Tone Sphere [Bit192 Labs] - $0.99

Ever since I bought my kids a Wii, and Guitar Hero, rhythm games have kind of been a family affair. Now, it’s kind of hard to find rhythm games on the iOS that the whole family can get into, especially with all of our different musical tastes, but Cytus and Groove Coaster are two games that usually result in my wife, 3 daughters and myself fighting over the iPad so we can try and break the last players score. Bit192 Labs, a one man development studio located in Tokyo, first iOS release, Tone Sphere, is now the 3rd rhythm game that my family fights over. 

Graphically, Tone Sphere looks more like an Autechre video or influenced by one of Proem’s CD covers, which, in my book, is beyond awesome. The abstract objects that twist, turn, zoom in and out, flash and more to the beats and sounds of the music not only present some amazing eye candy, but also effect the positioning of the circles which you need to tap, which helps to add to the challenge, difficulty and fun of the game. 

Tone Sphere contains over 20 songs split up between 2 Episodes, all included with the original purchase of the game. There are no extra IAP or DLC songs, which is a huge plus. The music throughout the game ranges from Prog. House+Trance, J-pop, Dubstep, Post Rock, Alternative, Hi NRG, and more. The controls are like most other rhythm games, tap, hold or drag the circles when the outer ring hits the inner ring. The circles colors also get darker as they get closer to when they’re supposed to be tapped. There is no rhythm bar like in Cytus, but it’s clear when you need to tap the screen the second you start the game up. 

There are 4 different types of circles, red, silver, black and hold. Red notes generally go along with the main beat or musical instrument/keyboard line for the song while the silver notes do the same, but are scarce and worth 10x the points. Black notes will always have an arrow in them, and you need to drag in that direction instead of just tapping them, and the hold notes are usually for vocals, drum rolls, or quick musical notes, and need to be held until they disappear to get all of the points for them. There’s perfect, great, way off, and miss hits, and the timing for them is about the same as Groove Coaster, nice and tight, adding to the challenge.

Each stage has a possible 6 star ranking depending on your combo, how many perfect hits you get, and whether or not you miss any notes. Starting off, you’re able to see 5 stars, and they each fill up little by little as you make your way through the song. Once you fill all 5 of them up, if you keep tapping on the circles perfectly, you’ll get the hidden 6th star. 

The difficulty progression throughout the songs is perfect. If you play them all in order, they get a little harder with each new song. You also unlock songs as you complete others, and once you play through 10 of the songs in Episode 1, which contains Normal Difficulty songs, you unlock Episode 2, which contains the same songs, but on Hard Difficulty, which, once you get into, is clearly a huge step up in the difficulty level. Each song also has it’s own difficulty ranking, displayed by stars over the song in the song selection list, which, even though it isn’t necessary, is a nice addition. 

The only bad thing I can say about Tone Sphere is that is has no pause button. If you hold down the Icon in the top right corner, you’re taken back to the song selection screen, which can be kind of a bummer if you get a call, or just need to pause the game. But that’s the ONLY bad thing I can say about the game. Tone Spheres is Universal and priced at $0.99 for a limited time, so if you’re a fan of the genre, make sure you pick it up ASAP! It’s a fantastic rhythm based iOS game, and fits perfectly next to Miku Flick, Groove Coaster, Cytus, Jukebeat… with GameCenter integration containing leader boards for both Episodes combined totals adding tons of replay value to the already high amount, it’s a no-brainer. Bit192 Labs has definitely made a mark within the genre, and I can’t wait to see what The Man’s brain has in store for us in the future. 

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Micron [Apparition Games] - $0.99

After the success of Pulse, another rhythm based puzzler which came in 2nd place in the Kongregate contest “Project Eden: Experience The Music”. Apparition Games was formed, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. It seems like the music genre for iOS games is finally looking up. After loads of Guitar Hero type games that required tons of song purchases or were made to help sell music for one group, we’re starting to build a list of ‘must have’ games if you’re into the genre. Groove Coaster, Cytus, Thumpies, Miku Flick, Beat Sneak Bandit… well now we can add Apparition Game’s first iOS release, Micron, another rhythm based puzzler, to that list. 

In Micron, you need to place objects around a level, guiding balls to hit buttons, opening doors, to get a ball into the exit. A basic beat will be playing at the beginning of the stage, and every object within the level creates a sound. Bouncing balls off of platforms creates new sounds, which wind up making a full song by the completion of the level. Granted, music doesn’t effect the gameplay, but it’s a very creative use of beats and sounds merged into the gameplay, and it’s clear that a lot of thought, work, and testing has gone in to the placement and possible placements of each and every object. 

The controls in Micron are simple. In the left column, you’re given a certain amount of items which you can use to complete each level. To place them, you just need to tap on the level’s grid where you want to place the object, and then select the object from the column. Each exit has a barrier, which requires 4 balls hitting it in order to open, exposing the exit, which just needs one ball to enter to complete the level. There is no time limit, and each level is shown as complete by having a star next to it on the level selection screen. 

The level select screen is made up like a tree, with branching off stages which unlock when the previous stage is completed. This means that not every stage needs to be completed to get to the last level. As you progress through the game, more objects are thrown into the level designs, like different colored balls which can go through lasers of the same color, but can’t go through lasers of a different color. With the placement of different colored doors and buttons to open those doors around the levels, there’s some very nice level designs, especially later on in the game. 

All of this going on with each object being hit making a different sound is incredibly impressive. Sadly, there’s no real replay value, so after you complete the 51 stages, there’s no drive to keep you coming back. Also taking away from the replay value is the lack of GameCenter or OpenFeint. No achievements and no leaderboards. A game that has this much work and thought put into it suffering from no scoring system, leaderboards and achievements is kind of disappointing. If players were timed, or there was a score based on how quickly you completed the levels, and had that as the leaderboard, it would add quite a bit of replay value. Not to mention achievements. The game just needs something to keep players coming back to it. 

All-n-all, it’s a very impressive first title from Apparition Games. Priced at $0.99, and being Universal, those of you who have been waiting for more music based games to hit the AppStore should definitely pick this one up. The developer has said that he’s planning on adding more levels, more music, and possibly a level generator and way to share community generated content, but only if the game sells well. It’s a long shot, but here’s hoping that more will be added to Micron. There’s tons of potential here, and it would be a shame if Apparition Games didn’t take advantage of it. 

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