Review: Guitar Hero: On Tour (NDS)

You've probably seen the 'Guitar Grip' by now, but if not, it's an attachment that clips into the Gameboy cartridge slot of your DS (there's an adapter provided for the older models) and has four coloured fret buttons on the end. The idea is to hold it in one hand while using the provided plectrum stylus to 'strum' the touch screen with the other. This is about as much like using a real guitar as scratching your bum is like playing the violin, but given you'll be focusing more on the series of corresponding coloured notes flying towards you, it's all rather forgivable.

First impressions are not all that positive, and Gamestyle wouldn't expect many people to persevere through the first half an hour or so of crippling agony that comes as a result of trying to hold this contraption in a usable position. Words cannot describe the discomfort you're likely to encounter if you have even slightly above average-sized hands. The provided strap only hinders your fingers' positions, and the only way to get it approaching comfortable is to wedge it up against you and give your fingers as much room to wiggle as possible, praying the whole device doesn't slip out of the slot mid-song. Then, after your wrist accepts the level of punishment required to play, you'll gradually accept it. Perversely, you might even come to like it, given time.

It's immediately clear why a fifth (orange) button wasn't included in this version of the game, as it would have been completely unusable. When you bear in mind that most of the target audience are unlikely to ever see past the blue button anyway, it's a no-brainer. For any Guitar Hero veterans, don't worry, the hard and expert modes are challenging enough, throwing up plenty of chords that utilise the four buttons available. You'll never get the same feeling of achievement of sliding across the neck, but it's surprisingly effective nonetheless, with lots of hammer-ons and pull-offs to drum your fingers over.

The biggest surprise is just how well the stylus plectrum works. You can strum on any part of the touch screen, not just where the strings have been drawn, and it'll happily detect both little taps and long sweeps. Gamestyle's accuracy during long rapid shredding sections is, on average, slightly higher here than with a plastic strum bar equivalent. Occasionally, the plectrum may slip between your grip, but for accuracy and feel, it's totally worth it.

On Tour features just 26 tracks (25 in the career and one bonus track), which is stingey by Guitar Hero standards, but understandable given the space limitations. The sound is tinny through the speakers, but with some headphones on, it's easily on par with, say, Elite Beat Agents, or most music games on the system. The full list features mostly modern songs, and disappointingly little in the way of metal. There is also some overlap with other Guitar Hero titles, which seems unnecessary. On the up side, almost every song is fun to play and nothing outstays its welcome. Favourites include Twisted Sister's 'We're Not Gonna Take It', Ozzy's 'I Don't Wanna Stop' and.. uh... Bloc Party's 'Helicopter'. No, seriously! There's some Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughn near the end of the career as well if a bit of classic rock takes your fancy.

If you're new to Guitar Hero, you can try the tutorial that shows you what to do, but it's pretty straightforward. The whammy bar (which now resides on the touch screen) helps to extract star power from the glowing sequences of notes, and to unleash this power, you need only tap the gauge on the screen, or shout/blow into the microphone. The conversion to the DS is very commendable! You'll also find a practice mode listed in the menu, which isn't as diverse as its big brother equivalents (you can't slow down songs, for instance) but it's good for looping tough sections over and over 'til you get your head (and hands) around them. Star power can help you bluff through tricky solos, but seeing as the tracklist on the whole is quite mellow, there aren't many stumbling blocks. Actually, that's something of a blessing.

If you've played Guitar Hero III, you'll be familiar with the guitar duels, quite possibly the most horrible addition to the series to date. Faced up against rock legends you had to grind down with offensive attacks, these cropped up throughout the career, temporarily halting progress unless you got very lucky. The same mistake is not made here; no guitar duels show up during the career. Instead, a heavily reworked guitar duel career can be accessed separately, and entirely optionally, so if you're something of a music game purist, you can ignore it completely. That would be a shame, though, as the new duel mode is an absolute blast.

The new abilities are less severe, so instead of doing something ridiculous like doubling all the notes, you might have to avoid hitting the 'bombs' or the screens will swap around, or you'll go into hyperspeed - challenging obstacles, not ridiculous or impossible ones. There are also times when you're halted by your guitar setting on fire (you have to blow it out) or you have to sign a fan's item of choice using the stylus before you can carry on playing, but these are actually quite funny and over very quickly. The battle ends when the song is finished, not when one player is beaten into submission - another welcome change. Unfortunately, Gamestyle was unable to test the game's wireless multiplayer mode, owing to it requiring two copies of the game and guitar grip; but face-off, duel and even co-op options are supported for two players. Sadly, online play is not.

Presentation is a little lacking, with too many screens to get through basic options and too much small text. The animation of the band members is also quite rigid and the venues look pretty flat. Then there are the special effects, which are weedy. You'd be forgiven for thinking the whole thing is some cheap, nasty Guitar Hero knock-off, as that's how it comes across (have you seen the box art? Yeugh!!). Still, the sense of humour is there, with 'reviews' of your band's albums featuring some funny quotes.

As a solo game, Guitar Hero On Tour is a worthy addition to the series. What it lacks in show-boating, it makes up for in convenience and portability. Good songs, a good feel, good learning curve and a fun sense of humour. That said, if you've no need for an away-from-home Guitar Hero fix, there's little point in buying this, as you'll never give it enough time to become comfortable and you'll just wish you could play the songs with your plastic guitar instead.

Rating: 7 / 10

Words by Daniel James