Louie Lucha review
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Louie Lucha review

Our Review by Campbell Bird on May 5th, 2017
Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: TAPPED OUT
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This tile tapper is stylish, but otherwise pretty rote.

Developer: Fodder Pop

Price: Free
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone SE

Graphics/Sound Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarblankstarblankstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Louie Lucha is essentially a luchador-themed version of Piano Tiles (Don't Tap the White Tile). It's a simple arcade game presented with a beautiful and fun aesthetic, but it's little more than that.

Tile tapout

In Louie Lucha, you are a luchador that “wrestles” against their opponents by tapping on tiles on the bottom of the screen as they scroll past. Tapping the right tiles accurately allows you to stay in the fight, while missing tiles or tapping on bad “skull” tiles reduces your life meter and brings you closer to losing.

Louie Lucha sports two modes, both of which are only slight variations on basic tile tapping. The first is the Career Mode, which is a level-based mode where you fight one opponent at a time and work to unlock newer and harder foes. The second mode, called Endless Mode, tests how quickly and accurately you can hit tiles against an endless wave of enemies. The gameplay is very similar across both of these modes, but the Endless Mode penalizes missed taps with an instant game over and is (obviously) endless.

Viva la visuals

Louie Lucha seems to be directly inspired by Piano Tiles, but you wouldn't necessarily know that by looking at the games side-by-side. Louie Lucha has a wonderfully colorful presentation and a funny cast of characters that make looking at the game a pure delight.

If you ever get bored of your own wrestler's avatar, you can also earn coins to unlock new wrestlers. There are no particular advantages to unlocking new wrestlers except for the fact that they all look different and cool. To unlock these wrestlers, you need to earn coins from winning matches and optionally watching ads to open chests with keys you find. You can also opt to pay $0.99 to get rid of all of the game's ads.

Rhythmless wrestling

As cool as Louie Lucha looks, one thing about it really bothers me. The tapping lanes of the game are marked with guitar strings, as if tapping tiles should be akin to playing a guitar or playing a rhythm game. Unfortunately though, Louie Lucha is in no way, shape, or form a rhythm game.

It's a real shame too, because Louie Lucha has some good music and seems built to be a rhythm game rather than what it is. It feels weird knocking a game for not being something it isn't, but when something looks like a rhythm game and instead is a simple tile tapper, it's a bit disappointing.

The bottom line

It's hard to say if Louie Lucha would be a better game if it were a rhythm game, but it's clear that what is there is mostly flash and little substance. If you're looking for a game to coincide with Cinco de Mayo, Louie Lucha is a fine looking time waster for that. Beyond that though, there's just not enough to it to feel like a game you'll want to keep on your phone.

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