Video game review number two hundred and forty three in my 365 Games in 365 Days project is "Let's Tap"
Let's Tap is one of the weirdest video games I have ever played. First of all, you don't use the Wiimote to play this, you use a shoe box. Or at least, that's what I used. One of my shoe boxes I happened to have left over from a purchase at Big 5 Sporting Goods a few months back.
This probably sounds like a joke, but it's not. You're supposed to place the controller on a box (they recommend a tissue box, but a shoe box worked for me). You're supposed to put the Wiimote into the "Jacket" to keep it from moving around, and then you lightly tap the box to control whatever is on the screen.
Such a weird, weird way to play...but it's definitely interesting.
The game consists of 5 mini games:
Tap Runner. This game was all about using your fingers to run and jump. Playing this one reminded me a little of playing Track and Field for the original Nintendo by using the power pad on the floor with my hands. When I did that in the late 80's, I was totally cheating. In Tap Runner, that's just how you play.
Rhythm Tap This game was basically DDR for your fingers. You tap along to songs, and the only thing you have to worry about is hitting the box too hard (which can knock the remote off). It's a lot easier to keep the beat with your fingers than it is with your feet on a dance mat, that's for sure.
Silent Blocks This was a block tower game sort of like Jenga. You tap lightly to help remove blocks from this pile without knocking it down. There's another mode of this game called alchemist, where you try to remove certain colored blocks to make matches with other colors, racking up combos and points. It's really hard, but this one was one of my favorites. I could see playing the 4 player version of it and having it be just as fun as real Jenga. Come to think of it, I've never actually played the real Jenga at a party...even though I have an unopened set of Donkey Kong Jenga Blocks. I'm totally playing it the next time people come over.
Bubble Voyager is a platformer, and you control a guy who looks like a cross between Mega Man and Strongbad. You tap the shoebox to make him fly (the screen auto-magically scrolls to the right). Tapping (or not tapping) assists in moving your character up or down to avoid hazards. You can shoot missles by double tapping, and your goal is simply to make it to the end of each level without hitting too many things. This was my favorite of the mini-games.
Last, and least... there was Visualizer, which is essentially a screen saver. You can play with rivers, fireworks and other things by tapping them, and something will happen on screen. It wasn't at all exciting....but it's a neat tech-demo.
This is the first game like this that I've ever played, and I have to say...it's pretty cool. If I had played this at an event somewhere (like PAX or E3), I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to shut up about this cool little game I played. It's a good demo, but alas, I don't think it's anything you'd want to play for more than a few minutes. Well, except for maybe the Silent blocks mini-game, that was pretty cool.
Overall Score: 7/10, mostly for the innovation in game control. It's new, it's unique...and yet I picked it right up and had no problem learning any of the games. I'm not going to buy a copy, but I would definitely recommend that other people give it a try to see if they like it. If I ever saw this in the bargain bin, I'd pick it up to show my parents....or other folks who never play video games. I think they'd get a kick out of it.
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