As osu!stream thread started to be filled by discussions about other touch device-based rhythm games, I made this thread to discuss them. Every discussions about rhythm games for smartphone/tablet PC (Of course, including i-devices) except osu!stream are welcomed. Use osu!stream thread for osu!stream.

Games discussed at least once (not in a specific order):
Jubeat Plus/Jukebeat
Tap Sonic
ReRave
Groove Coaster
Reflec Beat Plus
RockStarGame
Lyrics Legend
Taiko no Tatsujin Plus
Touch Mix
Tap Tap Revenge
Riddim Ribbon
Bongo Touch
Rhythmatic
Beat Gather
O2Jam Analog

EDIT:
Originally this was a post from osu!stream thread. Here is original post.

If any of those have a free trial available for the iOS then I can check them out and give a comparison.

In general, the popularity of touch-based rhythm games has to do with... you know, the increased popularity of touch screen devices and gaming on them. I personally don't think rhythm games are any more common than other genres.

Well, you need to consider there are arcade games using touch device. jubeat and djmax technika was released in 2008, so some years has passed already. For rhythm game players in East Asia, touch-based rhythm games are already quite familiar, especially in Japan, with well-constructed arcade game infrastructure.

In contrast, there aren't many arcade game centers in western countries, and no touch-based BEMANI series were officially released. (there was some attempt, though.) DJMAX technika is available since 2009 in some western countries, but I said there are not many arcade game centers, basically. So for western gamers, touch-based rhythm games are not that familiar. I guess I can say that touch-based rhythm games became available after i-devices became popular, and those rhythm games are not popular among western games yet.

I wasn't only refering to handheld systems, though that was foremost in my mind.

In arcades, the touch screen provides an intuitive interface which is easily understood without complicated instructions while a music basis results in short play times (The length of a single song rather than "as long as the player can continue") beneficial to the arcade should anybody wish to actually do well. I could also discuss why touch screens themselves are popular, if you want.

Of course, mere speculation. I've never even seen any of these games.

For those interested in some other rhythm games on iOS, here is the list of the decent ones I found:

Jubeat Plus (JP)/Jukebeat (US/UK)
Free download. Native support for both iPhone and iPad.
Published by Konami. Features original songs from Konami and also other pop, rock songs from other artists. The app comes with 3 free songs and purchasable song packs priced at $4.99/399 Yen per 4 songs.


Tap Sonic (International)
Free download. Native support for iPhone but also playable on iPad.
Published by NeoWiz, the same publisher of DJMAX.Features songs from DJMAX and a good number of K-pop from various Korean artists. The app let you play some songs (4-6 songs, usually rotates every month) for free. You need to buy Music Points (MP) in order to play other songs. You can spend your MP on a pay-per-play basis (30-50 per play, equals to 3-5 cents) or you can buy a song for 800-1000 MP ($0.80-$1). (The option to buy songs is currently available in Korean version only.)


ReRave (International)
$1.99 (sometimes the app is on sale for $0.99) Native support for both iPhone and iPad.
Published by Step Evolution. The app comes bundled with 5 songs, with 4 more available as free downloads. Additional songs can be purchased in packs: $0.99 for 2 songs and $2.99 for 5-6 songs.


Groove Coaster (International)
$2.99 Native support for both iPhone and iPad.
Published by Taito. Comes with 16 original songs with a few more for purchase at $0.99 per song.

Well that's sweet, Kharl!

Jubeat is quite popular among rhythm gamers here, I also play it a lot these days, though I play AC ver. more. (DLed it in ipad in my home, so I also played jubeat plus.) It's a quite successful game in East Asia. Konami is quite famous for making good rhythm games, so I have some confident that they will be successful in i-devices. (Since they are launching lots of music packs, I guess it is already successful.) But I guess it wasn't that popular among western players yet... (Unfortunatly most features are available only from Japanese appstore. Lots of maps from arcade ver. of jubeat can't be played properly in i-phone since it doesn't support that many touch in one time.)
(Oh, and that Sumidagawa Karenka, EXT has quite interesting patterns, lol.)

Tap Sonic, I saw lots of gamers are playing this, and even 'commoners' are playing this. (Yeah, I'm Korean.) Pentavision (A subsidiary company of NeoWiz.) is famous for making good songs and rhythm games. (Though games from Konami's BEMANI series are more popular, even among us.) I can say it became quite popular among Korean casual game players who have i-device already. Seems they are preparing more features for international version, so I'll wait and see. (The truth is, I DLed this into my i-pad, but in that time I was really enjoying jubeat more, so I didn't play it that much, lol.)

Didn't know much about other two, so I can't say much about that.

I've searched for rhythm games in appstore, and there are bunch of them already.

Reflecbeat and DJMAX technika are arcade games, but they are also using touch device. That's why I mentioned those things earlier. It seems Konami will launch new ver. of Reflecbeat for i-device (Reflecbeat Plus will be available within this year, as they announced.), so I'm very interested about that. (I also play reflecbeat sometimes in arcade game center.)

How will be osu!stream? Seems it has lots of 'rivals' already, I'm quite interested. Some osu! fans will support osu!stream, but those games that Kharl mentioned are also have some consistent fans of thier series, and some have even definitely better basis. (Gosh... Konami, Pentavision, Taito...) I really wish that osu!stream would be one of successful rhythm games using touch device.

I'd like to add to that list something I just found called RockStarGame. While it is every bit as poorly translated as the title implies, it is surprisingly good. It's pretty much ju(ke)beat with a few extra features (and a couple of removed features) and way cheaper. The free version (RockStar free) comes with two difficulties of three songs while the full version for $.99 comes with 3 difficulties in each of two modes for every one of 14 songs.

On the other hand, every one of those 14 are rock remixes of classical music so maybe it's not for you. I decided to spend the $1 while waiting for stream instead of the more expensive ones. I'll try tapSonic next.

There's also Lyric Legend for free on the U.S. App store (dunno about other countries). Also available on Android Market.

The play style is very similar to osu!. Circles appear on the screen with gold approach circles to indicate when to hit them. Every circle has a word on it that corresponds to the song lyrics, so the objective is to tap the correct word in time with the singer. There are also hold notes for longer words. The hardest difficulty on each song removes the approach circles completely.

Comes with 2 or 3 random free songs, but you can purchase more either for $1 for two songs or complete free offers to unlock songs. The free offers are a joke (most of them are just to download and run popular freemium apps that you can delete right after you get your free credits) so I've unlocked like 20 songs for free. Artists include Lady GaGa, Coldplay, Queen, and Rise Against.

EDIT:
This post was 1st post of this thread orginally, but due to post-moving process, this is no longer 1st post. I C&P'ed this post to 1st post, so please don't be confused.

Merged all the related posts from the other topic...probably. The merging interface is absolutely terrible. You should edit your first post.

Also can't get the store to work on Tap Sonic. Apparently I "must be connected to the Internet"

gee thanks

Well, of those I've tried so far I like Touch Sonic the best, and RockStarGame only a little better than JukeBeat. Since it's now a general rhythm games thread (By the way, you may want to mention touch-based arcade games in the title or OP too since that seems to be a decent portion) I will go into detail in the spoiler:

As for the rest... ReRave looks very similar to osu!stream but ugly and groove coaster just... I don't see anything I like about it.

As for Tap Sonic, as I said it's my favorite so far but I don't like being unable to buy songs forever. I do like the ability to pay only pennies for a single playthrough since sometimes there's a special challenge on a song you don't want to play frequently. It feels kinda weird though (the payment system, not the game).

Jukebeat in US appstore lacks several features. Jubeat Plus has already over 150 songs, so it has quite lots of contents already. Though those contents are for Japanese market, so you might don't like it. But if you are quite familiar with BEMANI series already, well that's quite nice. One disadvantage is, it's quite expensive X_X

RockStarGame, I found out that it was made by Korean... To me, that's just another copycat of Jubeat. Lack of contents is definate, and general opinions for quality of contents is... questionable.

Tap Sonic is just released in overseas market, so it will need some more time to release more contents. Currently those contents are only available in Korean AppStore, as Kharl mentioned.

ugh downloaded the Korean version of Tap Sonic too and it's still giving me an error when I try to open the store

Lybydose wrote:

ugh downloaded the Korean version of Tap Sonic too and it's still giving me an error when I try to open the store

:S

Tap sonic won't start if there is no wi-fi or 3G, but it started and you got error to open the store? Strange.
As I mentioned several times, I don't have i-pad right now so I cannot check that. orz.

EDIT:
Check this out, Reflec Beat Plus :DDD

Is it possible to emulate DJMax on a Tablet PC?

Discuss.

Of course it'd be possible. Tap Sonic is almost kinda like DJMax, but I would imagine it would be, Since it was released by Neowiz.

From my understanding, one of the main reasons that DJMax hasn't really gone over to the iPad/iWhatever is that if it were to be released on the App Store, they would need to cut out the BGAs/Reduce the Quality/Remove Hitsamples in order to be really accessible to the target Audience an iOS release would be designed for.

I mean, realistically speaking, without the BGAs and Hitsamples, it loses a lot of the gloss and charm a DJMax title usually has. Tap Sonic doesn't have those two features, saving vastly on the iWhatever's available Space.

This is only using the iWhatevers as an example, and sure you may argue that that's Apple, not a Tablet PC.

That being said, Tablet PC's often have relatively small amounts of space/memory. How many 500MB/1GB+ apps do you see on a Smartphone/Tablet PC, honestly.

Well, the track changing while holding is pretty impressive. I played SORRY SORRY on Pro and I suddenly realized I looked like I was using the turntables on the double hold notes that change track every beat, like a DJ I guess?

The pricing is also pretty interesting but tad expensive, since they sell those credits by batches of 2000. At least I got the 300 free credits.

EDIT: I also used the score thing like a fever bar. whoops.

DJmax and IIDX or something like those things are really heavy for ipad for now. Hitsounds are varied, video is needed, blahblahblah.
Don't forget, those are rhythm games, very little delay can cause fatal disruption of gameplay.

We might be able to see them in near future, if ipad gets better spec than now.

---------------------
Whoops, forgot to mention Taiko no Tatsujin Plus, lol

A bit different from other touch-based Rhythm game, though.

Was Touch Mix 2 released for Korea only or something? It's for Android.

I have Taiko no Tatsujin +, but I only have one song for it orz

TKiller wrote:

Was Touch Mix 2 released for Korea only or something? It's for Android.

It has been 2 months already...

I kinda missed it a bit :D

A couple of other Rhythm Games for iOS devices (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad) that aren't noted in the front post should be added

1. Tap Tap Revenge (1, 2, 3, 4, and other extension Tap Tap Apps; the latest mainstream version of the App Series is TTR4) - Same idea as Tap Sonic, but also supports online multiplayer live battles - $0

2. Riddim Ribbon - Almost like AudioSurf for PC, but uses iOS' ability of tilt sensors to play. The fun thing about it though is not only does it relay some stupid things you have to collect using (what in the app is used) an orb, but the music can get remixed during gameplay if you do certain tricks (like jumping up into a higher ledge or w.e. its called) - $0

3. Bongo Touch - A half-assed rip-off of Taiko no Tatsujin for iOS; the only advantage is that its available on all app store regions, compared to Taiko no Tatsujin, which is only available within the Orient App Store regions. - $1

4. Rhythmatic - Same idea as TTR or Tap Sonic, but the cool thing about this app is that it allows you to analyze the songs in your iOS device's memory and create "tap tracks" out of them which you can tap along to. It's quicker than creating your own tap chart using something like (5.) Tap Studio, albeit it will not be 100% accurate. A free version is available here, however I got the full version during its promotion by FreeAppADay. I'm not sure what's the difference between the two - probably difficulty/number of playable lanes.
Free version is $0 (derp), Full version is $1.99

6. Magic Piano - In my honest opinion this probably the best piano simulation app executed for the iOS. It allows you to play piano freely, or play according to an electronic sound-book, which includes tunes from classical music to crappy modern music (like Disturbia or Bad BRomance.) - $0

Tap Tap Revenge - looks like it's some kind of 3-key rhythm game.
Riddim Ribbon - Tilt? well that sounds nice :D
Bongo Touch - Copy of Taiko no Tatsujin. Nothing to say about this one.
Rhythmatic - I hope that 'Analyzing' works fine... For that kind of rhythm game, timing is really important, you know, and auto-analyzing might mess up everything.
Magic Piano - Piano simul. Rhythm game? hmm.

Tap Tap is more about endurance than rhythm, in highest difficulty, they just unload all the tappers in one line and sell it as a track. Some songs have decent ones that do need some skill, but pretty rare.

Backfire and I accidentally found Korean Taiko with bullets... Couldn't tell you what it was called because it's Korean though... Somewhere on the droid marketplace though.

@^: X_X So many copies.

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I sometime see some people playing rhythm game without music, lol.

Well, yeah.

I think it was Natteke who posted that Chinese Taiko rip off (It even used the hitsounds from Luigihann's Taiko skin for the hitsound correlation 1:1) on the Taiko Beatmaps thread. I tried looking for it earlier again, but couldn't find it D:

lepidopodus wrote:

@^: X_X So many copies.

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I sometime see some people playing rhythm game without music, lol.

Well I know deaf people that play them, so I suppose the principal is the same.

Ok I finally got MY iPad. Should I post more about this? At least I play jubeat plus...

KONAMI's new rhythm game for iPhone / iPod touch: Beat Gather
(iPad works too.)

Available in Japanese App store and it's free.

You can actually put your own music in the device and make your own map. Also you can share it with other players. If you are too lazy to make one or find other guy's map, you can just let the device automatically make a map for you.

how come O2Jam Analog wasn't mentioned?

maay wrote:

how come O2Jam Analog wasn't mentioned?

Couldn't ever get it to work. Constantly asks me to connect to 3G/Wifi.

Does anyone know if I can remove a credit card number from a Japanese iTunes account right after creating it? I can get a legitimate Japanese credit card number so I can sign up without paying for an iTunes card, but I don't want it staying on the account.

maay wrote:

how come O2Jam Analog wasn't mentioned?

I also have android phone(Galaxy S2) so I can get one.
Right now it's free but I think that might be change when it's ready.

Becareful, that thing isn't on the game category due to stupid restriction.

EDIT:
O2jam makes my wifi jammed, lol.
And My phone makes quite lots of heat when I run O2jam with it, lolol.

EDIT2:
@Lybydose: Seems Korean Rhythm games hates you :S

There's iGoBeat, which appears to be a jubeat clone. It doesn't have any music at all; it's set up so that you download free beatmaps that go with songs you already have on your iphone (if you have the right songs: it's mostly popular japanese anime songs and some k-pop).

Problem is, it's an absolute pain to get the timing to sync up since the game doesn't help you at all; you can only make a complete guess and spend your beat points to play the song and hope you were right (you won't ever be right). If you're good enough, you usually get twice as many points for finishing a song as it cost to play, so you can play forever without ever paying for more points. You just have to endure playing the entire song with horrible timing 4-5 times before you finally get "kind of close".

Even then you'll never really get it right, because I read through the map editor tutorial and it has no support for beat snapping, making map editing incredibly tedious and incredibly poorly timed.

I also randomly found this game for free on the US store:


I have no idea wtf it's called, but it's an average Tap Tap Revenge clone with a few random chinese songs, a Miku song (Ievan Polkka), and V3/Beethoven Virus. Also has timing issues (notes don't appear to be snapped) and it felt like it had occasional dropped input problems.

Reflec Beat Plus is out! Fun fun~

bumping this to state that REFLEC Beat is really hard

I also managed to poke around the iGoBeat files a bit and I figured out how to make Jubeat maps for it using the osu! map editor, even without jailbreaking. Also managed to add actual Jubeat markers instead of the horrible default skins.

I've been waiting for something like o2jam on the android market, but it's marked as incompatible with my Transformer tablet. There's no way for me to install it right now unless I get it in an .apk form so I can manually install it. Since it's free anyways; could someone maybe point to one?

I'd recommend Tap Sonic as a (better) alternative, but for no some reason it's only compatible with "galaxy" devices.

Can't help with non-market apps though, sorry.

Pardon me if this bump is too big, but iGoBeat seems to have dedicated mappers and maps now, works kinda like regular osu. Gameplay's pretty eh.

What I really want to discuss is Cytus. $1.99 USD and currently a whopping 28 songs after the 2.0 update a few days ago.
Gameplay's like Technika, I suppose, but the app itself looks really cool, and there's a wide variety of songs, some from Mozarc.
It's supposed to be newbie-friendly and thus getting max points of 1 million for some tracks are pretty easy. They fixed that by adding some sort of Technical Point gauge so that you need a Perfect "Perfect" to 100% the song. Could be better since you have no way of telling during play if you've missed 100% TP.
Only thing I truly dislike is the Chapter 2 songs the make the drags go across the screen. Chapter 3 songs are much more fast paced instead and really fun to play.

The devs are trying to get out 10 Chapters in total without ever increasing the price but with the catch of 1 release per 100k sales, meaning a million to get all 10 chapters.


Another thing is Tone Sphere. $1.99 USD too iirc. This one's more like osu, but they make it so that gameplay is like in a 3D environment; the background moves, and most of the time the notes themselves move, making everything feel more fluid. What's annoying is that one song where they make the note juke shortly before the tap, making me miss it every single time :/