Good Game Get! Groove Coaster

Taito’s has a tiny masterpiece on their hands with Groove Coaster. This iOS gem is an on rails rhythm game that feels like a baby Rez with a dash of Elite Beat Agents. Simply describing it with comparable titles is a bit unfair for the game, so I’ll elaborate.

The game has two control inputs as far as I know - one being tap, and the other being hold. Cicular icons appear for you to tap as your avatar moves over them on the rail and they are positioned to be in time with the music, (which is fabulously obscure) and when you tap them you get points. Even cooler, Groove Coaster supports an added feature called Ad-Libbing which lets you find secret rhythmic icons to tap for more points in each level. Each level is fairly short, clocking in at less than three minutes most times. The other great thing is that you can earn experience which levels you up.

You will automatically earn power ups from three classes, avatar, item, and skin. Avatar changes the way you looks and certain game rules such as how you rack up points, and an item can makes things like the hidden Ad-Lib icons visible to you. Skins of course can change the way the level looks.

The coaster part of the title is cool too as it really does feel as if each level is a roller coaster. One thing that pushes that idea is when the game zooms out a level you’ve finished so that you can see the coaster as a whole. It’s neat.

As of writing this the game is 67% off at $0.99 (launch special) which is an absolute steal for a title of this quality.

A truly serious contender for my favorite iPhone titles of this year. Absolutely exactly what I look for in a game.

Magic.

- Kyle