Nirvana Revenge by Tapulous has officially been rolled out in the App Store for just $4.99 as a Tap Tap Revenge made specifically for Nirvana fans. But does this smell like teen spirit? Or does it fail to capture the essence of Nirvana? Check my in-depth review after the jump to find out.

Noteworthy Features:

• Interviews from the band
• Amazing track-listing
• Polished presentation

Major Complaints:

• Patterns bounce from one instrument or element to another without much warning
• No new gameplay elements since the franchise has launched
• Its just screaming for new interactions

Tapulous has been on a roll lately pushing out themed Tap Tap Revenge(s) for a whole plethora of artists, such as Lady Gaga, Metallica, and Justin Beiber (just to name a few). So it should come as no surprise that Nirvana would be on their list too, since they are more or less the purveyors of the whole grunge genre and subsequently the alternative rock scene that sky rocketed into mainstream appeal during the 90s.

I consider myself to be a fan of Nirvana’s music as much as the next guy, but aside from an impressive track-listing and a Nirvana themed presentation sprinkled on, the gameplay formula is exactly the same as every other Tap Tap Revenge out there.

In fact it seems like Tapulous‘ strategy here is very much in-line with the same strategy Activision/Harmonix/RedOctane had with their Guitar Hero franchise and if history has shown us anything it is that such a strategy is most definitely a quick way to burn out a gameplay formula and nosedive your sales in the process. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this release and appreciated the well done presentation, but to be honest I couldn’t shake the feeling that it *could* have been better, if only some new interactions were brought to the table.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Nirvana Revenge revolves around tapping, in that it requires you to tap on three (portrait/vertical) or four (landscape/horizontal) tap-boxes at the bottom of the screen, as patterns of electrical sparks (for lack of a better word) scroll toward you on a virtual guitar neck, in different patterns that are suppose to be in-sync with the music. This is basically the same concept pioneered by the Guitar Hero franchise, except watered down into a single tap rather then a combination of interactions on a plastic guitar controller. As in when a spark passes into one of the tap-boxes you need to tap the box in order to score points. If you hit the box to early or too late or completely miss the spark because you’re busy tapping on other sparks hitting other boxes, you will lose points. In addition there is also some interactions that require to you sustain an input, as in tap and hold for a brief amount of time but other then that the gameplay is all about tapping.

Overall I found the patterns to be in sync for the most part but they bounce around a lot from generic tempo, to drums, to bass, to guitar, to vocals, and then back and forth from one to the other without much warning, which as a result forced me to just focus on the pattern visually, and prevented me from being able to just melt away into the experience and roll with the music. I really liked that the developers took the time to come up with patterns for each layer/instrument of all the tracks, but I would have like the patterns to stay consistent to one layer/instrument throughout the entire experience and instead have an option for me to pick and choose which one I want to go with rather then having them all rolled up into one complex pattern, seemingly at random.

In Nirvana Revenge there are two game modes included; a career mode (single player) and a battle mode (multi-player). There is also four difficulty settings to conquer ranging from easy, to medium, hard, and extreme (which is sheer craziness).

In career mode you play solo and after you download the whole set of tracks included in the release (for no additional cost) you’re free to play them at will, although a few of the tracks are reserved to a specific difficulty setting, with others that must be unlocked first by completing all of the other tracks/levels with 85% accuracy or above (for instance), before the track/level becomes unlocked.

In battle mode you can easily set up (host) or join a multi-player game via Bluetooth, and it essentially just synchronizes a track/level across two devices, where the player with the most points wins. Although there isn’t any unique features with the battle mode itself, and if you think about it you could basically do the same thing by launching two career modes at the same time and just comparing scores with your friend after the levels/tracks are  finished. Nevertheless, it was nice that the developers went through the trouble to make it easier for players to synchronize and compare scores.

Presentation

The presentation is spot on and is professionally polished. It’s all very fitting for a Nirvana themed Tap Tap Revenge game. Not to mention that Tapulous even went through the trouble to track down some audio from old interviews of the band, and included them as intros to each level/track.

On the contrary though, some of the in-game menus were simply tacked on without much creativity and opted to use the native iPhone menu scheme looking more like text pop ups then a fully fleshed out in-game menu. Also there isnt much variety in graphics as each level/track sports the same guitar and regurgitates the same backgrounds.

Indeed, Tap Tap Revenge Nirvana comes packed with an admirable tracklisting including most of the hit singles across all of their major studio album releases, even a couple live versions thrown in for good measure.

The track-listing is as follows:

• All Apologies
• Breed
• Breed (Live)
• Come As You Are
• Heart Shaped Box
• In Bloom
• Lithium
• Lithium (Live)
• Rape Me
• Smells Like Teen Spirit
• Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live)
• Stay Away
• You Know You’re Right

Last but certainly not least, there is a rich, albeit brief biography/history section of the band that can be accessed from the game’s main-menu. It’s not as in-depth as their wiki is but a thoughtful addition nonetheless.

Controls

As with every other Tap Tap Revenge out in the wild the controls revolve around tapping, and occasionally sustaining an input. It’s very simply and intuitive with stylish visual confirmation of a tap, but without physical confirmation (i.e a button press, or a vibration) the very first level/track you play will feel like you’re not even hitting it at all, well that is until you get into the swing of things.

All and all I found the controls to be technically sound and very responsive, although I would have like some physical confirmation that a hit was registered but not 100% necessary, but an option to turn on/off vibration that ques up when a hit is registered would have been much appreciated.

I also would have liked to have experience some more innovative interactions like slides, flicks, pinches in/out (for sure) and others that will provide a more intimate connection with the music that is playing. I mean the whole Tap Tap Revenge franchise has been out for a couple years now yet their gameplay formula hasn’t really evolved much. If they don’t come up with something new to bring to the table soon it will only end in declining sales exactly the same way it went down with the Guitar Hero franchise on the consoles.

Price

The price for Tap Tap Revenge Nirvana clocks in at reasonable $4.99, which seems like the standard price point Tapulous is leveraging for all of their artist themed Tap Tap Revenge releases. Even though their originals are priced at a lower $1.99 price point I wouldn’t hold my breath since I doubt that price will ever be used for Tap Tap Revenge Nirvana or any of their artist specific Tap Tap Revenge releases (aside from temporary promotional sales) due to the cost of licensing fees.

Score 3/5

Tap Tap Revenge Nirvana comes correct with a stellar track-listing, a polished presentation, and some thoughtful additions, like interviews from the band as introductions to each level/track and a brief history/biography section in the game’s main-menu.

However the gameplay is a mixed bag of patterns that bounce from one element to another without much warning, creating an experience that is phenomenal at times, but at other times the sync feels off with what you would expect.

I’m also dissappointed that Tapulous hasn’t taken the time to expand their gameplay formula. To be completely honest Tap Tap Revenge was absolutely amazing back when it first launched, but now its getting very old and is just screaming for more interactions.

Nirvana Revenge in the App Store.