Get Keg Tapping: Tapper World Tour HD
Tapper World Tour HD ($1.99) by Warner Bros. brings the iconic 80’s arcade game to the iPad (and to iPhone separately). And, this much anticipated title that rocked GDC 2011, does its classic predecessors proud.
Bally Midway’s classic title, known as [Root Beer] Tapper, has had many incarnations since its debut in 1983. It was a console and home computer staple right through the 90’s and as recently as 2007, it became available on Xbox Live.
But, in all its previous incarnations it has never looked as good, or played so well.
This game, unlike many iOS retro remakes like Pac Man and Tetris, is improved, not impeded, by the touchscreen. Tapper was just meant to be, well, tapped.
Gone are the low-res graphics of this childhood favorite; sleek, cleverly animated eye candy has replaced them.
But, I expect sleek from a Warner Bros. product. What I didn’t expect was how much fun the game still is to play. It kept me up from its release a little after midnight until dawn.
As always in a Tapper game, you play Sam the bartender (or his daughter Nikki) whose job is to serve drinks to thirsty customers before they run out patience and you out of lives.
As the difficulty increases, so do the tasks. Sam must serve the right drinks to the right customers, collect empty glasses before they fall, and collect tips whenever possible.
Tapper World Tour HD is packed with features and options.
You can play “story mode” where you move through cities and continents, improving your skills, earning power-ups, and upgrades as you progress on your journey.
Each new city hosts a cleverly themed bar that pokes a little good natured fun at its location.
You can also opt for an “endless shift” where you play for as long as you can before losing your allotted lives. Your scores will also get posted to the Game Center leader boards.
There are a bunch of fun mini games to unlock as well as trophies and achievements to collect. And, with 100 levels this game has replay value to spare.
The gameplay is mostly fluid. The game is touch-sensitive enough to make getting combos easy, but definitely needs some tweaking for the advanced levels when it’s Tapper-tapping madness.
There are a few other first release issues that need to be addressed.
The biggest is that the game crashes. Not so often as to make me quit playing it, but at least once every three or four rounds or about 10 to 15 minutes.
Also in story mode, you are supposed to be able to earn up to three stars for each level you complete. But, on every level I either earned all three or lost completely.
I suspect this is a glitch and not a testament to my gaming ability since I cleared about 28 rounds, certainly not all perfectly, before real life beckoned.
This is the rare crossover from a retro cabinet game to iPad which gets all the important things right while adapting seamlessly to the new technology.
Tapper World Tour HD is pure touch-gaming goodness. As soon as they fix the few bugs it will be a five star must-have arcade game to add to your collection.
