As the popular music game continues to draw us to our TVs, Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS lets fans take their strumming skills on the road.
While a guitar peripheral that's larger than the DS would be unwieldy, On Tour cleverly reinterprets the game on DS. To play, virtual guitarists snap on and wrap their hand around the included guitar peripheral and press the four colored fret buttons when prompted onscreen. The other hand holds the games pick-shaped stylus and use it to strum virtual guitar strings on the DS touch screen.
Guitar Hero purists will most likely balk at the fact that there are four fret buttons vs. the five found on the big guitar controller, but we assure you -- this pint-sized guitar fest is no ukulele.
Other touch functions are executable over the course of the game. You can waggle the stylus back and forth for a whammy bar effect on the longer notes. Also, like in previous Guitar Hero games, you can build "star power" by hitting highlighted notes in a row without missing one. Once your meter fills up, you can yell into your DS' microphone or press an on-screen button to activate it, doubling your score for several seconds.
Overall, it's a very functional game, but there are times when On Tour turns uncomfortable. Twisting your hand around to hold the peripheral causes slight pain in the wrist and fingers, forcing you to take a break every 20 minutes or so. It's a bummer that Vicarious Visions couldn't have replaced the plastic grip on the peripheral with something more comforting for fingers. Past that, the gameplay is fun in short bursts, as the touch-screen and peripheral read inputs with very few errors.
Visually, On Tour is less than stunning, but that's to be expected. You'll still see your character take the stage with his or her band, playing along with the song while you read incoming notes on the bottom of the screen. However, some animations are rather stiff, such as when your guitarist struts back and forth out of tempo with the song. Overall, though, it looks acceptable.
The music is a real surprise here. Although it sounds lesser in quality coming out of a DS speaker (rather than the surround sound set-up you have for your console), most of the songs are great picks. There are a few that are taken from previous Guitar Hero games, such as Bloc Party's "Helicopter," Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and the below-average cover of ZZ Top's "La Grange." Others, however, are perfectly suited for play. The Doobie Brothers' "China Grove" is an excellent song, especially with its opening riffs. Santana's "Black Magic Woman" and Nirvana's "Breed" are primary selections as well. Only a couple of duds, such as Smash Mouth's "All Star" (didn't we get over that song years ago?) and Maroon 5's "This Love" seem out of place. The only downfall to this compilation is that there's no way to add downloadable tracks. Still, most of these songs are worth coming back to.
On Tour also provides lots of content for both single and multiplayer modes. In single, you run through a career mode where you unlock additional content for your virtual guitarists, including clothing accessories and various guitar types. You can swap them out however you please and modify your player's appearance. The addition of three new guitarists are nice, but you'll probably stick to one of your favorites from previous games, such as Pandora or Judy Nails.
Multiplayer involves several modes, which you can play with a friend through local Wi-Fi play. The Face-Off modes, original and Pro, let you play notes competitively to see if you can keep up on your end against your buddy. Co-op lets you jam together, with one player taking the lead and another accompanying them via rhythm or bass guitar. The real fun, though, is the Guitar Duel mode. Here, you play notes while distractions are thrown all around, cleverly making use of the DS touch-screen. One fan may run out of nowhere and force an autograph out of you, while another game has you blowing frenetically into the DS microphone to put out a fire before it damages your axe. Other tricks are included as well, including a temporary bump up in difficulty and a "lefty flip," forcing you to change the grip on your system temporarily.
If you can accept the limitations in control comfort and song selection (not to mention its $50 price tag), there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get into Guitar Hero: On Tour. The gameplay is functional, the presentation stays true to the series and there's lots to do, either solo or alongside a friend. It's an ideal on-the-go selection, especially while waiting in line for tickets to a rock show. Heck, you might just create your own.
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