Mini-games? Original?! Yes, because Sega's Let's Tap plays unlike anything else on the Wii, as gamers will almost never touch the controller while playing. Instead, Let's Tap requires simple tapping near the Wii Remote, using the built-in accelerometer and the vibrations sent through a flat surface—box, coffee table, floor—to control on-screen characters. Let's Tap is comprised of five parts, Tap Runner, Rhythm Tap, Silent Blocks, Bubble Voyager and Visualizer, some of which feature gameplay sub-variations, some of which are arguably not even "games" at all.

But each aspect of Let's Tap is unique, utilizing the tapping mechanic in different ways, offering an original experience on the Wii that doesn't feel at all like it belongs in the already flooded mini-game market. Does Let's Tap offer enough to wrangle in gamers looking for software to party with?

Loved
Wonderfully Clever: Let's Tap's gimmick is what makes it great. A total lack of waggle and wild Wii Remote swinging is a refreshing change and, despite a few control quirks and a bit of a learning curve involved in understanding tap strength levels, the mechanic works quite well. While Prope doesn't mine the simplicity of its tap mechanic as smartly as a game like Nintendo's similarly tappy Rhythm Heaven, Let's Tap's individual parts show real creativity.

Tap Runner: The game's most straightforward experience is also its best, offering fun, frantic multiplayer and satisfying singleplayer experiences. Four-players race across glowing orange platforms, jumping over hurdles, traversing tightropes, avoiding electric spheres and teleporting through warp holes in a classic track and field-style competition sent into outer space. Great track design and variety across 16 levels make Tap Runner the game's most replayable draw.

United Game Artistry: Let's Tap looks sharp. Anyone with a visual preference for Sega games like the brightly dynamic Rez and Cosmic Smash will enjoy Let's Tap's array of visual styles. Whether the game is striving for something brilliantly sci-fi in Tap Runner or more realistic in Visualizer mode, it offers something easy on the senses.

Party Time Excellent: For better or worse, but in this case better, Let's Tap shines brightest when played with friends. The tension of Silent Blocks, a Jenga-like puzzle game that requires sharp, but delicate tapping is as enjoyable as the more dramatically competitive Tap Runner. The downside of this is that lonely Wii owners will have few reasons to come back to Let's Tap after they've collected each of Tap Runner's gold medals and become bored with Bubble Voyager.

Hated
Rhythm Tap: Let's Tap's rhythm game, an imitation of Namco Bandai's Taiko Drum Master, is just plain dull, too simplistic to offer much fun beyond the initial playthrough. Only a handful of the mode's musical tracks are memorable, most seemingly gushing forth from some automatic J-pop generating machine.

Shallow: As previously mentioned, Wii owners with an aversion to local multiplayer throwdowns won't find much to keep them occupied in Let's Tap. The game's five modes eventually feel scant, particularly when one brushes off Rhythm Tap and experiments fully with the semi-playable Visualizer mode. A trio of unlockables that you likely won't care about require excessive play to acquire.

Let's Tap, with its unique visual style and brilliant hands-off approach to the Wii Remote's capabilities is a great entry in the Wii library that feels bound to be under-appreciated. Prope's first stab at the Wii would have likely been lauded as a genius addition to the Dreamcast library because of its bizarre play style, but may simply be written off as just another Wii mini-game collection. Granted, Let's Tap has its shortcomings, its share of filler—and it's cheaply lacking dedicated, packed-in cardboard boxes on which to lay the Wii Remote—but it's also ultimately a fun little package, priced right for the amount of content it offers.

Had Let's Tap been released as a Wii launch title, it may have gotten a little more attention for its abilities to showcase what Nintendo's motion controller is capable of. Don't let Let's Tap get lost in the mini-game crowd if you're looking for something unique, something clearly not phoned-in on the Wii. Just don't expect a well of depth.

Let's Tap was developed by Prope and published by Sega for the Wii on June 16. Retails for $29.99 USD. Played all game types in both single and multiplayer modes.

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...not that Yuji Naka is Harrison Ford or Sonic is Han Solo.

Let's Tap is the first title Naka has created since leaving SEGA and setting up his own studio, Prope. During a press junket for the game, Naka was bombarded with Sonic questions. Does that bug him? Nope!

"When I created Sonic people always asked me about how I came up with the idea a thousand times so I'm past caring about being asked the same questions these days," Naka told game site CVG. "It's fine."

Straight from the horse's mouth! Go ahead, ask Yuji Naka all your incessant Sonic questions. He's more than happy to answer or serve you tea. Yuji Naka? Aims to please.

Interview: Done talking about Sonic [CVG] [Pic]

Naka, now at Sega funded start up Prope, tells Kikizo "until the very final moments, I was really against Sega leaving the hardware business." Partially because Sonic Team was on the cusp of releasing the original Phantasy Star Online, but also because he felt the Dreamcast's networking capabilities was something Sega should further exploit.

"In a way I feel that, had that decision not been made, Sega would have gone bankrupt - so maybe it was a good business decision," Naka explains "But at the same time, I also feel like, what the hell - we should have given it a go, and we should have taken that risk."

Sadly, many of recall what went down. Sega dumped the Dreamcast. Yuji Naka dumped Sega to form Prope and develop titles like Let's Tap. And we get a little teary every time we turn on the best console Sega ever produced.

Naka also tells Kikizo that Prope's corporate color scheme — as well as the founder's tie and socks — was directly lifted from the Dreamcast's palette. Fanboy!

He's Back: Yuji Naka Prope Interview [Kikizo]

In a nutshell, Naka wanted to get back to real game development, away from that high level managerial nonsense. He tells Gamasutra that he felt a need to "keep creating."

"Before I left Sega, I was high enough up that I was looking at every game the company was developing," Naka said. "Once I was in that position, though, I found that I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty details instead with the games, including Sonic — the whole 'it'd be better if this bit were like this instead of that' type of thing."

At his new studio Prope, Naka says the concept for Let's Tap was borne of Wii Remote experimentation and inspired by idle tapping. Clearly, Naka's a high concept kind of guy.

As for the future? "We're actually planning on making a game like Sonic right now," the developer says. We hope he means "like Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and less "like Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)."

Yuji Naka On New Beginnings At His Studio, Prope [Gamasutra]

To be fair, the sales period started on December 15 and ended on December 21. Let's Tap went on sale December 18 — didn't get a full week in retail. Maybe next week, it'll move 5,000 more copies. Who knows, the sky's the limit.

(To be even more fair, new title DISSIDIA: Final Fantasy sold over 500,000 during the same period. It, like Let's Tap, also went on sale December 18. Penguins, however, probably can't play it.)

Read our Let's Tap impressions here.

Famitsu Sales: 12/15 - 12/21 [NeoGAF via Sega Nerds]

Let's Tap [SEGA]

A PROPE tease site has popped up online — it even features a SEGA logo! The site teases an announcement in 17 days, and the text reads: "World's first, the game that even penguins can play."

Hrm. Wonder what it is. Guess we'll know more in 17 days!

PROPE x SEGA [Official Site Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

"I lost it," remembers Moore. "I turned to the interpreter and said, 'Tell him, "F*** you"." Although the translator refused to convey Moore's feelings, he was pretty sure that his message got across. "Naka had lived in the US for three years, so I knew he understood. I walked out and never returned."

I have to agree with GamesRadar here - what a badass. Why doesn't this guy have his own game company by now?

When Peter Moore said "F*** you" to Yuji Naka [GamesRadar]

Wonder if he got in some time with Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl? He orbited the Nintendo booth during my eagle-eyed stalking, but never dove in. He may disapprove.

A Sega diehard has named her new baby daughter after famed Sonic creator. Here's the back story via Sega-crazy Sonic CuIT Forums:

Theres this girl who goes by the alias of "s0nicfreak", and she just broke every possible limit of idiocy I ever saw. Highlights of her tale:

• Running a sonic related torrent site (that gradually turned into oink lite and was a haven for fanboys of Ogg Vorbis, an audio format that nobody uses)
• Above site got busted by the MPAA and she fled to mexico (!!!!)
• Posted 120x120 crappy digicam pics of her genitalia
• While fleeing, she tried to get money by auctioning her panties on the forum
• When that failed, she made a living by being her boyfriends whore
• Managed to get knocked up in the process
• Claimed that she'll name her kid after Yuji Naka

And that's what s0nicfreak apparently did; She named her baby daughter after Sonic creator, Yuji Naka. So, the baby's legal name is "YujiNaka Amber" Something. Strange game moniker or not, I won't be one to cast judgment as I gave my own spawn a strange middle name ("Atom" after Astro Boy). Above is the supposed birth certificate (the PhotoShop time stamp is mine) of s0nicfreak's baby girl. Not 100 percent positive that the Yuji Naka naming or the s0nicfreak back story is real, but something about this whole situation seems, I dunno, sad. Brian Ashcraft

Yuji Naka Baby [Sonic CuIT Forums via Sega Nerds]

Now at indie developer Prope, Naka and his team of roughly two-dozen staff members instead want to focus on "works that have the power to fill the children of the world with dreams." Magical! He's sounding more and more like he would be at home in the Tokyo equivalent of Neverland Ranch ensconced in purple velvet atop a throne built from gingerbread and lollipops.

Sadly, we have little more to go on in regard to Prope's plans, only that they're going to platform agnostic in the Sega tradition. Michael McWhertor

Interview: Life after Sonic [CVG]

At least that's what he says.

CVG spoke with the figurehead behind the original NiGHTS game for the Sega Saturn who stated he had "no such intentions" of revisiting the franchise. Now with the partially Sega funded Prope studio, Naka's involvement doesn't really mean squat. Sega's been passing around classic franchises to all sorts of dev houses lately, so a NiGHTS sequel developed by an internal or outsourced team is still a possibility.

Still, I'm with Luke. Give me a Samba de Amigo sequel before this! Michael McWhertor

No new NiGHTS from Yuji Naka [CVG]

Here, a Japanese gamer has assembled his collection of gaming great's signatures for all to see (gallery after the jump). Included are the likes of Mario maker Shigeru Miyamoto, Sonic creator Yuji Naka, Hudson's human mascot Takahashi Meijin, Namco founder Masaya Nakamura and Nintendo's resident odd-ball Benimaru Itoh!

While I am indifferent to the whole autograph thing, Weekend Editor Mike McWhertor is not. He loves collecting signatures. During E3, we actually had to take pens, pencils and crayons away from the boy to prevent him from stalking. Yet, that proved futile. In a fit of rage, Crecente rubbed the Nintendo Reggie signature right off Mike's DS, which led to shouting, crying and the requisite group hug. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [GK.Cool]