Tap Tap Dance

If Tap Tap Dance were a record, it'd be pure gold. A slick game with as much cool factor as polish, equal amounts of challenging gameplay as features, it shoots up our charts as one of the finest titles for the platform yet.

Tap Tap Dance continues the rhythmic gaming tradition of nailing notes as they stream down the screen. The touchscreen affords great flexibility when getting down, allowing you to simply tap on the notes as they pass the line across the bottom.

It's as simple as keeping the beat, tapping each time a colored ball hits the line. You earn points for every successfully tapped note with a multiplier increasing as you hit notes in succession. Reach 50 consecutive notes and you hit Revenge mode in which you shake your phone to get an 8x multiplier.

Things get a little trickier on the dance screen when multi-taps, flicks, and held notes come into the equation. Some songs feature pairs of notes called multi-taps that must be tapped simultaneously. There are also held notes that require keeping your finger on the screen.

Particularly tricky is when you're prompted to hold down one note and continue tapping out notes on another track with a second finger. Lastly, directional arrows signify flicks to be done with your handset.

The note tracking is good, especially when it comes to matching each track's rhythm. Even on the highest level of difficulty when notes clutter the screen, they're laid out in such a way that stays tied to the beat of the music. Flick arrows mess with that flow a bit and we'd have these omitted as a matter of preference.

You begin moving through the game's 10 tracks on Easy difficulty, unlocking three additional levels - Medium, Hard, and Expert - by completing songs with a sufficient percentage of notes tapped. Scoring at least 85 per cent on half the tracks in a level opens up a boss track.

Successfully tackle a boss beat and you unlock the next level of difficulty. The structure is simple, although you only gain access to a new song or two with each new level. Most tracks are reprises of songs played in earlier levels.

Not that it's a problem. Tap Tap Dance assembles one of the best soundtracks of any music game. Period. Let alone on iPhone. Moby, DJ Tiesto, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, Chemical Brothers - they're all here and in luscious stereo sound. Where's your head at? It better be sandwiched between two ear buds while playing, as it makes a huge difference in the audio quality when doing so.

Headphones aren't an option when competing with a buddy in the game's two-player mode. A set of note tracks situated on opposite sides of the screen allow you and a friend to see who's fingerwork is the fanciest.

Tap Tap Dance also features online leaderboards for every song according to difficulty. You have to register an account with Tapulous, but you're able to upload your personal high scores online to see how you stack up.

Great note tracking, a phenomenal selection of songs, and solid host of features has the game dancing circles around other iPhone titles. While the music genre limits its appeal, Tap Tap Dance is among the most polished, coolest games of the year.