beatstream
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Daily iPhone App: Beatstream
Beatstream is the latest app from the folks at Smule (who recently acquired Khush, another music-loving developer, and I can kind of see their influence here as well). Usually, Smule's apps are based around creation of music, but Beatstream is a little more targeted towards listening to your music (at least at first). The idea is that you can pull any music from your iTunes library, and Beatstream will turn it into a game, the game-iest game that I've ever seen Smule make. You basically control an arrow running along a path, and you can tap on the screen to flip it through two different colors, which match barriers running along the path in front of you. The goal is to make sure that when your little arrow crosses the barriers, it's the same color. Matching colors and going through levels you up, and missing the colors brings you back down. It's fun, and even on the easiest setting, the barriers show up on the screen quickly enough that there is a little bit of a challenge trying to make sure the arrow is flipped the right way before going through them. There are also badges to earn, and unlike standard achievements, these actually change the gameplay a little bit, or even trip up the way the music sounds, like making it go faster or play in some crazy fashion. The one caveat with the music in Beatstream is that, like all other apps that pull music from your library, it won't work with DRM-protected songs, so if there's anything on your device from before 2009, you might not be able to play it. Same deal with long songs -- I had a few really long songs that just didn't work. But I was able to get a shorter song working without a problem, and while you could tell the song was matched with an algorithm (rather than by hand, like a Rock Band or Guitar Hero song), it still played well along with the music anyway. Beatstream is a cool way to experience your music while tapping along with that little arrow. I don't think it'll be a tentpole release for Smule -- it doesn't quite have that music creation streak that has led them to so much success with apps like Ocarina and Magic Piano. But it's a quality addition to their library for sure -- it's 99 cents on the App Store right now.
New games and updates on the App Store: Hunger Games, Dragonvale, more
Angry Birds Space wasn't the only big new release to hit the App Store last night. Here are some other noteworthy apps and updates that are now available (all prices are USD). Canabalt creator Adam Saltzman's new game, which is based on the upcoming Hunger Games movie, is now available as a free promotional app. It looks excellent, and features Saltzman's game design prowess as well as music from composer Danny B. Hunters 2 is a sequel to the great turn-based strategy title that looks awesome. It's $4.99. Chillingo has dropped an endless runner game in which you control a roller coaster called MadCoaster, as well as a good-looking physics puzzler called Light the Flower. Both are 99 cents. Swordigo is a 2D hack-and-slash RPG with impressive graphics. It's launching at $1.99. BattleLoot Adventure is a Final Fantasy-style RPG that looks excellent. It costs $0.99 Smule has released a brand new title called Beatstream that turns your own music into a playable game for $0.99. Pocket Gems has released a new freemium title called Tap Paradise Cove. 99 Games' Nightclub Mayhem has arrived on the iPad for $0.99. Big updates include the beautiful Zen Bound 2 ($0.99) which is now ready for the new iPad. DragonVale (free) got a nice update with a new dragon to seek out, and new buildings to put up. And Scribblenauts Remix ($0.99) has some new spring break content to download and play with. Man, that's a lot of new games and content to play with. Stay tuned, as we'll be covering a few of these more closely in the days to come.
