Game Reviews

DJ Mix Tour (iPhone)

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DJ Mix Tour (iPhone)

Despite the demise of Studio 54, being a DJ still retains an air of cool. Bonafide DJs are the life and soul of any party, fueling the action on the dance floor and making sure one and all go home after a heavy night positively pummeled.

DJ Mix Tour tries to capture that same intensity and adoration by transforming taps of your handset to thumping bass beats in a miniature club. It's a good fit: the game nicely combines finger-tapping action with colourful, on the beat visuals that really convey the on-a-knife-edge nature of spinning.

Not that jet-setting international DJs tend to drop the likes of September and Lady Gaga into their mixes, however. The game's set list, which includes a mixture of licensed tracks and fairly on the money covers, is rather radio friendly. Mainstream pop takes center stage, though dance and commercial R&B all appear in limited form.

DJ Mix Tour uses these tracks to test your mixing skills. In short, mixing involves touchscreen tapping not unlike smash hit Tap Tap Revenge. The basic principle is to tap the screen as circles pass down from the top of the playfield, your fingers meeting the screen in time with the beat of the music to keep the tunes flowing smoothly. Muck up your timing and the vocals are cut, enraging the grooving groupees.

The taps themselves vary from standard circles to held taps and swipes, where you can link up one circle on one side of the screen with another, sweeping your finger across in a smooth motion to make both taps in time. You're eventually swamped with more than one beat to hit at a time, ensuring the game is no cakewalk.

Chances are, once you've played through a song's chorus once, you know exactly what's expected from you for the rest of the mix. Such uniformity will split its audience down the middle: on the one hand, the lack of variety gives DJ Mix Tour a limited shelf life, but on the other, it allows you to fully merge into the music, keeping your eye on the beat rather than any surprises it might have up its sleeves.

Such a connection with the music doesn't quite run through it entire line-up, however. Some of the slower tracks - "Poker Face" in particular - appear to be slightly out of sync with the taps themselves. Follow the beat rather than the screen and you find yourself out of step, running the risk of being kicked off stage entirely.

It's less of an issue as the BPMs ramp up, though unlocking faster tracks means conquering venues around the globe in the Career mode. This sandwiches each track between rounds of trash-talking with rival DJs, your chosen character taking on challengers at clubs that span big cities around the world in order to move up the hierarchy. It's an intentionally naff set-up that merely serves as tool to unlock tracks.

It all means DJ Mix Tour is, quite literally, a mixed bag. There's no denying that on the whole the tracks are well implemented and playing through the game's Career mode is, trash-talking or not, rather addictive. There's a genuine thrill that comes from keeping the party going, the rhythmic cheering that meets a long run of successful taps urging you to spin just one more record.

Gameloft's attempt at revenge on Tapulous's baby doesn't come with quite the same sheen, though. There's certainly much to enjoy and Tap Tap fans will feel right at home, but this is one DJ that needs to sharpen up his skills before he can take on the current #1.

DJ Mix Tour (iPhone)

DJ Mix Tour manages to capture the essence of the Tap Tap phenomenon without surpassing it, offering an entertaining alternative with its own distinctive charm
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.