A look at Guitar Hero: On Tour

[thunderhero4]

Hi, this is my review of the Nintendo DS game: Guitar Hero: On Tour!



Name: Guitar hero: On Tour
Platform: Nintendo DS (Lite is specifically preferred but Phat will work)
Genre: Rhythm, Music
Developer: Vicarious Visions
Publisher: RedOctane and Activision
ESRB: E10+ (Everyone 10 and up)
Retail: $49.99 (although I've seen it for $44.99)
Also On: N/A
Input: Special Stylus pick and Special Guitar Perphial called the "Guitar Grip"
Release Date: June 22, 2008

Ok, I just got this game today! First and foremost, here's the new perphial:


The NEW perphial! The Guitar Grip!

Lets get down to buisness:

Story

Well, you get the idea, you choose a character to play with, some new, some old, and you play through songs getting money to buy new stuff to play with. It's not really a story, but I don't get payed to say THAT, so I will just call it "Career" mode, because that's what it's actually called.

If you want to see the characters, feel free, I will place them in a spoiler box for you:

[spoiler]Axel Steel - All GH Games
Judy Nails - All GH Games
Johnny Napalm - I think all GH Games
Pandora - Just this game and GH2
Gunner Jaxon - New
Memphis Rose - New[/spoiler]

This isn't quite a story, and not really any GH game does have one, but I'm afraid it gets a 1/5 because it has one at all. Do not fret, this is only the beginning.

Green

This is Guitar Hero! You got your basic note hitting, strumming, star power, hammer on's, pull off's, career, quickplay, battle, store, and guitar perphial. The only difference is that they are all different! :P

Note hitting is the exact same...except you have 4 buttons instead of 5. But wait, before you push this one aside, I want you to know that this game is hard even with 4 buttons! Strumming can make the whole difference! Your perphial sticks into the Gameboy Advance slot of the DS and you have a strap to help it stay on your hand. The strap is designed for fitting, so find your comfortable holding style, because this is hard on your hands and wrists! It hurts after a while, but you can change to a more comfortable fit so try out different feels for yourself.

Strumming may just be the biggest difference in the game! You get a special guitar pick shaped stylus with the game, and it actually helps to use it in place of a classic stylus. It's quicker and more accurate. To strum, while you play on the touch screen to the right/left (depending on lefty flip or not, you hold it on it's side) there is a big guitar. You must strum the strings on this guitar with your pick stylus while you hit the notes with your buttons! It's not as hard as it sounds, and will feel weird at first, but you get used to it amazingly fast! (If you would like a hint to the game: it's alot easier to strum up and down than in previous games, and you will be needing it more too!). Hammer on's and Pull off's are very scarce in this game and will mainly be in expert in very small amounts, so rely on strumming first and cool non strumming button moments second.

Star power is pretty new too. You obtain it the same way, but you can use it in 4 different ways. 1 is by simply blowing into the microphone (my method). 2 is by yelling Rock On or something into the Mic. 3 is simply touching the icon on the touch screen. And 4 is by pressing any button on the directional pad. I doesn't seem to last as long, but it also takes longer to fail so it's balanced out.

On the menu, you have Single Player, Multiplayer, Options, and Credits (never go there, lol).

Single Player: You have:

Career: Earn money and get new songs
Guitar Duels: The new battle system (further explained in review), you can play it against computer and it replaces Co op career
Quickplay: Just to play songs
Practice: Practice any Song
Tutorial: Teaches you how to play the game

Multiplayer: Will explain in Multiplayer section.

Options: you have:

Clear Global Data: Clear all data, plain and simple beware!!!
Audio Options: Self explanitory, volume and SFX settings
Mic Sensetivity: Sensetivity of the mic for star power

Ok thats the menu, and the store isn't very long but it's big enough and you have to work to even get the permission to buy most of the stuff so it's not bad.

Song List: I will put this in a spoiler box for those of you who want it to stay secret:

[spoiler]You have 26 songs in all, 5 per tier and 1 secret song that you get by comepleting guitar duels. Thats quite the list for a handheld game! Here they are in order:

Tier 1:
Do what you want - Ok Go *master recording*
All the small things - blink_182 *master recording*
Spiderwebs - No Doubt *master recording*
Are you gonna be my girl - Jet *master recording*
Encore: We're not gonna take it - Twisted Sister *master recording*

Tier 2:
All Star - Smash Mouth *master recording*
Breed - Nirvana *master recording*
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield *master recording*
Hit me with your best shot - Pat Benatar *master recording this time!*
Encore (and personal favorite in the game): This Love - Maroon 5 *master recording*

Tier 3:
(2nd personal favorite) Heaven - Los Lonely Boys *master recording*
Helicopter - Bloc Party *master recording*
China Grove - The Doobie Brothers *master recording*
Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss *cover by Line 6*
Encore: What I Want - Daughtry *master recording*

Tier 4:
Jet Airliner - Steve Miller Band *cover by Wavegroup (but its a good cover)*
Black Magic Woman - Santana *cover by Line 6*
Stray Cat Strut - Stray Cats *master recording*
La Grange - ZZ Top *cover by Line 6*
Encore: Youth Gone Wild - Skid Row *covered by Wavegroup*

Tier 5:
I dont wanna stop - Ozzy Osbourne *master recording*
Anna Molly - Incubus *master recording*
Knock Me Down - Red Hot Chili Peppers *master recording*
Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughan *master recording this time!*
Drumroll Encore: I know a little - Lynyrd Skynyrd *cover by Wavegroup*

Bonus Tier:
I am not your Gameboy - Freezepop *master recording*[/spoiler]

Phew, now that thats done, heres our Replayability and Fun Extras section! :)

*Oh and another note, the game doesn't come with boxart, so all you have is a carboard box with the perhial and game in a small case when you open it, so be careful not to lose them.*

5/5


This is what it looks like on both screens

Replayability and Fun Extras

The replayability in this game is perfect, just like any other GH game! You will likely play each song at least 100 times for a good score, and you will always get better the more you play! This is where GH shines, and it is still doing it!

As far as fun extras go, you can choose ay character and outfit, guitar and color combo.

6/5 because it's so great

Graphics

You know Guitar Hero isn't about graphics, but these are really good for a DS game! They are even close to the origional Guitar Hero's graphics! Everything moves smoothly and you have a good view of the stage and notes! The menu could have looked better, but it's no downer!

4.5/5


Graphics and a pic of gameplay? Look good or what? :)

Sound

Sound in a music game HAS to be good! And it is! You will not be able to tell the difference from your TV and the DS's little speakers! :O It's THAT good! The only problem is that you will want to turn it up louder than the speakers will go :P

5/5

Controls

The controls in this game are pretty different. Strumming feels good and you can find different styles for different sections in songs. The notes are smaller and easier to hit, but having a small hand can make it difficult to hit the buttons so use the strap accordingly. Thats about it for controls, good but not perfect.

4/5

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in this game is only Multicard play, so sorry there is no online. You may play battle and vs song types, like in GH3 so it will feel similar.

Battle itself has been improved! There are alot more powerups and all of them use the DS to it's potential: 2 screens, touch screen, mic. You can also no longer see your opponent's notes so it makes it more challenging.

Online should have been there, and you can't do much with multicard play, but it has improved battle, so it gets a 3.5/5


A pic of battle mode

Overall

This game is great for a DS game! It's fun, and last's a long time, but isn't so much a party game as it is a game to be portable. Although you could have parties with it in your car taking turns if you wanted! :P

This game gets an overall 9/10 Excellent for having great graphics, the best replayability on the DS, superb sound, and being fun in general.

You should get this game if you have $50 and a DS! It is more than worth the buy!

Gameplay Movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evOXYN3HZBk

It has a guy commenting on gameplay and it shows some!







Thank you for reading my review! As a request, I would like you t please comment on it! Was it good? Was it bad? Was it ok? Did it help? Anything, LE YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! >:D Cya next time!

I am Thunderhero4 and I approve this message :P

[Tupin]

I'm definitely getting it now.

Oh, so you don't need to play with another human to get [spoiler]I am not you Gameboy?[/spoiler]

It should have had online, and it would have been nice to have online.

[thunderhero4]

I'm definitely getting it now.

Oh, so you don't need to play with another human to get [spoiler]I am not you Gameboy?[/spoiler]

It should have had online, and it would have been nice to have online.

[spoiler]Nope everybody thinks that battle is multiplayer only but there is a whole career mode with only battle, beat that to get it.[/spoiler]

and how embarassing, I forgot to put in the publisher and developer :-[

[guido123]

sounds fun

[guido123]

ok