TUAW Review: Phase for iPod

When I saw Phase in the iTunes store, I thought that for five bucks it was worth giving a try. Phase is the new music game that provides Tap-Tap-Revolution-style gameplay, albeit for standard iPods rather than the iPhone. I added it to my cart, charged it to my long-suffering Visa card, and synced it to my iPod to see how well it would play.

Downloading and Installion

The game is a hefty 67.5 MB. That's not big compared to, say, an iTunes movie but it took almost a quarter of an hour to download. So if you're looking for instant gratification with this game, be prepared to wait a bit.

Next, I took a couple of wrong steps. First I assumed that the game would automatically sync to my iPod without any help from me. It did not. I needed to reconnect and manually sync that game over. And then after that, I didn't realize that you needed to create a play list in advance. iTunes added a Phase Music playlist that I needed to populate and sync to my iPod. So I did that, adding Queen's Hammer to Fall and Killer Queen.

Finally, with all of this done, I shoved an external speaker into the bottom of my iPod. I own a Malma speaker from Kai Domain ($8) that I use with my iPod. I do this whenever I play games. It lets me play without having to worry about earphones cords.

Starting the Game

Phase appears in the Games folder, the same as any other iTunes-purchased game. To get there, navigate to Extras > Games > Phase. As usually, I had to get past all the usual stupid "Enter Your Name" screens to get to the game itself. Once there, I was offered a "Quick Spin" or a "Marathon", along with game options like volumes and high scores. I selected Quick Spin, chose Songs, and then chose Hammer To Fall.

Next, I had to pick a difficulty level. Being a complete klutz, I chose Easy. This put me at the instruction screen, which reads "Click the wheel & center button to catch NOTES on three TARGETS." From here, it appears that clicking |>> would catch left, the center button would catch middle, and <<| would catch right. I clicked Center to continue, thinking this would send me to the game, but no. Next, I was introduced to Sweeps. Scrolling the wheel captures SWEEPS and blue PHRASES for bonus points. Okay, whatever. Now the game introduced me to CHECKPOINTS and STARS. Checkpoints allow you to progress through stages of the song, and my performance will be rated in stars. I'm guessing now that my stars count won't be very high--but I'm not a GAME KING like MIKE SCHRAMM. Onwards.

Again I'm sure the game will start, and again, I was wrong. Now the game teaches me that Green Stars get me through check points, yellow stars indicate bonus points and incomplete stars show my progress along the way. Roger that. Another click and...yes, you guessed it, another instruction screen. And I thought MiniGolf took a lot of instruction! Now, the game shows me that my LIFE hearts indicate how much longer I have left to play the game--fewer hearts and you can die. Of course, if I reach the end of the song (let alone these instructions), I can win. I click again and finally the game begins..but not before it gives me one more tip. Which I miss because I'm so busy trying to take notes. I'm sure it was very helpful though.

Game Play

Finally the game begins, and I've got to say it's pretty fun. It's superficially similar to Nate True's iPhone-based Tap Tap Revolution but with more childlike graphics and fewer personal insults. I'm clicking left, right, center, watching my green score go up and my hearts start to disappear--I'm not very good at this. A line of blue bonus items comes flowing down towards me until I realize that this is where I should start scrolling. So I do and gratifyingly, I catch some.

Then it's back to clicking and catching and...I accidentally tap Menu. This immediately pauses the game and leaves me going, huh, what? I had not expected that and I end up having to resume the game. Finally, I earn my first green point--or was it a green heart, clover, or some other Lucky Charms item--and the game tells me I'm doing "good". Thank you game.

Once again, I start playing, having a grand old time, and then I pause again--this time deliberately--so I can take notes. And, while I'm writing my reactions down the game, gets this, dumps me back to the menu screen. I have to restart the game before I can resume it from where I left off.

So after a line of blinking blue stars, and another tip, the music starts off...at the beginning. Sure, I have the green donut or whatever it is that I already earned but when I pass through the next goal, it's still at 1/6.

This time through, I pay more attention to the on-screen graphics. They look like I'm playing in some sort of Fisher-Price adventure. There are buses and construction workers and...it's not exactly Guitar Hero if you get my drift. The graphics are suitable for anyone who still wears Underoos.

Finally after a couple of minutes of clicking and scrolling, I easily pass the finish line, the game congratulates me and tells me I win.

Summary

Phase is a very pleasant game for the under-ten crowd but if you're looking for some gaming challenge on your iPod video, you may want to look elsewhere. It gets a middling three Apples out of five on my score sheet.