Guitar Hero is a rhythm game that will be familiar to everyone reading this review. Using a toy guitar controller, press buttons representing guitar frets using the fingers of one hand, and strum with the other in time with the song, simulating the playing of a real guitar. It is a phenomenon that has proved highly successfully worldwide. Guitar Hero: On Tour brings the series to a portable platform for the first time, and as the name suggests, allows wannabe guitar heroes to take their band on the road – “on tour”.

If you’ve seen or read about Guitar Hero: On Tour, you’ll have seen the hardware attachment that adds fret buttons to your Nintendo DS. It is a COOL peripheral, and its quality might even lead you to think it was an official accessory made by Nintendo. The “Guitar Grip” plugs into the GameBoy Advance cartridge slot, while a DS game card plugs into the usual slot. A built-in velcro strap holds your DS firmly in the palm of one hand in the vertical “open book” orientation, with your fingers resting on the fret buttons. A “Guitar Pick” stylus is then used for strumming notes, and conveniently snaps in for onboard storage on the Guitar Grip itself. The package includes the usual stickers for customising your Guitar Grip, as well as an adaptor to allow the grip to be used on the original DS console (screwdriver and some assembly required). I did found it a little disappointing that a bulky peripheral destined to be taken on road trips did not come with a case to carry it in.

Chances are that you have played some Guitar Hero before, if only on an instore demonstration setup. So you already know how Guitar Hero: On Tour works. Notes scroll down the screen and it’s all about hitting the correct fret button(s) as you strum in time with the song. Notable differences for the DS game are the absence of a 5^th fret (only 4 buttons could fit within the width of a GBA cartridge), and the absence of a mechanical strum bar. Instead, the Guitar Pick is used to play notes by literally “strumming” on the strings of a guitar displayed on the DS touchscreen. The “whammy” aftertouch is applied by moving the pick stylus side to side across the screen after hitting a note. The “note highway” is displayed on the left screen for a right-handed guitarist, but the screens can be flipped so that left-handed guitarists are not left out.

Star power is accumulated by playing a highlighted series of notes correctly, and doubles the score multiplier for a short period of time. On the DS it is activated by yelling at the DS microphone. The official instructions have you yelling “Rock On!”, but “Objection!” or any other forceful shout does the job just as beautifully. For the shy folk among you, the alternative method to activate star power is to press on the D-pad or one of the DS face buttons.

Guitar Hero: On Tour has decent graphics, and it plays as well as the rest of the games in the series. Registering of the notes strummed is accurate on the touchscreen, and the fret buttons on the Guitar Grip are responsive. Game modes are similar to previous games. The main Career mode has you starting out by playing a set in front of a small crowd, and then moving through progressively larger venues as your band gains in popularity.

Veterans of the series will be pleased that the random guitar battles that Guitar Hero III introduced are now gone – the main campaign is now uninterrupted. Guitar duels are now fought out in their very own game mode, which mirrors the main mode in terms of format. The songs and venues are the same, but this time you are battling with another solo guitarist. Duels are now fought out on points, so they won’t end early like they did in Guitar Hero III. Score more points by the end of the song to advance.

Star power in duels is replaced by power-up items which you can send the way of your opponent to throw them off. One of the more interesting power-up switches the two screens so that the note highway appears on the touchscreen, while your guitar appears on the “top screen”. Another sends a mad groupie onto your stage to present a T-shirt or other item for you to sign – use the guitar pick stylus to write an autograph before you can continue. Most of the power-ups are fun, but one of them definitely isn’t – it sends a faulty pyrotechnic to set your guitar alight, and needs you to “blow out the flames” by blowing into the DS microphone. Annoying.

There are a total of 25 tracks in the game, from a variety of artists, so “completing” the game is a matter of successfully playing through the game’s soundtrack twice. As with previous games, your opinion of the game may depend on your opinion of the tracklist. Replay value comes in the form of the game’s four difficulty modes. Earning in-game currency allows you to buy new guitars, guitar finishes, and outfits. Aside from the single player modes, there is a freeplay mode, and a practice mode. Practice allows you to rehearse a complete song or any portion of the song, but many will be annoyed by the removal of the option to slow the speed down to allow players to learn difficult song sections. Multiplayer is available but each player requires their own copy of the game (and of course, Guitar Grip). Players can battle in duels or play co-op.

To give Guitar Hero: On Tour a true, real-life conditions test, I took it “on tour” on a bus ride home one night. Guitar Hero definitely attracts the women – the two female bus passengers couldn’t take their eyes off me as I rocked it out on bus number 42. With my headphones on (of course), I found it easy enough to follow the timing of the songs despite the bus driver’s mad attempts to throw me off my rhythm. I resisted the temptation to yell out “Rock On!” to the other passengers, but couldn’t remain discreet when my guitar caught fire and I need to blow out the flames. I played so well that the crowd demanded an encore, and this got to my head a little – I almost missed my stop being so engrossed in my virtual band tour.

Guitar Hero: On Tour is an enjoyable Guitar Hero experience, and captures the excellent gameplay of the rest of the series. This is the only Guitar Hero game that you can play in the back seat of a bus, car or train, and most of the negative aspects of the game are due solely to the limitations imposed in having to accommodate the portable nature of the game. Experts will miss the 5^th guitar fret, but us mere mortals with only 4 fingers and thumb will find it more than a challenge. The guitar grip is cool, but it’s definitely not comfortable. Cramps will develop if you play it for long periods of time, but most handheld gamers play in short bursts anyway.

Good points: Guitar Heroes can now go on the road, one of the coolest DS peripherals ever, and captures the feel and great gameplay of the series.

Bad points: Guitar grip uncomfortable and causes cramps after even modest gaming sessions, maximum game volume may not be to the deaf-inducing levels some would have liked, loss of slow-motion practice option.

Bottom-line: The game is an excellent buy for Guitar Hero fans who want to complement their games with a portable version. However anyone new to the series will not want to rely on this as their only Guitar Hero game, given the problems likely to be experienced with cramps.

Tags: Games

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 pm and is filed under DS, Gadgets, Games, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.