American Idol – The iPhone Game Review

Released Apr 28, 2009
Developer/Publisher: Electronic Arts
Verdict: Buy It
Pros: Good songs, great interface, mini game, FUN
Cons: So corny you’ll think you grew up on a farm in Wisconsin

I hate to say it but this game is actually really fun if you can get past the corny script and constant show plugs.

American Idol is a mix of DDR and Guitar Hero with a mini-game thrown in to keep things interesting. The main activity is singing songs, which is done by tilting the iPhone up and down when the notes go by or tapping on stationary stars to dance. A good performance impresses the judges and moves you on to the next week. Between performances, a video clip from the actual show plays praising or demeaning your performance.

The mini game which comes between songs helps you to increase or decrease your style, fame, and talent scores. You are faced with decisions involving other contestants, or personal activities, that will help or hurt your growing career as a rising star as these scores are what determine whether you’re ahead or behind the other contestants.

The user interface is perfect for this game, very responsive and also a little challenging which is good. You aren’t just tapping on the notes as they go by. You have to run into them from a vertical plane that slides up and down. One thing to note – I didn’t find there to be a solid correlation between the pitch of the note and it’s position on the screen. It seemed mostly like pseudo random placement.

The graphics are good as well and in that respect I don’t have any complaints.

The only reason you should not buy this game is if you can’t stand American Idol because this app is ALL about American Idol. I personally had a hard time not gagging while playing this game which was entertaining me on one level while slowly killing my will to live on another.

Overall, this is a really good game and fun to play, well worth the 4.99 price tag. There I said it, now give me back my soul.