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Wii
Let's Tap (レッツタップ) -
New Import, Ships Today |
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NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
Ever sit at your desk
and drum your fingers on the tabletop with a
carefree
staccato to break the tedium that is your life? If
so, you've already had ample practice in mastering
Sega's Let's Tap which is being touted
as the first game that doesn't require direct
handling of a controller. The basic gist is this:
You're supposed to lay the Wii Remote face down on a
cardboard box, a plastic slab, or anything else that
will undulate when your fingers drum its
surface. By tapping steadily, the Wii Remote will
pick up the vibrations and register the "hits" as
in-game movements for runners, fireworks, colors,
water, and other
objects in the Let's Tap universe.
One of the best examples of the tapping functionality of the tap
games is Tap Runner where rhythmically
thumping a surface makes an onscreen runner move. By
thumping the surface with a harder thwack, the
runner jumps over obstacles. Another tapping
mini-game dubbed Bubble Voyager
features horizontal shooting action where a red mech
shoots thick missiles at objects on screen. Tapping
keeps the mech aloft and fires off ordnance. Every
copy of the game is bundled with two cardboard boxes
which may be used as playing surfaces. Two boxes are
included since Let's Tap can be played by two
players at once. Sega is thoughtful like that.
Jan Code:
4974365142261
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NCS
Game Notes
» Let's Tap features five main game modes as
follows:
1) Tap Runner - Sort of like an
updated version of Track 'n Field where tapping
replaces button mashing. Non-descript athletes run,
jump, slide, swing, and soar across simple tracks
that are dotted with obstacles.
2) Rhythm Tap - A rhythm-action game
that is evocative of Taiko no Tatusjin
from Namco. Circular cues enter the screen from the
right and scroll towards the left and your job is to
tap when the cues enter the circular target.
Wavy-line cues require quick tapping to register
proper hits. Stringing together sequential taps
leads to combo metering.
3) Silent Blocks - Tap slowly and
rhythmically to remove thin slabs from a tower
that's made up of thin slabs. The challenge is to
take out each slab without causing the entire shaky
tower to collapse.
4) Bubble Voyager - Side scrolling
shooter where players tap to keep a mech aloft to
collect stars and fire missiles at spiky bombs,
UFOs, and other objects on screen. Destroy the
blinking bombs to cause chain reaction explosions.
Each level ends with a landing sequence. The
Battlefield option allows four players to battle
each other in a tapping-shooting game.
5) Visualizer - Tap to create visual
effects on a number of different surfaces or objects
including a koi pond, a mass of movable spheres,
fireworks, and a digital easel.
» In the introductory sequence which explains how to
play, the diagram shows that you can use the
included Sega Tap cardboard box or a box of facial
tissue. We're guessing that both offer the same
amount of vibrational conductivity. Once you've
placed the Wii Remote face down on the Sega Tap box,
a series of lessons begin which show you how to
play. Note that the sequences are in Japanese but
simply follow the animated diagrams that are shown
and you'll be okay.
» In the three lessons, you're supposed to tap the
box alternatively with both hands to make the runner
sprint along. To make him jump, hit the box with
both hands at once and he'll spiral upwards.
» Five games are available and to scroll between
them, tap once to highlight the next game. To select
a game, double tap and it'll be activated.
» Silent Blocks can be played by
multiple players who try to slide out a slab without
causing the entire tower of slabs to tumble. Before
each move, players can select which slab to move and
the direction of movement. We found that a slow yet
steady tapping meter seemed to work the best to
remove a slab with the least amount of disturbance
to its contiguous slabs. A single-player mode
features a taller tower where color matches may be
made. For example, red and blue slabs initially make
up the tower and if you remove a red slab so that at
least three blue slabs are now touching, they'll
disappear and the word alchemy will show up on
screen. Chain combinations may also be set off where
cascading slabs fall upon similar colored slabs. As
the game levels up in difficulty, more colors are
added to the mix.
» In Bubble Voyager, players tap to
keep the mech aloft as it flies across the screen
and picks up stars. The tap to fly mechanics sorta
reminds us of Joust from the old
school. To fire a missile, tap once harder on the
board or hit the board with both hands. Watch the
energy bar on the lower-left since it will drop
gradually with every tap. It'll lose a chunk if you
run into a bomb or get hit by a laser attack from
the occasional screen anomaly. Each stage ends with
a landing sequence which is supposed to be gradual
instead of hard and jarring. Land softly and you'll
be rewarded with "Hot Landing!" and 30,000 points.
Power-ups may be picked up over the course of a
stage such as shields, tri-shots, and HP
replenishment.
» If you stay on top of the screen too long in
Bubble Voyager, a bolt of laser fire will
be shot in your direction from a vortex that appears
on the right side of the screen. Black spiky bombs
cannot be destroyed but blinking orange bombs can be
blown up and they'll set off chain reactions if
other objects or bombs are nearby. If you're in the
vicinity of the blast radius, your mech will also be
damaged by the explosion.
» The Fireworks option in the Visualizer Mode
will cause an explosion in the sky whenever you tap.
A non-descript city sits beneath that sky which is
illuminated whenever a burst blows up above. While
you're tapping and fireworks are exploding, the
camera will take in the scenery from way up high,
parallel to the explosions, and from the vantage
point of someone standing on the street within the
city.
» All of the game have to be played with the Wii
Remote face down and you tapping. If you attempt to
simply grab the Wii Remote and tap it, the game will
halt all proceedings and instruct you to lay the
Remote face down. We found that simply tapping
directly on the face-down Remote also works and it's
our opinion that Bubble Voyager plays
much better in this way. Note however that you'll
only need a single finger to tap on the Wii Remote
directly since it's sensitive.
» A calibration utility allows you to adjust the
sensitivity of the Wii Remote.
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This document is ©NCSX 2008. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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