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Vicarious Visions follows up last year’s game with some new tunes.
Decades includes 35 songs—an improvement over the original’s 25 songs—, which sound great on the Nintendo DS’s speaker, although using headphones is still recommended. There is some compression but the feat is commendable nonetheless. As expected, the game goes through several decades of rock music. The set list includes Free’s “All Right Now,” Lynyrd Skynrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” Journey’s “Any Way You Want It,” Los Lobos’ “La Bamba,” Oasis “Some Might Say,” Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” The All-American Reject’s “Dirty Little Secret,” and Fall Out Boy’s “Take Over, The Break’s Over.” As you can sort of tell, 16 of the game’s 35 songs were recorded in 2000 or later so the game definitely skews toward a more mainstream audience than the typical Guitar Hero game.
Like Guitar Hero: On Tour, Decades bundles the game (on a standard DS cartridge), as well as a “Guitar Grip” (fret bar 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. The upcoming Nintendo DSi will not include a GBA slot, meaning that the On Tour games will not work with the new hardware.
The gameplay in Decades is exactly the same as it was in On Tour. You’ll see notes going down the left 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. There have been some improvements in the game, though, like improved strumming recognition as well as the addition of a bass career.
Like On Tour, Decades includes cooperative, competitive and battle multiplayer modes over local wireless multiplayer. The game lets you play against people who own On Tour, allowing both players to access the combined setlist of both games. It’s a very nifty feature that works well. 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 Decades is a great expansion of the series on the DS. The ability to stream songs between On Tour and Decades is a great feature, which adds a lot of value to the multiplayer component. With that said, Decades is essentially On Tour with some slight improvements. If you weren’t sold on the formula before, there is nothing here that will change your mind.
Soundtrack:
Alien Ant Farm - "Smooth Criminal"
Blind Melon - "No Rain"
Blondie - "One Way or Another"
Bon Jovi - "You Give Love a Bad Name"
Boston - "Rock and Roll Band"
Edgar Winter Group - "Free Ride"
Fall Out Boy - "Take Over, The Break's Over"
Finley - "Diventerai Una Star"
Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"
Free - "All Right Now"
Guano Apes - "You Can't Stop Me"
Jimmy Eat World - "The Middle"
Joe Satriani - "Satch Boogie"
Journey - "Any Way You Want It"
Lenny Kravitz - "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
Linkin Park - "One Step Closer"
Los Lobos - "La Bamba"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama" (Live)
Oasis - "Some Might Say"
Paramore - "Crushcrushcrush"
Pereza - "Estrella Polar"
Phoenix - "Everything is Everything"
Queen - "We Are The Champions"
R.E.M. - "The One I Love"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Can't Stop"
Sammy Hagar - "I Can't Drive 55"
Seether - "Remedy"
Stone Temple Pilots - "Down"
Survivor - "Eye of the Tiger"
The All-American Rejects - "Dirty Little Secret"
The Darkness - "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"
The Smashing Pumpkins - "Tarantula"
Tokio Hotel - "Ready, Set, Go!"
Veruca Salt - "Volcano Girls"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
-- Jake Wilson, PGNx Media
---- Nov 16, 2008
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