Review: Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)

The Guitar Hero games on consoles have always been hit, both critically and commercially. Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS was a little different. Some reviewers loved it, some didn't like it very much, but nevertheless it sold over 300,000 units in the first week. In my opinion, it's a decent start for the franchise in it's transition to handhelds.

First, let's talk about the hardware. Guitar Hero: On Tour comes with the Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral which plugs into the DS' GBA slot. It also comes with a cool guitar pick-shaped stylus which fits into a convenient slot on the Grip. I don't know if they still come with this, but when I got my copy of the game (I got it within the first week it was released), it came with a really cool Guitar Hero Collectible Harmonica. Seriously.

I hear a lot of people get cramps in their hands from the Grip, but I never had that problem. My problem was that my wrist started to get stiff after a while, but that's to be expected I guess. Another problem that a lot of people (including me) have is that, especially in the faster songs, everything can get too hectic and the Grip can slide out of the GBA slot, thus ending the game and forcing you to reboot your DS. It doesn't happen too often, but it happens more than it should. The last major control problem is on the faster songs when you have to strum a ton of notes really fast, the touch screen can be quite unresponsive.

The first thing you'll notice about the Grip is that it only has 4 buttons, as opposed to the regular 5 buttons on the console versions. This may sound like a bad thing, but take it from me, 4 buttons is plenty. If there were 5 buttons, not only would you be straining your had to reach all of them (either that or the buttons would have to be smaller, and they're already hard enough to hit as it is), but it would just be chaotic.

Now, for the software. This definitely feels like a Guitar Hero game. It may not always feel responsive and the Grip may be a little different than what most people are used to, but the gameplay is totally Guitar Hero, and it is a mobile version worthy of the Guitar Hero name.

The Set List in On Tour isn't quite as strong as it could be, though. There are only 26 songs total (only one of those is an unlockable song), and several of the songs are a little unorthodox by typical Guitar Hero standards (This Love by Maroon 5 and Stray Cat Strut by Stray Cats stand out a little), but there are some decent songs in there. All songs, however are brought down a notch by bad audio quality. Maybe the developers ran out of room on the DS card and had to compress everything, I don't know. I just know that the audio quality could have been a lot better.

As you know if you've played any other Guitar Hero games, to initiate Star Power, you either hit Select on the Guitar, or just tilt the neck up. Since neither the DS nor the Grip has an accelerometer and it would be near impossible to hit Select in the middle of a song, the developers decided to remedy this by forcing you to blow (or you can do what it says to do in the tutorial and yell "ROCK OUT!") into the microphone. This is both awkward and occasionally ineffective.

On Tour also has a few characters returning from previous GH games, and a couple of new characters, too. The game also features Local Mulitplayer, but seeing as I never go anywhere and know no-one, I have yet to test this.

So, Guitar Hero: On Tour is not a perfect game. Far from it. It's not a terrible game, but it definitely could have been better. It is no Guitar Hero III replacement, but it's not a bad mobile version, as long as it's not played for too long at a time (for both your wrist and/or hands, and your sanity), and it get a little repetitive. 3 out of 5.

Nintendo DSi Offically Announced

Yeah, the rumors from last week were true. Today in Japan, Nintendo officially announced the Nintendo DSi, a revamped version of the DSLite, but without a GBA slot. The DSi will feature a larger 3.25 inch screen, two cameras that boast a resolution of 640x480 pixels (VGA) each, and unspecified audio enhancements, according to Wired. In addition to a new SD card slot, the DSi will feature built-in memory for the storage of games and pictures.

The DSi will have a built-in web browser, which can be used to access the DSWare Store, where gamers can download games to their SD card, with Nintendo Points (formerly Wii Points), where games can be bought for free, 200 Points, 500 Points, or 800 Points. In addition, anyone who accesses the DSWare Store before March 2010 will receive 1000 Points (worth $10 USD) free.

The DSi will be available for purchase on November 1st in Japan in both white and matte black colors for 18,900 Yen (about $180 USD), and sometime in Spring 2009 for the US.


Man, no GBA slot? Does that mean I can't play Guitar Hero: On Tour?

Updates on the New DS and Gang Garrison 2

Nintendo US and JP: No comment.

I've found a great "new" game called Gang Garrison 2. It's actually a parody of what Team Fortress 2 would've been like in 1982 (it's developed by Faucet(VALVe), and when you load it, it loads through Smoke (Steam)), and it's almost as fun as the 2007 game. Read more about this "demake" here, and download it here (the latest version as of now is "gg2b20.zip").

New Nintendo DS?

I just found out Nintendo will be coming out with a new version of the DS with, and I quote, "a camera, music playback and more modernized features, it will come to market in Japan this year at a price not far above the current model.", and the article goes on to say that it will be "under 20,000 yen" ($189 USD).

[Original article]