I took this game on my last two 4-day vacations (one ice-fishing and another to Vegas this past weekend) and I really got into it. I barrelled through the first two levels of difficulty then had to work about half way through Sweatin' mode.
Quick rundown for those who haven't played the game (skip to the next paragraph if you've played it). You tap these buttons in beat with the music. There are circles around the buttons that shrink and when the circle is the exact size of the button you're supposed to tap (ie. you'll be on beat). There are also lines you follow where you tap and drag the stylus along with the button that now moves along the line and sometimes back. There's also "windmills" which you rotate a certain amount rather than tap to gain the points. Like any good rhythm game, there's a combo meter and a different score for how "on beat" you really are. The more on-beat and the higher the combo, the more your energy increases. You lose energy over time and if you miss. Your energy hits zero, you lose. There are some other gameplay elements, but you can read a FAQ on those, they don't help for this post.
I kept getting beat on songs where I didn't miss a single note and I was wondering what was going on. Then I realized that not only do you have to hit the notes, on the harder levels of difficulty, you have to actually ensure you hit them well enough to maintain your energy. The energy loss due to time is actually greater than the energy you get from a weak hit or if you don't get enough combos.
Now I'm all for making games difficult, particularly rhythm games, but how can you justify making the player lose when they have a 200-plus combo going and haven't miss a single note? This actually happened to me a few times (particularly during You're My Inspiration, where there are a lot of pauses with no note playing).
Now, I beat the game on Sweatin' Mode and got Hard Rock mode which I'm working through now (they make the buttons half the size so they're harder to see, particularly if you're like me where your hand tends to go over the screen while playing). But this difficulty level is just poor game design.
Other than that one very large flaw, this game is fun as hell and definetely worth picking up.
Quick rundown for those who haven't played the game (skip to the next paragraph if you've played it). You tap these buttons in beat with the music. There are circles around the buttons that shrink and when the circle is the exact size of the button you're supposed to tap (ie. you'll be on beat). There are also lines you follow where you tap and drag the stylus along with the button that now moves along the line and sometimes back. There's also "windmills" which you rotate a certain amount rather than tap to gain the points. Like any good rhythm game, there's a combo meter and a different score for how "on beat" you really are. The more on-beat and the higher the combo, the more your energy increases. You lose energy over time and if you miss. Your energy hits zero, you lose. There are some other gameplay elements, but you can read a FAQ on those, they don't help for this post.
I kept getting beat on songs where I didn't miss a single note and I was wondering what was going on. Then I realized that not only do you have to hit the notes, on the harder levels of difficulty, you have to actually ensure you hit them well enough to maintain your energy. The energy loss due to time is actually greater than the energy you get from a weak hit or if you don't get enough combos.
Now I'm all for making games difficult, particularly rhythm games, but how can you justify making the player lose when they have a 200-plus combo going and haven't miss a single note? This actually happened to me a few times (particularly during You're My Inspiration, where there are a lot of pauses with no note playing).
Now, I beat the game on Sweatin' Mode and got Hard Rock mode which I'm working through now (they make the buttons half the size so they're harder to see, particularly if you're like me where your hand tends to go over the screen while playing). But this difficulty level is just poor game design.
Other than that one very large flaw, this game is fun as hell and definetely worth picking up.
I was there on that fateful day, were you?
