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Rock Band iPhone: I Kinda Dig It
I like the occasional iPhone game. If you know me well, then you know that I think the world of iPhone gaming really revolves around tower defense. I love it. But my stupid bias isn't always flipped on and I branch out. Late the other night, i opened the App Store to check for updates and there on the new tab was Rock Band. Interesting, I thought. Ten dollars later, I had portable rock and roll in my pocket. I have tried a lot of the other rhythm games on the device like Tap Tap Revolution but the song selection was never really that great (except for Protest the Hero, woot!) and the gameplay felt kinda flat. But Rock Band, as limited as the gameplay is, feels polished like you would expect from Harmonix.
The songs are pretty awesome like Cherub Rock from Smashing Pumpkins and Everlong by Foo Fighters. Obviously the developer is tapping from the already huge list of songs that they have rights too because these songs are already in previous Rock band games. There's also a neat take on World Tour mode that offers a single player run, online multiplayer and a song store. The gameplay is pretty much what you would expect. Hit the color when the gem falls. Guitar, bass and drums play the same and vocals have a similar style but with a new view. I definitely suggest playing in hard mode if you're even slightly experienced with music games as easy and medium offer little in the way of a challenge or excitement. You can also show off your scores via Facebook with the game's social connect option which is pretty neat.
Really though, this just makes me long for Harmonix to bring Phase to the App Store. That game was really sweet and allowed you to play with your own music that you had stored on your iPod. The system would scan the song and make note charts on the fly. It wasn't perfect but it was pretty cool. There was also a really addictive element where every time I would try a song, I would think: "Oh crap, I bet this song would work even better!" Eventually I had like 500 songs in my Phase list and I was a pro. (It's too bad I'm a total moron and left my old iPod at the airport.)
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