iPad Games Reviewed: Is it Good For Gaming?

Tap Tap Radiation

Developer: Tapulous
Price: Free from the AppStore

The Tap Tap series has come a long, long way since it first started. Despite having first launched as an unofficial app only for jailbroken devices, Tapulous eventually migrated to the proper AppStore and began dominating the music genre on the iPhone with ease.

Now, after numerous band-specific spin-offs, an iPad version is available – one which is completely different from previous versions of the game.

Well, kind of. It’s still basically a Guitar Hero adaptation, with blobs of music firing towards the centre of the screen and you desperately trying to hit them in time, but the tweaks that have been made with the latest version are pretty significant. Unlike the previous Tap Tap games, for example, the beats are no longer confined to rails and will fly at you from different areas of the screen as the song changes pace.


Some of these tweaks do change how you’ll have to play on the iPad though – the fact that the tap-zones move around the screen throughout the course of a song means that you’ll often have to change your grip. Take the iPad’s weight and slipperiness into account (it really needs a textured back) and you quickly learn that it’s best to lay the iPad down flat when you want to play Tap Tap.

Still, some of the other UI updates are pretty cool – we especially like the fact that the level-select has been updated to show album art, for example. The core appeal of Tap Tap is still just as fresh as ever too and there’s many a free song (none that you’ll ever have heard of before though) to sink your teeth into before you have to start dishing out the cash.

Verdict: Tap Tap Radiation isn’t something you can easily play on the go, as anything above medium difficulty means you start needing two hands and lots of dexterity to stand a chance. Still, it’s as enjoyable as ever – a very fun app.

Flight Control HD

Developer: Firemint
Price: $4.99 / £2.99 from the AppStore

A massive success on the iPhone, Flight Control HD may not greatly expand on the original premise or feature-set of the non-HD version, but the game is so popular that it probably doesn’t have to.

For those not familiar with the original iPhone hit, Flight Control basically puts you in the shoes of an air traffic controller, responsible for plotting paths for an increasing number of planes and helicopters that want to land on your airport. There are a bunch of new levels for you to get to grips with, but gameplay is always as simple as drawing routes for passenger jets and avoiding mid-air collisions – no easy feat.


While Flight Control HD sports the usual new levels and improved graphics, the major addition is a new multiplayer and co-operative mode that can be played with either two iPads or in splitscreen. The splitscreen mode is purely competitive – first person to allow a crash loses – and games can be a bit over-long thanks to the gradual difficulty curve, but it’s a nice new feature regardless.

Be warned though, it is tricky trying to decide how to position the iPad so that both parties can get a good view without butting heads. Also, tackling the co-op mode on your own makes for an excellent ultra-hard mode.

The same can be said of the new co-op mode too, which can be played over WiFi or Bluetooth and sees players teaming up to get the highest score by passing planes of a certain colour over to other airfields. It’s hard to say that Flight Control is especially suited to a multiplayer environment, but it’s there and it’s fun, so there’s no use in complaining.

Verdict: Flight Control HD’s updates are relatively modest, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most addictive and fun games available on the iPad at the moment.