Gameplay Impressions
What do we like?You can’t knock SEGA, or more specifically Yuji Naka's Prope Studio, for trying to innovate. This is the first set of games that relies entirely on tapping the controller and measuring how much pressure you're placing on its surface. When it works well it’s a masterpiece of game design with an accessible control scheme that has been calibrated to perfection. Out of the five games, Tap Runner showcases the technology to the best effect. Tapping lightly on the Wii Remote with two fingers to gain speed and then tapping it a bit harder to jump becomes an intuitive reaction. Despite the simple concept, the unique controls make it a lot of fun to play. Tap Runner offers an enjoyable set of games that are best played with friends in multiplayer mode. Furthermore, it offers plenty of replay value as you strive to get your virtual hands on a gold medal over the 16 events.
Bubble Voyager is another highlight. The side-scrolling shooter is an enjoyable and exciting game that requires you to tap hard on the Wii Remote to speed up and lighter to slow down, as well as giving it a decent whack to fire your weapon. The simplicity of the game design coupled with some stylish and aesthetically pleasing visuals gives the games that retro feel, yet gameplay still feels very unique thanks to the tapping mechanic.
What don't we like?
The novelty, for me, wore off pretty quickly. Aside from the two games mentioned above, there was little to keep me hooked. Disappointingly, despite there only being five games to play there are a couple of real stinkers among them. The implementation of the tapping control scheme in Rhythm Blocks has been handled poorly. During the game, you have to tap your fingers to the beat indicated by action icons that scroll across the screen. Though you're supposed to exert different amounts of pressure on the Wii Remote according to the on-screen prompts, largely it doesn't matter how hard you tap. It registers what it wants to register.
Visualiser's free form mode is also a bit of a dissapointment. Though it's a decent enough showcase of the capabilities of the tapping mechanic, there's only so much entertainment you can get out of creating colourful patterns on the screen - it's certainly not a game.
You can pick up Let's Tap for around £17.99 and you'll get a couple of boxes that you can use to sit your Wii Remote thrown-in, but for that price you get a real mixed bag: one brilliant game, one good game, one average game, one bad game and a game that's not really a game at all. Tap Runner showcases tapping superbly, but the rest of the games generally let the team down and don't make the most of a brilliantly conceived idea.
Final Thoughts
A fantastic concept executed well in some areas and dreadfully in others. Let's Tap isn't bad for the price and should provide some entertaining evenings for the family, but I wouldn't expect those few evenings to turn into weeks of fun.
Final Score - 6/10
