Prope’s first project, Let’s Tap, is a collection of mini-games and artistic visualizers with the gimmick of tapping controls. You aren’t supposed to hold the remote to play Let’s Tap, it sits on a nice cardboard box branded with a Let’s Tap logo.
Only one game in the collection was shown at Tokyo Game Show and it was a race for two people. As the screenshot above shows you can play the footrace game with four people, but only two remotes and tapping platforms were around. To make your character run you need to gently tap on the cardboard. Getting into a rhythm keeps you running at a stable pace. However, this isn’t a game to see who can tap the fastest. The neon course is filled with obstacles and traps like hurdles. To pass them you need to hard tap on the platform to jump. Later levels introduced electric orbs which shock and stun your runner. Obviously, you need to dodge these, but these are purposely placed in tough spots. There was one stage where you run, swing from a trapeze, hard tap to jump, but if you did it too hard you would fly right into the shock orbs. The level design is tricky dare I say similar to a Mega Man game. Maybe it’s not that hard since you can’t die. Whoever makes it to the finish line first wins.
I was pretty impressed by this demo since the gimmick actually works and it’s fun to play. Let’s Tap is also accessible for the Wii Sports crowd, but the level design, at least in the footrace demo, is clever enough to challenge core gamers. I’m curious to see how the other games work though. Let’s Tap also has a beat tapping game, something that looks like Jenga, and a plane fight.
Sega plans to release Let’s Tap in Japan on December 18, the same day a bunch of key releases come out like Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes. While Let’s Tap is targeting a different market, the competition that week is still going to be fierce. At this time a North American date has not been announced, but I can’t imagine Sega USA passing on Let’s Tap.
Images courtesy of Sega.
