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Let's Tap

Despite boasting a myriad of titles featuring a multitude of control schemes, never before has the Wii been graced by something quite as utterly bizarre as Let's Tap; for the unaware (and those who missed our hands-on impressions a few months ago or our Japanese Import review of the game back in February) the game - as the name subtly suggests - has players controlling everything on-screen by simply tapping. The title comes supplied with two cardboard 'tap boxes' upon which you place the Wii remote face-down on one end of the box and tapping from the other end.

It might be easy to be at least slightly sceptical towards this 'new-fangled' control-scheme, but from the moment you start navigating the clear and concise menu's by tapping once or twice - similar to clicking a mouse - the method behind the 'madness' becomes apparent and only gains further literal momentum as you start to make something actually move on screen in the first of the titles mini-games.

Within the test of tapping skill known as 'Tap Runner' you make a stick-man run across a course by using either light or medium taps with firmer taps causing your character to leap into the air; these actions prove particularly essential as you are faced with a whole host of traps and contraptions along the way. In particular you will be heaving over hurdles, stumbling across springboards, blowing up balloons, slipping down slides and literally jumping through hoops and portals all while hopefully not getting electrocuted or squashed in a mad-cap, fast-tap dash to the chequered finish-line. It's fun even playing solo but when you get a few friends playing along the experience comes into its own as hilarity ensues when one of you manages to 'face-plant' themselves over a hurdle or gets 'electrocuted' in fierce competition.

tap tap tap tap TAP TAP...

This proves to be an unusually engaging experience for something so simple and sets the scene nicely for what is to follow as 'Rhythm Tap' takes things to new levels; think of Donkey Konga where you have three different rhythm inputs - but instead of drumming and clapping you merely tap... it really is that wonderfully simple, three varying taps - light, medium and hard - plus small sections where you go quickly from light to hard. All you need to do is stick to the rhythm that the truly sumptuous soundtrack provides. There is plenty of scope for replay here especially as some of the tracks are so awesome. When you get more people participating it all becomes a mini tap orchestra of sorts with each person assigned a different part of the melody and it becomes clear to see why this game was made with multiplayer laughs in mind.

Changing pace to a somewhat sedate and relaxed level we have 'Silent Blocks' which plays like part Jenga and part Bejewelled; in its most basic form you merely remove blocks with sideways taps to get the trophy from the top to the bottom without toppling the tower but in Alchemy mode is becomes something else as matching three of the same colour causes the trio of blocks to disappear which in turn creates a single block of another colour. This continues right up until you create a gold block which ends the game, it might not sound like much but it's both fun and challenging and brilliant in multiplayer mode as your pace quickens but at the same time you are ever cautious as one wrong tap can topple the tower effortlessly often losing you the game.

Playing like a modern-day version of the classic Nintendo game - Balloon Fight - the last mini-game called 'Bubble Voyager' has you guide a mini-mech robot type character through an endless flying stage where you tap mildly to maintain altitude and tap hard to fire rockets to destroy blocks and other such obstacles. You have an energy meter which depletes slowly as you travel and will decrease greatly if you fly into obstacles, this energy can be replenished though by successfully landing as specific points or by picking up batteries; it may sound simple but it can be hard to master. The multiplayer however plays more like a deathmatch version of asteroids in which your character rotates on an axis instead of side-scrolling.

tap TAP tap TAP tap TAP...

Finally there is the Visualiser which is essentially what it claims to be and nothing more, you choose from such scenes as fireworks, paints or underwater fishes and then tap to make more things appear on screen; the twist is that there are specific tap combinations assigned to each thing that appears and it's fun to discover them all. Ultimately though, this fifth 'game' is nothing but an elaborate - though very nice - screen saver so don't expect to be blown away by it like other modes.

Regardless, though this is still a pretty comprehensive package overall which is delivered in such an original way with top-notch presentation and visuals. Most notably, the game is accompanied by one of the most sublime soundtracks that I personally have heard from a Sega affiliated game for years. The creativity utilised here harks back to the days when Sega themselves were far more creative and less restrictive; while it's true that this may be a relatively short-lived experience it is most certainly worth it simply for the amount of joy that this budget title can bring. If you won't take my word for it then take a look at what the rest of the N-E team thought of this simple but charming title.

Sam C. Gittins
- N-Europe Staff Writer

Read on for the final scores and other thoughts from N-Europe staff...