Seeing as how Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band get an enormous amount of attention, it shouldn't be a surprise that another company hoped to cash in on the music craze. Thus, we have THQ's Battle of the Bands for the Nintendo Wii. However, instead of taking the music simulation route, THQ's Battle of the Bands for the Wii Battle works in a different format. It's more concentrated on battle scenarios, pitting one type of band against another for musical superiority. You haven't seen anything until you witness a modern rock band duke it out with a country band while attempting to perform Def Leppard's "Hysteria.".
Battle of the Bands' appeal is the remixing of several favorites across various genres. You have five groups in all – an alternative rock group, a dedicated Latino band, a group of country twangers, hip-hop artists and a marching band. Each of them perform covers of hit songs in their own fashion, be it The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" or Soundgarden's "Spoonman.". Seriously, some of uswe were cracking up when we heard a Latino take on Cypress Hill's hit rap song "Insane In the Brain.". It shows that some creative juices were flowing over at developer Planet Moon Studios.
It's just a shame that the creative juices didn't pour drip ionto the gameplay. This is cut-and-dry rhythm music stuff, as you must move a cursor on-screen either left, right or down to follow the coordinating beats. You also have to occasionally waggle the Wii remote to follow "strings". There are battle techniques involved with the opposing band, as you must block incoming attacks with the B button while launching your own. For the most part, though, it's oversimplified and boring. About five minutes into the game, you've got the essentials nailed down and you'll have no problem defeating band after band for musical supremacy. There is some challenge as far as two-player mode goes, as you can take on a friend in single-screen, off-line action. However, it only lasts so long before you flock to Guitar Hero III again.
Although the cover versions of the songs are good (we've actually begun looking into tracking down an MP3 of the country version of "Photograph"), the rest of the sound effects are bland and lifeless. The graphics are okayOK, but nothing to write home about; certainly not as attractive as other games for the platform.
As such, Battle of the Bands is a decent party game and worth a rental. However, a replacement to Guitar Hero it is notn't. The gameplay is too one-note for its own good and the lacking presentation fails to impress, despite the wacky covers of classic favorites. It's strictly an opening act to next month's release of Rock Band. Not horrendous by any means, but easily forgettable once the real show starts.
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