Hidden Gems of the App Store: Cytus - $1.99

Hidden Gems aims to bring you apps on the App Store that are often overlooked, but provide more than their money's worth when you dive into them.

To me, games are like art. There are different categories of art, such as sculptures, paintings, murals, etc., each with their own unique feel and style. Likewise, games have their own groups: role playing games, action games, rhythm games, and so on. Each game in the group is bound to share some similarities; after all, you can't make a role playing game without involving some form of role play. However, what attracts me as a person to an individual work of art or game is not how well can they master the core fundamentals of their group, but how creative they can get while still maintaining the qualities of their category at heart.

This is a painting.                                           This is also a painting.

That is why when I stumbled upon a game called Cytus, I was instantly hooked. As a rhythm game, the basic premise of the genre is for the user to tap the screen in accordance to a beat or song. However, Cytus was unlike any rhythm game I had seen before. Rather than being your run of the mill music game where you pick a song and tap stationary buttons to the beat, Cytus changes things up by implementing an exciting new system.

It's hard to explain it in words, but the basic gist of the game is tapping the on screen circles when the moving line passes over them. But it gets trickier than that, as the buttons constantly change positions every time. With the introduction of 'hold' notes, where you hold the circle until the line passes the end of the line and 'slide' notes, where you slide your finger along the line of circles in sync with the moving line, the game gets that much more complicated.. and fun. This is what keeps me coming back to this game every time, not because it's easy and I can always do well, but because it keeps challenging me every step of the way.

Cytus also does an amazing job of making you feel as if you're a part of the music itself. Every circle is placed specifically to match with the notes in the song, which makes it feel as if you are physically playing the song itself on something that resembles a wacky piano. However, the one drawback that Cytus has is that it doesn't have tha big of a variety of music to select from. If you're not a fan of pop, jazz, trance, drum & bass, or the occasional theme song, then you may not like the music selection of Cytus.

Another thing that struck me right away when I first started playing this game is the art style. I think it's safe to say that Cytus is not like art, but Cytus in and of itself IS art. From the loading screen to the song backgrounds to the little effects the game makes when you hit a circle, I could simply stare at Cytus all day long and feel fulfilled.

The title screen.

All in all, Cytus remains one of my most favorite games on my iPhone. I'd say its asking price of $1.99 is a bargain considering the quality of gameplay and art you get.