Rhythm games have come a long way since PaRappa the Rapper, but we still remember that little fellow with fondness because of his game's unique visual style and quirky story. Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove has many of these same qualities, beginning with the game's premise. After a little girl named Gabrielle sneezes her soul out of her body, she has to travel to Monster Town and enlist the aid of various creatures of the night, to help her regain her soul. Before the monsters will offer their assistance, they expect that Gabrielle will learn to dance with them, and so the story begins...

There's a Halloween look-and-feel to Gabrielle's Ghostly Groove, but in a family-friendly way. The bulk of the gameplay is about rhythm, and you'll earn points along the way to unlock new challenges and outfits. All the action happens on the touchscreen, with an interesting system that combines timed taps and tracing figures as they appear. We prefer a touchscreen-only style over the combinations of left/right, up/down presses that we've seen in the past.

This game is all about Gabrielle following the lead set by her new monster friends, and it was quite challenging once we got our hands on it. There is a lot of replay value promised in redoing levels at higher levels of difficulty, and earning points to unlock special content, including customization and outfits for your character. We didn't get a strong read on the game's music, but that will be a big part of what makes it endearing. At least on the basis of what we saw in the game's visuals and its mechanics, we can say that we're looking forward to helping Gabrielle out when Ghostly Groove releases in the fourth quarter of this year.