Wow. I have been waiting for Rock Band to hit the App Store for a long time - here are my first thoughts on the game. If you find this review helpful, ***please vote it helpful***. As a $9.99 app (in the US) the quality and fun bar has to be high, particularly given the platform favorite, Tap Tap Revenge is sitting at #1 in the charts and costs a mere 99 cents. So lets start with the in-game. Rock Band sports a look and feel that fans of the console game will recognize - not a lot of innovation here. The graphics are much less compelling and 3D than the console version, if anything they seem to be emulating the clean look of Tap Tap Revenge. There were two things that surprised me a lot. First, the graphics were pretty jerky, particularly on the hard levels where there were a lot of notes on the screen. Second, the game mechanic itself is plain weird. Just like DDR 12 months ago, it looks like the makers of Rock Band haven't realized that this is touch device ... so why not just hit the notes with your fingers? Its mystifying that they draw touch zones BELOW the bar across which the notes pass. It makes it feel like the game was ported to the platform, without making a game that takes advantage of the platform features (as Tap Tap Revenge 3 does). This is further supported by the "vocals" instrument which, inexplicitely, doesn't actually use the microphone. The third thing I noticed is that the extreme tracks on the games are much less of a challenge than Guitar Hero (console) or Tap Tap Revenge tracks - so if you are musically inclined, you'll get more play time out of those other games. Lets go on to world tour (career) mode. The first thing you will notice is that you don't get to set up your band as you do on the console - in fact you just inhereit a generic rock band. This turns the career experience into a basic challenge of unlocking songs ... I would have expected more from Rock Band. The online store is what has everyone excited .. the ability to download additional songs inside the game. Wow, this was pretty bare - only five double packs to downloads. I guess we can expect more in the coming months, but Tap Tap Revenge wins out here launching with something like 50 song packs each with their own theme that completely customizes the game experience for the band whose music you are listening to. The last thing is what is missing? Here I noticed a few things. No real social features, except some spammy "tell your friends" through Facebook, no chat, no avatars, no friending, no direct messaging or achievements you can share with your friends. Call me spoilt, but for the last year I have gotten used to these features on Tap Tap Revenge. So I guess after being a huge Rock Band fan on my Playstation, I feel myself disappointed to spend ten bucks on a game really doesnt deliver as much as the 99 cent Tap Tap Revenge 3 does. Today Tap Tap Revenge grows up, because they just proved that they can do a quality release that stands up against the big console boys. Keep your money, and pick up a copy of Tap Tap Revenge 3 instead.

Hmmm. Where to start? First I am a huge rockband fan. I mean, I have played literally days and days on rockband on my x-box. For the last twelve months i have been living off tap tap revenge, a fun game that is not unlike rockband but also has dance and hiphop music, is cheaper and more social (most of my friends hang out there, because of its cool chat system). But this is rockband, right? So it has to be better, right? Especially at ten dollars. By the way, wouldn't it be good if, after paying $150 for a rockband kit, they could just give me the app for free. But no .. another $10 thank you very much. So what do you get for your money (that could buy 10 other apps on your ipod). Well, the game is basically a watered-down version of the xbox game. The game play is much the same ... you have to hit notes as they come down the screen. The timing of the music is good, although the whole screen looks a little too grey and depressing. Its also missing extreme levels and, given i generally only play hard and extreme on my xbox, i feel like i am going to run out of music pretty quickly. There are some cool features - but I couldnt get them to actually work. Online multiplayer was something I was really looking forward to. Unfortunately, I couldnt get it working .... twice it had me waiting forever to connect and twice it crashed completely. I just checked online and Twitter and it looks like others are having the same problem. The music included in the application was okay .. but missing some big hits like Metallica and Linkn Park. For ten dollars I'd like to be able to choose what music I would get. The world tour mode allows you to tour around the world with your band and unlock songs as you visit venues. This was my favorite feature on the xbox, but here you cannot give your band a cool name or dress them up in the store. Finally, you can download more music for one dollar each in the online music store, but the selection isn't great. Social distortion, Devo, Lenny Kravitz - what a strange collection of music? I'd love to be able to test the bluetooth feature as well, but AT SUCH A HIGH PRICE I CANT RECOMMEND YOU BUY IT AND I WONT RECOMMEND IT TO MY FRIENDS. So no bluetooth gameplay for me. At the end of the day, I realize I have been happy in Tap Tap Revenge .. and now I know why! It comes with over 100 songs, Rockband only has 20 included. It comes with 50 different song packages versus 5 in Rockband. It has extreme songs, Rockband does not. You can friend and chat with people, in Rockband you can't. It doesnt crash, Rockband does. And finally it costs one dollar versus ten dollars for Rockband. Save your money folks and vote this review helpful if you think it was. Thx.

First off, Rockband on the iPod is scary good. I feel like I'm playing it on the console. Graphics are really nice, gameplay is fun and features are in good amount. However, there are some. Adjustments/updates that would make the gaming experience flawless. 1. Please create an Overdrive button rather then using shake to activate because it's just Doesnt work clean enough. I find having to shake for overdrive makes me mess up in the game and hence making me lose points which really weakens the purpose of overdrive. 2. The button spacing is good but not great. Playing chords that are close together is doable but is prone to messups. this could be fixed by adding a landscape mode. In fact, if landscape mode was added, the shake to overdrive would be easier and much more useable. 3. Song selection. I won't write a lot i'm just going to say more songs in the Music store would be really appreciated. (preferrably more classic rock and less "we got the beat" and 30 seconds to mars" I'm liking the lynard skynard, Blondie, and Smashing pumpkins tracks. 4. When you finish a song, it would be nice to see your old score along with your new one. 5. A more streamlined menu system would make navigating much less pedestrian. A "new song" button every where would be nice. If those things are added this will be a 5 star game. I would undoubtly recommend this to any iPhone/touch user. Definetly worth the price. UPDATE: I'm not going to make this sound like I'm whining, however, the update that said it was to fix the frame rate made it worse for me. Before updating it was perfect. No lag, and it looked clean. Now, it looks very blocky; the way the notes cone down. also, there is an overdrive configurer in the extras menu but it has no explanation to what it does. More sensisitive when place at full bars or more stiff? Anyways, it's nothing game breaking but i wish it would revert to the old settings. Also music store needs tracks. Lots. Good game still.

Being a huge Rock Band fanatic, I have done both Rock Bands, Unplugged, and the Beatles and I'm happy to say that the iPhone version carries the Harmonix signature of quality to this platform. The gameplay is very faithful to RB2, including the great setlists, the spoton gameplay, and the DLC is probably the best thing of all. 99 cents for a duo pack is the cheapest DLC RB has ever offered. The game is very engaging as always, and the hard difficulty will have your thumbs flying with glee. It is a great buy and I'll cut this review short now to get back to it. The only downside so far is the cramped portrait style but it is still more comfortable than the PSP. Enjoy!

You should be allowed to hear a sample of the songs before purchasing them

Exective summary: It's ok. Not great, not terrible. You probably have something better to spend $10 on. I'd rank it just above Guitar Rock Tour 2, way better than Beatrider, and not nearly as awesome as Tap Tap (in both bang for your buck, and fun-ness).

Best game ever for iPhone. The music quality is amazing. The game takes a little to get used to but seems to respond well. Having rock band everywhere you go is the balls.

So, I have been so excited for the launch of this game but I was worried that they wouldn't be able to repeat the original experience. Well, they didn't. it's not nearly as fun and the songs that come with it are just ok. PLUS it's 9.99! what a rip off. I can get Tap Tap Revenge 3 for .99 and it comes with over 130 FREE Songs.

This game is great!! 2 thumps up!! Only played 5 songs but it's just like the xbox version. Hours of playing ahead me.

Just needs to have a harder mode, for some players hard is just not hard enough. Please add expert, or some other mode that is a bit more challenging. Aside from that , it's the only thing stoping this game from being a 5 star game imo.

Great setlist, multiplayer, and upcoming DLC, this blows TTR3 out of the water. I do agree that a landscape mode would be great, there isn't very much room for your fingers currently.

Every EA game gets better and we are lucky to have them on app store. RB is quite full featured and true to the console version in most ways. Wish it had more songs, but .99 for two songs is a good good deal. Mulitplayer. Play all instruments. This is a very, very good game. Well done.

Worth every penny. Like others said, more song opportunities and landscape mode would be appreciated

Rock band for the iPhone is intuitive, amusing, and comes with a decent initial playlist. But it's far too easy for even the casual music gamer. On your first try, you'll probably be able to finish any instrument on Cherub Rock, the game's hardest song. That's not the kind of curve you'd like from a $10 iPhone game; many $.99 games have as many hours or more of challenging gameplay. This is a great intro for people who've never played music games, but it will probably bore anyone who already loves them.

I know a lot of people are going to be comparing this to the $.99 version of Tap Tap Revolution or whatever its called now. That's a fair comparison, but after playing both, it's easy to see that even at the $9.99 price point, you are still getting much more value and much better experience with the Rock Band app. Tap Tap offers single player action on a bunch of songs from artists I've never heard of, with the exception of a few covers and some one-hit wonders. If you are familiar with the Rock Band franchise, you will find the same dedication to a quality rhythm gaming music experience developed for the iPhone/iPod Touch devices. The app has the option to play one of four different instruments over 20 different songs by the original artists. The ability to sync with Facebook also lets you play with friends, post high scores, and find new people to play with, and works brilliantly. Haven't had a chance to test out the Bluetooth multiplayer yet, but I will soon! Some reviews are complaining of crashes, but I have had no issues whatsoever, and I have played this already for a few hours (although I have had issues with Tap Tap crashing in the past). So, yeah, if you are looking for a cheap-o time wasting app, go with Tap Tap. But if you are a true fan of the rhythm gaming genre, DEFINITELY purchase this!

Tapulous has the market on iPhone rhythm games. .99 cents is tough to beat. But with price comes quality. Not only is rock band a tighter game, but working with MTV will be able to provide better artists. Keep in mind your getting 20 songs with 4 note charts each. That's 80 charts to beat. Factor in the additional 10 Dlc and were looking at 120 note charts. 40 extra for 5 bucks. Great deal. Rock band is worth the price tag. Go for it. Now here are the cons. First is the 4 note tabs. Great challenge. Problem is in execution. You have to use your thumbs. Can't use 2 fingers. Reason? You gotta be on point. There's not enough space for these buttons. This is bad news. Gotta give us a landscape mode, or rethink the design. I want to wait til the notes cross where I tap. This isn't a console. Im told to touch a spot under the note line. This screws up my timing The window for execution is strict and the graphics get jerky. This is bad as it messes your rhythm up. I suspect with all the notes on screen that it suffers from ttr 1's problem of the notes unsyncing. The problems that I have with rock band for the iPhone are purely technical. These are the same problems ttr had until they updated ttr2 a little after that launch. That was like a year and change after the fact. Do I expect harmonixs to take that long? Nope. Just give it time. Great foundation built with a very ambitious project

Slick. All we need is to customize the character.

Awesome

What a great representation of a Harmonix game!! It may seem a little costly, but this may be one of the most replayable games on the platform! If you have ever played Frequency or Amplitude, it plays a lot like those. Son let the price scare you, download now!

Great game Kinda like the PSP one but $20 cheaper!

Right after i got it i couldnt put it down!!!!! Almost exactly like the console version! So So Great it just touch!!!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!!!!

Wow, was quite surprised, when I saw there's the update. Quite look- lags fixed but still many things to repair/add. Lags really have disappeared- sometimes games slows, but it's not so noisy like lags. Anyway, there's still Many things to do- add horizontal mode (and maybe new level, expert?), because playing vertically is really hard and for some of players unbelievable to do ("buttons" are to close). Also, your great shop is empty- the same amount of songs from the first the day in the app store? Weird and you won't get our money. And loadings. I have iPod touch 2g and it takes really too long. Downloading songs from the store too, keep your attention when you'll be makin' the a new update... Cause there are still a lot of things to do. Fix every bug, add new free and paid songs to the store, and try to optimize things that are now. Then your game will be the best choice for music fan.

This game looks awesome. Plays good too. This game is way better than tap tap. Get it now.

Really work you can get all games on one :)

Awesomeness!!!