If you're a fan of rhythm games then it's hard not to have come across Tapulous and their Tap Tap Revenge series. However, the company has since decided to spread its wings and attempt something new and now players can try their side-project Riddim Ribbon without needing to listen to The Black Eyed Peas.

Much like Tapulous' other basic packs this is a free title packaged with a few songs and access to a store with song packs to add to your collection. In this title you'll be presented with a wide track, a ball and a 'ribbon' to ride (see, now the name makes sense!). Tilting left or right will shift your ball accordingly, though the default sensitivity can be difficult to manage and holding on a tilt or swapping back and forth quickly doesn't feel smooth as you constantly overshoot the mark. Collecting orbs on the ribbon will boost your score, though major bonuses can be awarded by matching three colored orbs together on a bar at the bottom of the screen that you can manipulate by tapping left and right.

Balancing the ability to tilt and tap in multiple directions gets frantic on the hard difficulty and needing to jump over obstacles without springboards makes this harder still. However all of this feels moot as swinging back and forth feels artificial and at times has little to do with the song other than mimicking a part of the beat. This may explain the need for so many of the songs to be remixes instead of originals, which is another blow to those after a session with a tune they enjoy.

Riddim Ribbon is an uncomfortable step out from Tapulous' now long established Revenge series, but despite its flaws it's good to see the company trying something new and hopefully updates and a better selection of songs helps to smooth things out.