Tap Runner

Article by: Polo
Pictured from: Let's Tap
Created by: Prope
First appearance: 2008

Bio

Developed by Prope founder Yuji Naka and his colleagues and published by Sega, Let's Tap is a Wii title that eschews the common "handheld controller" conduit of gameplay. The Wiimote is placed facedown on a flat surface, one which the player taps with their hands, and the Wiimote responds to the pressure and frequency of the vibrations. This drumlike intuition is key to welcoming multiplayer gaming, emphasized in the five minigames of Let's Tap.

The first minigame, Tap Runner, is played on a neon-like side-scrolling racecourse and features glowing stick figures of the same name (blue, pictured, is Player 1). On their way to the finish line, the Tap Runners are met with a myriad of hazards including hurdles, tightropes, falling blocks, and electric orbs, but also advantages like ramps, springs, warp points, and speed-booster rings. Judicious taps overcome each challenge: a hard tap makes a Tap Runner jump a hurdle or gain air when coming off a ramp; rhythmic taps keep him jogging or sprinting depending on the player's own speed; light taps keep one's balance on the tightropes; hasty taps fill up a balloon faster to fly farther along the course; and so on. As with the other minigames, it's all in the taps.

Selected game appearances

Wii

• Let's Tap (2008)

References

• Wikipedia - "Let's Tap"
• Sega :: Games :: Let's Tap
• IGN - "TGS 2008: Let's Tap Hands-on by David Clayman"
• Eurogamer.net - "Let's Tap Review by Keza MacDonald"