Cross x Beats review: maybe Capcom should stick to robots and fighters

Capcom may be known for robots, monsters, and fighting, but with the iOS release of Cross x Beats earlier this month, the company is hoping to add the rhythm genre to that list. Being Capcom’s first attempt at a rhythm game, I was intrigued by Cross x Beats. However, after giving the game an extraordinary amount of time and getting very little actual play time, I’m hoping Capcom shifts back to the robots.

As you would expect from any iOS rhythm game, Cross x Beats has you tapping, flicking, and holding to the beat of the music. This is a simple gameplay mechanic that Cross x Beats does quite well. When you see two arrows converging at a point you tap. If you see four yellow arrows coming together, you tap and hold. If there is a directional arrow at the converging point, you tap and flick in that direction. Simple enough, but once you get going and the arrows come flying in from all directions, Cross x Beats gets tough.

What usually makes or breaks any rhythm game for me is its music, and Cross x Beats is, well…just OK. The music featured here is typically fast-paced and does seem to fit the feel of a rhythm game, but there are no breakout songs that make me want to play the game. Cross x Beats does feature the new single from Glay, which is absolutely fantastic, but not enough to hold my interest for long.

To make matters worse, even when I found a song I enjoyed, the limited plays Capcom offers for free really keeps you from playing more than 2-3 times a day. As Cross x Beats is a free game, it’s understandable that Capcom limits the number of plays you get. Of course you can go to the in-app store and buy more, but seriously…who does that?

It takes 15 minutes to get a ticket, and each song costs at least 5 tickets to play. That means if you are out of tickets, you have to wait an hour and 15 minutes just to play a song. That’s too long, for too little of a reward. If there would have had a better monetization strategy, I might have been able to recommend the game, but as it is Capcom is trying too hard to make money and the game suffers.

Cross x Beats is not a terrible game. In fact, when you do get to play, it is actually kind of fun. But it lacks originality, interesting music, and simply takes too long between plays. I just can’t recommend this game when there are so many other fantastic rhythm games already out there.

If you are still interested in Cross x Beats, head on over to the Apple Store and pick it up. The game is currently only available in the Japanese Apple Store, but if you are ok with switching your region and fumbling through a quick Japanese tutorial, you should be able to play it even without understanding the language.