate the most blocks, so with all four of you likely removing the wrong blocks you are on equal grounds.
The weakest game in the group is the fourth, Bubble Voyager. You control your "voyager," and fly through space collecting stars and avoiding other obstacles. You tap to keep your character flying, and tap hard to shoot a rocket to destroy obstacles. The four player mode puts you in different ships in a more vertical style. The gameplay is fun at first, but repetitive. The multiplayer option provides a different experience, but was at points too chaotic and not worth replaying.
Let's Tap's eccentric style makes high rhythm combos all the more satisfying.
I say that Bubble Voyager is the weakest of the games because the fifth "mini-game" is not a game at all, it is a Visualizer. Up to four players can create visual designs either with paint, fireworks or a variety of other mediums. Tapping with different strengths creates different effects. It's neat to look at, but I did not return to it after the first time playing it, where I explored all the different visualization options.
Variety. The different games and different modes in each game provide plenty of variety for repeated play.
Cheap. The game is not, in a traditional sense, a full game. That is why the low price point of it justifies the end product.
Innovative controls. Instead of being a waggle-fest like most Wii games, or completely ignoring motion controls like others, Let's Tap finds a unique way to play the Wii. The tapping will feel almost natural after enough time playing.
Sleek style. From the menus to the games, Let's Tap offers a cool, sleek and sharp visual presentation from both a graphical and audio standpoint.
Boxes! You might not even give it a second thought before playing the game, but finding just the right box is even a game itself. And yes, I did try using my gut instead of a box; and yes, it works.
Imprecise controls. The controls, while innovative, are sometimes too imprecise. Especially in Tap Runner you will have to have great control to keep the sometimes villainous tempos that the game requires you to produce.
Little replay value. Most of the games offer little to no replay value, especially if you do well enough on them the first time.
Let's Tap is fun, innovative and a great realization of an odd concept. I would easily recommend this game to people at the price of around $30 (which gets you a new copy off Amazon). You may not have many, many hours of fun with Let's Tap, but the time you do spend with it will be well worth it. And who knows, supporting this game might just create opportunities for more games like this to come to the Wii. I'll tap to that!