Daily iPhone App: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a really interesting gift from Square Enix for Final Fantasy fans. It's a music game that was originally released on the Nintendo 3DS earlier this year, in which players can play a touchscreen game with songs culled from Final Fantasy soundtracks, supported by a progression RPG game featuring stylistic versions of characters from throughout the Final Fantasy series. It's very much fan service: If you love the songs and the characters from these games, you'll love seeing and playing along with them in this form.

Now the game's been brought over to iOS' single-screen platform. The game plays just as well as it did on the 3DS, and in some ways it's even better. You especially see this on the iPad, where the bigger screen gives lots of room to show off the game's clear and colorful graphics. Any Final Fantasy fan will love finding the references and hearing these songs again in this context is a really great experience.

The only issue is the price. You can download the app for free, and it comes with two songs, so anyone who wants to simply try out the game can do so without consequence. Buying songs can be an issue, because they aren't cheap. Each track is US$0.99 and bundles run for $2.99. But if you want to get the whole thing, you'll be paying quite a bit of money.

That makes sense to a point, because the 3DS game is still available for $30 or more in stores. But Square's a little greedy here, because buying all of the songs costs more than the 3DS purchase. Of course, Square Enix can set the prices to whatever it wants, but usually the App Store calls for a bit of a break.

At any rate, buying a few of your favorite songs won't set you back too far, and the game is just as good as the 3DS version. If you're a Final Fantasy fan, definitely don't miss this one.