Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for iPhone and iPad is Confirmed

Square Enix has today revealed that the delightful rhythmic tribute to its famous Final Fantasy series' music will get a worldwide launch with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for iPhone and iPad devices.

The musical tap-a-thon garnered a lot of praise from reviewers, including scoring a well-deserved 9/10 here at Cubed3. But Square Enix has made porting successful handheld games to iOS systems somewhat of a trend recently, with the Nintendo DS versions of Final Fantasy III and IV, in particular, making the move over, so this comes as little of a surprise.

What it does mean, however, is that even more players will now be able to sample the delights of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, albeit in micro-transaction form. The iOS version of the game is free to download but uses in-app purchasing (IAP) to offer song and character content to players. Only two songs are initially available for free right off the bat: FFVII's One-Winged Angel and FFX's Zanarkand; whilst the thirteen main characters of the series are all there. All other songs and characters must be bought for a small fee.

Individual songs cost $0.99; song bundles for each main series game cost $2.99; and new characters cost $1.99 each.

Square Enix has even added in songs and characters that weren't in the Nintendo 3DS version. Some new songs include: FF Tactics' Antipyretic, FFX-2's KUON: Memory of Waves and Light, FF Crystal Chronicles' Sound of the Wind, and FFVII Advent Children's ~Advent: One-Winged Angel~. New characters up for purchase include: Celes, Tifa, Rinoa, Garnet, Auron, Balthier, Hope, Ramza and Serah.

For the full list of songs and characters in English, visit the official website.

Quest Medley is a new mode which players can select, whereby they play different field and battle music stages based on the songs they have purchased so far, facing varying levels of difficulty and gaining new rewards each time they play.

Additionally, along with the original difficulty options of the 3DS version, Theathrythm Final Fantasy for iOS has new "Illusive Scores" which provide arrangements of regular scores with varying difficulties.

Furthermore, an exciting "Compose Scores" mode has been added to allow players to create their own original songs and upload them to share with the world. Players can download other users' scores and use Twitter to announce when they have created new songs and how they have performed in them. Square Enix hints that the developers and creators of the original scores may upload their own new versions for the game, too.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for iOS devices is being rolled out worldwide today, with New Zealand one of the first countries to receive it. Expect it later today in your region.

Square Enix has released a launch trailer for the game, which you can watch below.