Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, Reviews
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.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ryley said 7:18PM on 2-02-2008
I have the newest iPod nano (the incredibly small, thin one that holds more songs and other things then the bigger ones) and I downloaded phase with the card my parents gave me. Well when I downloaded it, it went straight into my iPod, so I thought that was pretty cool that it downloaded all those songs so fast. well... When I tried to play it, there were NO songs in it (surprise?) I tried to add songs to it, but the instructions to me sound like chinese to me, and aren't completely specific with how to set it up. So.... how EXACTLY do I put music on it? (please, I'm a little strange with iPods, so it would be best if you gave me step-by-every little-step directions. Thanks!!!
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Coollead said 7:09PM on 11-07-2007
Wait. You set the game on Easy mode then complain when the game is too easy?
I'm confused.
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don said 7:24PM on 11-07-2007
Fisher Price graphics? I'd say the graphics are better than that. I'm over thirty and enjoyed playing the game, especially with my own music. Its entertaining, and as the other poster said- try a harder level.
I'd give it a 4/5.
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lazygamer said 7:26PM on 11-07-2007
It'd be nice to point out a few things:
1. The explanation screens you went through are the tutorial, which you only have to go through the first time.
2. The game is 67Mb as it includes 7 songs.
3. If it feels like Guitar Hero then that's because it's made by Harmonix, the original developers of Guitar Hero.
4. If it feels easy, then that's probably because you had it set to Easy. The harder the difficulty you set it to, the more things the game throws at you.
5. The Phase playlist is required, as iTunes has to analyze each song and sync the analysis onto your iPod (so Phase can make it's levels match your songs)
6. The graphic style is by Aaron Stewart:
http://www.bendablerubber.com/
Finally, yes, the Menu button as the pause button is annoying, but overall it's better than a 3.
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Jack said 7:26PM on 11-07-2007
This game is way better than your review says. It get's quite hard. And you can unlock more difficulties. You just seemed all pissed of since you had to plug your iPod back in so many times :D.
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ATMB said 7:32PM on 11-07-2007
Welcome to Erica Sadun's world, Coollead, where useless words populate lands.
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SushiPillow said 7:53PM on 11-07-2007
It would have been nice if you reviewed how well the game analyzed the songs' rhythm instead of complaining that easy mode is too easy and that the tutorial is too long.
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Alan said 8:04PM on 11-07-2007
"And, while I'm writing my reactions down the game, gets this, dumps me back to the menu screen"
All of the iPod games do this. After a set amount of time, it quits the game. That keeps the game from wasting your battery.
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Stephen Lang said 8:14PM on 11-07-2007
I was wondering about that speaker (whether or not it needs batteries), you can find them on EBay but Erica's link is cheaper!
I want a speaker for playing videos and Youtube on my Touch, this fits the bill.
And since someone brought it up, how well does iTunes analyze songs in the playlist? I assume music with louder beats would work better...
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mentalsticks said 8:18PM on 11-07-2007
It's probably not best practice for game reviews to write them based solely on the first time you've played the game in question. It's generally necessary to get a feel of a game before it's possible to say anything sensible about it.
In this particular case there are also some bugs which don't occur every time you play so they're hard to catch if you've played only a couple of time - like the volume that sometimes decreases when you miss a note, or even goes to zero; bloody irritating.
Or you could've written about what kind of songs go best with this game - before i started I thought Purple Rain would be great, but that song has a 2 minute ending which is very, very annoying... My favorite songs so far are Outkast's Roses, Transvision Vamps i Want Your Love and Positive K's I Got A Man - and I'd love to hear other song suggestions.
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Macroy said 8:29PM on 11-07-2007
9: I don't have Phase yet, but that sounds an awful lot like how the guitar volume cuts out if you miss notes in Harmonix's other awesome rhythm game, Guitar Hero. In that case, it wouldn't be a bug, it'd be a feature!
Of course, if it doesn't happen every time, then it certainly is a bug. ;)
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Chris said 2:52AM on 11-08-2007
What an awful review! The game is loads of fun. I'm not a huge Guitar Hero fan, but TTR made me try it out and I'm hooked. Phase does amazingly well and using your own music is great. The volume is supposed to drop when you miss notes - as you get the notes right, the volume goes up to indicate that you're "rocking out".
This game is amazingly well done and lots of fun.
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KeynoteKen said 8:52PM on 11-07-2007
Oh it does certainly happen every time :) It does a pretty good job of detecting beats as long as the song isn't too complex. If it is, or has a time signature too far from 4/4, then it's "beats" are woefully off. My favorite song to play with it so far is "Tiny Little Freaks" by Skitchy. Nice driving beat and the strange music actually fits the strange game. A recent free song (I think it was free) called Marcha by La Victoria works well, too. I tried some Mosiaic.WAV as they sound kinda DDR'y, but it must be too complex for the recognizer.
Oh, and Lovefool by The Cardigans. That one has some quick beats, some long swipes easy bits and hard bits.
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Gen. Turgidson said 8:53PM on 11-07-2007
Seriously, this is what passes for insightful, front page commentary at one of the largest Apple blogs on the net?! Remind me again why I bother reading this drivel.
Damn, this is some sad sh*t. Please tell me that Erica doesn't get paid for this crap. She "reviewed" a game based on one play session, didn't comment on the actual technical aspects of the game besides button input, and complained that it was too easy even after she made a point of stating that she only tried to play it on 'Easy' difficulty. Not to mention that her grammar sucks worse than that of your average, unedited, off-the-cuff commenter.
Seriously, I'll write some iPod games reviews that actually, you know, REVIEW the freaking games beyond a summary of my first five minutes of playing them interspersed with fifteen minutes of bumbling around like an idiot with a notepad and speaker attachment. Can I has iPod and paychex?
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John C said 9:18PM on 11-07-2007
@12
Hey Turd Ferguson, why ya gotta be such a douche?
Here's the thing: a review is an expression of the viewpoint of the reviewer, not a dictation on how YOU have to feel. In-fact, everything ever written is a reflection of the person who wrote it. Reviewers don't have to disclaim their methods, and you don't need to be a sass-bag about someone else's opinion. Just do what civil people do, take or leave the information as you see fit and make up your own mind.
I've never read a game review that didn't leave me wondering if I should still try it or not, regardless of the 'rating' or impressions conveyed by the reviewer.
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Gen. Turgidson said 9:28PM on 11-07-2007
Yay! So Erica's meanderings fit the dictionary review of "review."
That still doesn't mean that her incomplete and self-contradictory methods of review don't indicate that she's a untrustworthy critic. Then again, why should I expect more from a supposedly professional blog than I would from teenagers on Amazon.com?
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Gen. Turgidson said 9:28PM on 11-07-2007
Yay! So Erica's meanderings fit the dictionary review of "review."
That still doesn't mean that her incomplete and self-contradictory methods of review don't indicate that she's a untrustworthy critic. Then again, why should I expect more from a supposedly professional blog than I would from teenagers on Amazon.com?
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Alan Gabrielli said 10:11PM on 11-07-2007
There doesn't seem to be a way to get your music into Phase if you manage your music manually
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Alan Gabrielli said 10:22PM on 11-07-2007
Nevermind that - manually dragging the Phase playlist to the iPod and clicking "sync" does get the music into the Phase playlist and into the game.
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Steven said 10:26PM on 11-07-2007
"There doesn't seem to be a way to get your music into Phase if you manage your music manually"
Um, yes there is. If you sync games, it creates a Phase Music playlist on your iPod. All you do is drag the music from your Phase Music on your Mac -> the playlist on the iPod. Not that hard.
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