Be an iPod Hero with Phase

The newly released game for the Apple iPod, Phase, is a pretty easy sell. It's like Guitar Hero. But it's on your iPod. And you can use your own music to create the game levels. And it's only $4.99. Seriously, what more do you need?

I'm an easy sell (and a fan of Harmonix's rhythm games since way back in the days of FreQuency), so I was on this like a kitty on tuna. Phase might seem a little simple to those addicted to a certain kind of heroics, but the format maps surprisingly well to the iPod's controls. Notes appear on three sliding tracks, and are triggered at the right beat by pressing the left, center, or right buttons on the iPod's click wheel. Songs also occasionally require a little bit of spinning action around the wheel to slide from one note to the next. Hitting or missing the notes doesn't add or subtract to the musical composition of the track, but getting it right does make a satisfying little "ting!" sound.

Phase comes with its own soundtrack to fill out a few levels, featuring a mix of thumpy-bumpy electronic stuff (such as Harmonix favorite Freezepop) and some head-banging guitar stuff, but the real juice here is the ability to turn songs from your own music collection into thumb-cramping levels. I dumped in a few of my favorite tracks into the Phase Tracks playlist in iTunes, and was pleasantly surprised by how good the game levels turned out. Songs with a lot of heavy beats or general rock-your-face-offitude work the best, but you can get an oddly satisfying game experience by loading up some folk music. Each track has three difficulty levels; crank it up to hard, and even your Kenny Chesney songs can become brutal.

Phase is simple, but beautiful. It's a great way to drain your iPod's battery down to nothing while seeing your hands become reshaped into deformed claws. The game requires iTunes 7.5, and runs on the iPod nano (video), iPod classic, and the fifth generation iPod with video. It's available through the iTunes Music Store for $4.99.