iOS Rhythm Game Roundup (and some Android)

Initial Songs: 60! 70? 80? Not sure anymore. Tons.

Cost of new songs: Can pay $4.99 to unlock each unreleased chapter (10 songs each)

Achievements: 10

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: A line travels back and forth, and you tap each icon as the line passes. This is one of my favorite rhythm games on iOS. This must have the most songs out of all of them! When I bought it, it had 60 songs, and if more people play they'll unlock up to 100 total! They have unlocked more chapters since I bought it.

Initial Songs: 24

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: No, iPad only

Universal App?: No, iPad only

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Thoughts: This is hard to explain in text, but basically, a line ripples out from the center of a circle. Notes are spread around the screen, which you tap as the line passes.

Minimilistic presentation, relaxing visuals, different colors/icons for each song. There are no difficulty settings -- the songs get progressively harder. It feels like some notes are running away from you as you try to tap them, which can be a little frustrating. Great value, highly recommended. No retina support. It's a beautiful game and I really hope they make a Volume 2 someday.

Initial Songs: 7 (some are free packs you must download)

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4/$0.99, 4/$1.99, 4/$2.99

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Based on Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents, two games I was obsessed with and wrote guides for. There's a free version of this on PC that contains TONS of free songs, but I never bothered because I don't want to play using a mouse--so I love that it's on iOS! It differs in that it uses multitouch, so these charts are all new, and extensively tested for the game. I hope to see more songs released! Songs are fairly cheap (maybe on sale), with some licensed songs. Highly recommended!

Initial Songs: 3 + 9 free

Cost of new songs: Packs: 2/$.99, 5/$3, 6/$3

Achievements: 100

Good on iPhone?: Yes, giant icons

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Tap, hold, follow. Each note has a "clock hand" that spins around, and you tap when it's pointing up (12 o'clock). You need to tap to the beat, but you also need to hit the center of the icon target -- you're graded both on rhythm and accuracy.

Made by people who have worked on DDR style games. Notes are colored depending on the beat, similar to DDR. Even on the iPhone, the icons are big. You can create an account, and it'll sync your scores between devices, and you level up the more you play. Tons of achievements, leaderboards, etc. These guys know what they're doing. Unfortunately there are no options for audio calibration.

Initial Songs: 3

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4/$3.99 (Licensed, good)

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: No! Based on giant arcade game

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: A musical version of Whac-A-Mole! Great music available! Hard game, lots of memorization, MULTI-TOUCH. Seems very fun, but I don't have the patience to memorize all these songs, so I don't think I'll play it much. If you like a challenge, and have time to get good, you'll probably love it. The arcade game uses giant plastic buttons, which is probably way more satisfying to play.

Initial Songs: 13 (unlock by playing)

Cost of new songs: Packs: 3/$1.99

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Nice menus/presentation. The notes are locked to six different icons, evenly spaced. You can choose either squares or circles. Taps and holds. Good game, but hard. You earn EXP by playing, and level up. Recommended. Buy any song pack to remove ads.

Initial Songs: 4, plus 3 more you can unlock by writing a review, logging into Pmang, etc.

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4 songs for 60Q -- Q can be earned through achievements, or you can buy 60Q for $5.99 (cheaper if you buy bigger pack).

Achievements: 34? in-game achievements (not Game Center), which reward you with Q points

Good on iPhone?: Probably OK, but definitely better on iPad

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: DJ Max Technika Tune is on Vita, and probably cheaper to just buy the full game there and not deal with IAP. But in any case, it's a really great game. A line moves across the screen and you tap, hold, slide to the beat. It's a bit deeper than it sounds, as some notes must be held or tapped while your other hand moves forward and taps other notes. It requires some coordination and memorization. There are a lot of power-ups you can use and upgrade. The game also uses keysounds, so if you play out of time, the song will sound terrible.

This app is 2GB in size! This is probably because each song has a music video behind it and uses keysounds. If each song really takes up that much, downloading a few more packs could really max out your storage if you're low on space. Requires an internet connection.

Initial Songs: 8

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4/$2.99

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: OK

Universal App?: No, separate versions

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Thoughts: "Inspired by" (copy of) DJ Max Technika. Rhythmix is a great game since it's pretty much a direct copy, but not a lot of (free) music. The filesize is MUCH smaller than Technika Q, so that's one reason you might want to check it out.

Initial Songs: 25+

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Taps, holds, and notes where you slide them at other notes. Lots of songs for a low price, with no IAP. The background flies around while you're playing, and even the notes move. Fun game.

Initial Songs: ~150! (unlock as you play)

Cost of new songs: All free, but you must unlock. You also may run out of notes (energy), and will need to let it recharge.

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: I'm addicted to this game! Collect cards (heroes) and level them up. Battle monsters by playing a 4-lane rhythm game. They fight back, so you'll need to decide which cards to use -- some have defensive capabilities, while others give you more points or higher attack damage.

You'll gain experience, items, coins, etc. There's a badly written story to go along with it, but you can skip it if you want. Cards have different rarities (from Common up to Legendary), and you can "evolve" them with items. There are a ton of songs, and hundreds of cards to collect.

Because it's free, you must spend "notes" to play each song. Notes will recharge (1 every 8 min.), and you can gain more by friending people, so it's really not bad. I've been playing this every day, and haven't spent any money.

Aside from the story mode, you can compete in an "arena" against other players. You'll also randomly find "rare monsters" to battle, and friends can join you at any time! You'll all get rewards. There are daily islands which give you specific rewards on different days (gold, experience cards, drum cards, string cards, etc.).

The songs aren't too hard, but when the monsters attack, the notes speed up. When you attack, your heroes shoot fire/ice/grass up the screen, so it can be hard to see -- but that's all part of the game. You will run into monsters who are simply too high of a level to beat, even if you play perfectly, until you level up your cards. But there are plenty of other things to do in the meantime.

Great music, tons of songs, and a lot of fun. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, but don't expect too much of a pure rhythm challenge.

Initial Songs: 10

Cost of new songs: $0.99 for 2 arena songs, that's it (but there's a sequel).

Achievements: 18

Good on iPhone?: OK, but iPad is much easier to play.

Universal App?: Yes

Watch My Video Quick Review (This mostly shows Frederic 2, but talks about both games.)

Thoughts: A story about Chopin, with surprisingly good remixes of classical songs. Touts over an hour of animated comic -- which is literally longer than all the music combined. But it's a great game, and has a story if you care. It reminds me a bit of Gitaroo Man, with each level being a "battle" against someone.

To get high scores, you need to tap "gold" notes that fly up out of the keyboard -- which is very distracting, unrhythmic, and may cause you to break combo. Annoying. Also, you're supposed to shake your iPad to activate an attack! I don't hold my iPad while playing, so that is very difficult to do. Bad design, but at least those are optional.

I never lost on the hardest difficulty (I'm in the top 25 on the overall leaderboard), but you can bump it down if you want. I don't think the songs actually change, you just don't fail as quickly. Highly recommended, even if you skip the cutscenes.

Initial Songs: 10

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 18

Good on iPhone?: OK, but iPad is much easier to play.

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: The sequel to Frederic RoM. Very similar to the first, except the difficulty DOES affect the notecharts -- lower difficulty removes some of the notes you need to hit. They kept the things that annoyed me (gold notes, shaking to attack). They added blue notes that must be continually tapped for extra points. The songs are now based on popular artists like Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, etc., with their characters facing off against you in the story.

Like the first game, there are leaderboards for overall score and per song, so you can see how you rank, and see which songs you need to practice.

Initial Songs: ALL of your music; no slots! Playing each song costs "coins," which you can remove for $2.99(?) IAP.

Cost of new songs: None, just add more to your library.

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes. You can change how many lanes it uses (4-6).

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: This game is great! Tap, slide, hold--generated from your music. Generated charts are actually quite good, sometimes. Change difficulty, speed, and number of lanes per song.

It does NOT use the "slot" system found in many other use-your-own-music games, so your entire library is displayed! It costs 10 coins to play each song (you start with something like 200), but it's pretty easy to earn more by watching a video ad (~40 coins). If you get an S rank on a song, you have a chance for a bonus item (higher score, free replay, etc.).

At one point I thought an ad popped up while I was playing and made me fail the song, but maybe I failed the song and THEN the ad popped up. However, it happens so fast (and right under your fingers) that it's easy to accidentally tap on the ad, which opens your browser. Kind of devious.

You can unlock the "unlimited" version for a reasonable $2.99 IAP, which will also remove ads. Well worth it if you enjoy the game and have a lot of music! I don't keep much music on my iPad, so I may not buy it.

Initial Songs: 35 + 3 free?

Cost of new songs: $0.99

Achievements: 33

Good on iPhone?: Not really, much easier/better on iPad. There's a lot going on.

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: If you like DJ Hero, BUY THIS. Similar gameplay with taps, scratches, crossfading, etc. Remixes of licensed music. Lots of songs. Caution: They released a second version called "Skillz: Universal Edition" which adds retina support, Game Center, and iPhone support. Be SURE to get that one (linked on left/above).

Initial Songs: 15?, play to unlock them all. You also need to tap around the main screens to find hidden songs. They may add more for free.

Cost of new songs: $3.99 per chapter (~15 songs each? I haven't bought any)

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Probably.

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: From the makers of Cytus, but this one is a traditional piano-style game -- literally, in this case. The songs are (almost) all piano arrangements. One interesting thing is that there aren't standard "lanes" that the notes fall down, so a lot of notes can actually overlap (not on the same beat, though). Some notes are larger, and there are gold notes for doing "scale" type moves where you slide your finger back and forth.

People seem to really like the story in this game. Only one chapter is unlocked at the start, but maybe they'll release more for free like they did with Cytus. There are three difficulty levels to choose from, but as far as I know that isn't explained anywhere, so I unlocked everything grinding through Easy. Finally I realized you have to tap on the note icon on the very left side! It has an animation to indicate that (sort of), but I thought that just started the song (tapping almost anywhere starts it), so I never tried it. Ugh. Well now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

Initial Songs: Tons; use in-game [P] to play each song

Cost of new songs: You can earn [P] for new songs by playing, or IAP

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: Traditional piano-style game. Tap, hold notes. As you hit notes you fill up a combo gauge to 2x, 3x, 4x. You can activate it right away, or wait for it to get higher before activating. You can also spend gems to activate "CHIPs" which give you various abilities during the song.

Lots of music available, which you buy with [P] or gems. Complete missions on free songs to get more [P], or buy them with IAP. You can play a song by paying 3-5 [P] each time, or "buy" the song for some gems. You start the game with 20 [P], but after playing a few songs (spending 3 [P] each time), I ended up with a balance of 44 [P] just from bonuses. This probably diminishes as it becomes harder to level up. I also earned some "tickets" which I guess let you play for free for an hour and a half?

Most of the graphics are not optimized for retina. Interestingly, you can play in either portrait mode where the notes fall straight down (Tetris-style), or landscape, where the notes come towards you like in a hallway (Rock Band style). Very fast game on Hard. Lots of modifiers (2x speed, 2/4/5button mode).

You level up by playing, gaining you extra songs and gems. As you complete songs you can also get a card bonus. Gems, [P], EXP, Cards, Tickets, Missions, CHIPS...this game is way too complicated! :P

Initial Songs: 37? Some hidden/must be unlocked?

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements:

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only

Universal App?: No, iPhone only

Thoughts: Sequel to O2Jam U, I guess, but it changes up the format. Haven't played it yet. Will update when I do.

Initial Songs: 5

Cost of new songs: 5/$1.99

Achievements:

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only

Universal App?: No, iPhone only

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Thoughts: Nice game that uses keysounds -- so the songs will sound terrible if you're not very good. Three difficulties, and you can choose 4-6 lane mode. It has hold notes that are also slide notes, which can fit with the music very well. Aside from going for high scores, it also has challenges you can play (you must spend MAX points).

Initial Songs: Use your own music; see below. 1 slot to start with.

Cost of new songs: Can pay $0.99 per slot to add more songs, or you can spend 200 BG points which are earned by playing. However, slots can be cleared at any time and replaced with a different song, but you will lose your score on that song.

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Haven't tried; should be okay.

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: A Bemani game by Konami! Use your own music and tap, hold, and slide. The hitbar actually moves around sometimes, and some notes are different colors and speeds.

This game can generate notecharts automatically, but you can also create your own and share them (and thus, download others). However, you have to create your own charts "live." That is, you can't scrub through the song and intelligently add and delete notes, you have to pretend you're playing the song once through, and that gets recorded. Major missed opportunity in my opinion. It also doesn't have a good way of browsing the best user notecharts.

I unlocked three slots easily just by playing a few songs, but the biggest "BG point" boost is by opening the app every day, I think (something like 150-200 points).

Initial Songs: See Notes

Cost of new songs: See Notes

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only

Universal App?: No, iPhone only

Thoughts: (This refers to DDR Dance Wars, no longer available) DDR got me, and many people, into rhythm games, so this is very familiar. If you've never played with your feet, it may be hard to sightread, and you'll wonder why the buttons aren't in a row. You can only play a certain amount before you run out of in-game "stamina" and have to quit for 24 hours to recharge. That may be annoying, but you have to replay the same songs to unlock more, so maybe it's just as well (you can recover stamina with IAP).

DanceDanceRevolution S+: I don't have this game, but from what I've read this is a similar game, but comes with 3 songs. You can buy more for about $1 each.

Initial Songs: Lots of levels

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 20, fun ones (play a level a different way)

Good on iPhone?: Yes!, tap anywhere

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: I LOVE THIS GAME! A rhythm puzzle game! You tap on beat to make the character sneak through the level, pausing to wait for guards to turn around, etc. Everything happens on the beat. It's much easier to understand if you watch a video of it.

Adorable art and animation, great presentation. I would love it as a puzzle game even without the rhythm. Unfortunately not retina, but it still looks great. Highly recommended if you like puzzle games! This is one of my favorite iOS games!

Initial Songs: 14, unlock them by playing. Each song is used in multiple courses.

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4/$2.99 (plus 1 hidden track or something?)

Achievements: 30, standard stuff.

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only, tap anywhere.

Universal App?: No

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Thoughts: A rhythm fighting game! Sort of. Tap, hold, and flick notes to attack and defend. If you mess up, your opponent will attack you. Level up by playing and unlock better attacks and more health/power, which makes it easier to beat a song. You don't really have any control over what the characters are doing, so it's more like a rhythm game with fighting animations in the background, but it's still fun! You can tap anywhere on the screen, so this isn't quite an icon tapper, but close.

Each level has a different challenge (score over X points, over 50% health, chain over 50, etc.). You can equip different support characters to help with each challenge, so there's a bit of strategy involved there.

Contains characters from The King of Fighters, and music from various SNK games. Recommended!

Initial Songs: 100+ exercises (no music)

Cost of new songs: None, but there are randomly generated exercises adding thousands more

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes (exercises are split in two on iPhone)

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: This is not a game (well, you do get a score, so technically...), but if you're interested in learning how to read music (rhythm only), this app is for you. It has 100+ exercises in different time signatures, and you tap along on a drum icon (or you can clap and the microphone can pick it up). It has a metronome that you can change, and it grades your timing very accurately (and shows you every beat with color coding!). It's perfect for me! I've wanted to get better at reading music, but it's just so boring on its own. This marks your progress, and saves your timing. I'm so impressed with this app!

Initial Songs: 4 songs plus 3(?) slots to add your own music. Earn/buy more.

Cost of new songs: You can buy new slots with in-game "backstage passes" which you can earn by playing. Complete missions to earn ~5 passes, and earn 1 pass by getting 4 stars on a song. I got a total of 6 slots pretty quickly (cost of each slot increases with each one you buy). You can buy backstage passes through IAP. You can NOT remove songs from slots.

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: From Harmonix, the makers of Rock Band! This is a runner-style game where you collect records and jump over/slide under things to the beat. Tracks are generated from your music. Lots of IAP, but nothing is required. Great art and style. Every track is the same "street," but the obstacles are randomized and depend on the song. It gets boring pretty quickly.

If you like runners, go for it. It's fun, but not really my favorite.

Initial Songs: There is a different "song" in each world, and each world has around 20 stages that flow into the next. The rhythm of the stage depends on the enemies, so the "song" kind of changes throughout the world. So while there are only a few "songs," it's not as bad as it sounds (it doesn't really feel repetitive).

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 42

Good on iPhone?: Yes, large buttons

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: As you run to the right, enemy ninjas come at you on beat, and you must hit the "black" or "white" button to match the color of the enemy. Pretty simple mechanics and rhythms. The hardest part about it is how little time you have to see which color the enemy is. Earn coins and buy consumable upgrades that slow down time, speed up time, or rewind a section. Stages can be replayed and perfected. Good in short bursts and you can quit anytime, so it's a good game when you only have a couple minutes.

Initial Songs: 3

Cost of new songs: Packs: 4/$3.99 (Konami Music)

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: OK

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Crazy concept. It's like air hockey, but with a ton of pucks. Each puck is a note you need to tap, and some get sent back at the other (AI) player. Pretty cool, but very hard on higher difficulties and requires memorization. Based on an arcade game. Watch some videos to see the insanity.

Initial Songs: A bunch; unlock as you play

Cost of new songs: 4/$4.99, 1/$1.99

Achievements: 90

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: Zero is the sequel to Groove Coaster (paid). Zero is free, but you must be online to play. You sort of travel across a winding line through space, and tap as you pass notes. (Tap anywhere.) Nice minimilistic graphics, trippy. Very popular game. Try out Zero to see if you like it, and if you want to play offline, maybe buy the original?

Initial Songs: 15

Cost of new songs: $1.99 for 10 more songs/no ads

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: OK

Universal App?: Yes

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Thoughts: I've never seen a violin rhythm game before, so I had to include this! It's not great, but it's okay. You slide the bow back and forth, and on Hard you also raise and lower the bow to choose each string. Follow the arrows coming down the strings. The biggest problem is that it's hard to know which string you're on, and you often run out of physical space on the high string. It also doesn't seem to save your scores on each song (in the interface), or give you a letter grade. So there aren't really any goals, unless you check the leaderboards. The music is good, and it's free (with ads), so check it out if you're at all interested.

Initial Songs: 2

Cost of new songs: $0.99 per song, costs ~$150 for all content! 3DS version is a much better deal

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: A rhythm RPG that I would love to play. Plenty of reviews out there, but I wanted to note just how expensive this game is if you buy on iOS! Definitely play on 3DS if you have one. I guess if you only like a few songs, you could just buy those and save money, but I'd rather have the full game. Since this is free, you could try it out on iOS first, just to see if you like it.

Initial Songs: 2?

Cost of new songs: $2.99 to unlock full game, all songs

Achievements: 6

Good on iPhone?: No, iPad only

Universal App?: No, iPad only

Thoughts: You listen to a song, then find the matching pieces. You actually have to arrange the different parts of the song, and listen for what sounds right. Great game if you like puzzles, and want something that makes you really listen to the arrangement. The soundtrack is composed of classical songs, and well-known tunes. Well worth it, but try it out first. I love it.

Initial Songs:

Cost of new songs:

Achievements:

Good on iPhone?:

Universal App?:

Thoughts: Race around the track, and hit icons that match up with the beat of the song. Haven't played it yet. Will update when I do.

Initial Songs: 10 (no song select, it's one mix)

Cost of new songs: None

Achievements: 5

Good on iPhone?:

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: This is a Doublefine game that was designed for Leap Motion (motion control camera peripheral, like Kinect, for your fingers). It's probably more fun on Leap, and seems like it would make more sense there. You move a line around a circle, using two fingers, and try to collect dots and avoid spikes. It's kind of interesting, but bores me quickly.

Initial Songs: Use your own music.

Cost of new songs: None, use your own music.

Achievements:

Good on iPhone?:

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: A twin-stick (or single-stick) shooter that generates enemies based on your music! I haven't played this on iOS, only PC.

Initial Songs: 3

Cost of new songs: Buy with Points, See Notes

Achievements: 20

Good on iPhone?: Yes

Universal App?: Yes

Thoughts: A Korean game, but there's not much to read. This has two modes: one is an icon tapper, the other is piano style, using the same songs! So you can take your pick. The HUGE difference with this game is that it actually uses keysounds! That is, each tap you make actually plays the sound when you tap it. So if you are off beat, the song will sound terrible. If you don't play, there is no music. Not many free songs, but you earn 10 points on first play, and 20 if you get an S rank, which can go towards buying more songs -- however, songs cost 400-800 points each, so you'll have to buy points if you want more songs.

Initial Songs: 300+

Cost of new songs: Packs: 2/$0.99, 4/$1.99, etc.

Achievements: 5

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only

Universal App?: No, iPhone only

Thoughts: I never really liked the graphical style in this game. Very popular series. Only 3 lanes, but there are slices and shakes. Lots of free licensed music (you have to click to download), and new songs are added regularly, which is a major plus. Crashes a lot on my iPod. You spend "picks" to play a tour, but get free picks every day. Fun game. Try the free version first (or only).

Initial Songs: 2

Cost of new songs: Buy with Points

Achievements: 0

Good on iPhone?: Yes, iPhone only

Universal App?: No, iPhone only

Thoughts: There are only two free songs, and they never update this anymore. It is a really fun game with licensed music and great charts, but not recommended because you may be wasting your money (people have said their paid songs were cleared). The interesting thing in this game is that there are hold notes that are also slide notes--you hold them, but have to slide back and forth on some beats, which actually go really well with the music. DJMax Ray is made by the same company, and is very similar, so check that one out.