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Vicarious Visions is tasked with bringing Guitar Hero to the Nintendo DS and largely succeeds.
As you know, Guitar Hero: On Tour includes the game (on a standard DS cartridge), as well as an additional device that goes into the GBA slot. The fret bar device sports four familiar looking buttons and acts like the buttons on the guitar peripherals bundled with the console versions of Guitar Hero. The actual guitars usually have five buttons but the decision to include four here is wise considering that you don’t want to be moving your fingers around while holding the DS. The actual fret bar is fairly comfortable to use, although it is possible to get hand cramps after extended sessions.
As expected, the gameplay formula of On Tour is similar to previous Guitar Hero games. You’ll see notes going down the screen, which you’ll have to hit in order to get a bonus multiplayer to score more points. You hold the buttons on the included device and strum by using the touch screen on the Nintendo DS. You can strum up and down, without having to lift up the stylus, which is very useful for faster paced songs. Familiar bits like Star Power are found in the game. The end result is that Vicarious Visions managed to translate the Guitar Hero formula remarkably well to the handheld.
Guitar Hero: On Tour includes 25 songs, which sound quite well on the Nintendo DS’s speaker, although using headphones is probably your best bet. There is some compression—and the tracklist is smaller than the average Guitar Hero title—but the feat is commendable nonetheless. The track list is a bit more pop-friendly than the series is known for including songs like Blink 182’s “All The Small Things,” and Maroon 5’s “This Love” as well as softer songs like Daughtry’s “All I Want” and Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” but there are some more typical rock songs like KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Nite” and Nirvana’s “Breed.” All in all it’s a good soundtrack, particularly for a more casually focused title. In terms of difficulty, game doesn’t have the insane difficulty level of recent Guitar Hero titles but playing on Hard or Expert is still quite a challenge.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Guitar Hero title without multiplayer. On this front, On Tour delivers by including cooperative, competitive and battle multiplayer modes over local wireless multiplayer. Online multiplayer would have been stellar but what is here is still good. Visually, the game manages to retain the look and feel of a Guitar Hero game, complete with the famous Guitar Hero notechart and characters.
Guitar Hero: On Tour does a great job of bringing the Guitar Hero experience to the Nintendo DS. The fret board device is well-built and goes a long way in making you feel like you’re really playing a Guitar Hero game. On Tour lets you rock out and unleash your inner guitar hero, even if you feel a bit silly at first (especially in public). -- Adam Nunez, PGNx Media
---- Jun 25, 2008
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