Tap Tap Glee Brings Musical Melodrama to Your Phone
Pairing hit TV show Glee’s catchy showtunes with Guitar Hero’s signature synchronized button-pressing gameplay, free iPhone and iPad game Tap Tap Glee hopes to bridge the world between flamboyant musicals and finger-blistering video games.
Created by Tapulous, makers of the popular Tap Tap Revenge line of downloadable music gaming applications, it follows the same formulaic approach as the Disney-owned studio’s previous outings featuring Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Tapping in time with colored orbs, players attempt to mash circles located at the bottom of the screen as the spheres hurtle through them, thereby keeping the beat and scoring points.
Offered with 11 free tracks such as a 2-minute rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” complimentary new songs including cast covers of “Good Vibrations” and “I Could’ve Danced All Night” will be provided each day. Dozens more are downloadable on-demand for roughly $0.99 apiece, though quality varies widely, with the likes of “Baby One More Time” and “Yeah!” available to pick from.
Bundled with obligatory visuals of Sue Sylvester and a yearbook that identifies popular characters such as Rachel and Brittany, as well as promotional YouTube videos, surprises for series fans and TV viewers are few and far between. Still, support for using Facebook to declare your allegiance in the battle between Gleeks vs. Jocks or hurl slushies at friends does prove a nice touch.
While offering mostly more of the same paint-by-numbers play that’s elevated the Tap Tap Revenge series to over 75 million downloads, and little of unique note to Glee diehards, it’s nonetheless worth noting. Entertaining and inoffensive, many worse ways exist to kill five minutes while waiting in line for the bus, or hiding out under your high school’s bleachers hoping to avoid varsity linemen on the warpath.