Platform: Nintendo DS | Price: $49.99 (US Price) | Players 1 - 2 Multi-card only | Online Features: None
Guitar Hero: On Tour is the first portable guitar hero game if you don't count cellphone games, monochromatic LED guitar hero games. Guitar Hero: On Tour uses a guitar grip peripheral which obviously increased the price tag of this game by 15 - 20 dollars when you compare it to your typical DS game. The guitar grip was Vicarious Vision's and Red Octane's solution to emulate the Guitar Hero experience on the DS and it does it with mixed results. The good news is that the plastic used in the guitar grip's body is similar to the DS lite and the buttons feel like your standard guitar hero buttons and most importantly there is an adapter for the original DS (the DS lite adapter is automatically in the guitar grip). The bad news is that for the long term it's not very comfortable your hands will cramp, the grip adds a significant amount of weight to the DS so your average gamer will have problems playing this game longer than 15 - 20 minutes at a time, the biggest issue I had with the guitar grip is that it's too easy to slide out of the GBA slot especially during fast songs or the hard and expert difficulties, unfortunately when the guitar grip comes out of your GBA slot you are forced to do a hard reset.
The game itself borrows a lot from Guitar Hero 3 similar user interface, about 5 - 10 Guitar Hero 3 songs are included in this game, most of the characters from Guitar Hero 3 return to this game. There are 5 venues and each venue has 5 songs so in total there are 25 songs plus one unlockable bonus song. The main difference between a standard Guitar Hero game and On Tour is that you lose one fret button and your strumming is done on the touch screen and pick stylus, if there's a sustained note that you have to hold down you can rub the touchscreen with your pick stylus to simulate the whammy bar, Star power is activated by saying something on the microphone but its easier just to blow on the microphone or by pressing a face button on the DS. The soundtrack this time around is arguably the worst soundtrack since there is a more mainstream focus of bands such as Daughtry, Maroon 5, No Doubt whereas Guitar Hero games usually focus on the Rock, Heavy Metal and Metal music. the sound quality is pretty good for a DS game which is important for a music game however it's recommended to wear headphones.
Unfortunately the terrible battle mode/guitar duel mode returns it still feels gimmicky and it's not very fun. For some reason the music does a 5 - 20 second loop during this mode in single player and it just gets so annoying that you will want to mute it which defeats the whole purpose of this being a music game. *NOTE* The 5 - 20 second song loops was apparently a glitch that I experienced a couple of times, be advised that the songs do play normally. This glitch usually happens after your opponent hits you with an Amp Overload "attack".
Now for the question of should you purchase this game or not: If your looking for good Guitar Hero experience: I would say no and you should stick with the console Guitar Hero and/or Rock Band games. If your absolutely looking for a portable Guitar Hero game that you would want to take on the road I would say yes. For the people who are looking for a music game on a portable system I would recommend Elite Beat Agents or Ouendan on the DS or Gitaroo-Man Lives! on the PSP.
Score Breakdown:
Graphics: 8.0
The game borrows heavily on Guitar Hero 3 for graphics, the animations are very good on the DS and there is no hint of slow down at all.
Sound: 7.5
The soundtrack clocks in at 26 songs, compared to the song selection of a traditional Guitar Hero game, On Tour's soundtrack is disappointing and has a more mainstream focus with a random song selection. Some of the songs are recycled from Guitar Hero 3. The sound quality is pretty good but it's highly recommended to wear headphones.
Controls: 6.5
On Tour requires the guitar grip accessory in order to play, unfortunately it is not comfortable after 15 - 20 minutes when you can experience cramping due to how close the buttons are and how your hand is locked in by the guitar grip strap. The added weight thanks to the guitar grip will make the discomfort much more noticeable. The guitar grip can wiggle out of the GBA slot when you least expect it which will force you to do a hard reset if you want to continue to play.
Gameplay: 8.0
On Tour does a good emulating a guitar hero game when you are on the go. It features all the game play mechanics from Guitar Hero 3 except that it's custom tailored to the DS.
Final Score: 7.0
It won't last as long as a standard guitar hero game because how much songs there are on the soundtrack. On Tour's soundtrack will turn off a majority of people who are accustomed to a usual Guitar Hero soundtrack however the soundtrack has a more mainstream appeal. If you are looking for a Guitar Hero game on the go then you should give this a shot, if you are looking for a music game on the go there are better options on the DS and PSP.
Topic: Guitar Hero: On Tour (Read 6218 times)
