To be on Top

To be on Top is a music themed action game where the player's aim is to create a song that reaches the top ten of the charts. The game starts out on a street where the player has direct control over a character from a side view perspective. Along the street are various locations (homes, a disco, a recording studio and a TV station) that can be visited. The buildings can not however be entered in any order as some require specific qualifications and if those are not fulfilled the player might lose the game. The game can also be lost by bumping into one of the strange characters and vehicles that move across the street.

To create the song the player first has to collect inspiration. This is done through a mini game played on a TV screen and there are four different kinds of inspiration that can be collected: bass lines, accompaniments, melodies and sequences. The mini game involve moving a crosshair across and clicking on the inspirations as they move around the screen. After that a keyboard is used to put the song together. This is done by choosing and combining the different inspirations. Once the song has been composed a synthesizer is used to create a demo tape which is then brought to the studio where one of 16 drum sequences can be added to the song. If the song reaches a top three position on the charts the player will get an invitation to the TV studio. There the player will perform the song on stage and has to get as many viewers as possible.