it generates the “I want to beat my last score and get that 100% note streak” attitude that demands you carry on repeating the songs over and over again until you finally get there.
In addition, this game contains the “star rating” performance measure, like the console versions, therefore it is only natural to want to get the 5 star performances for every song to show your mates your superiority.
****Multi player****
The multi player features of this game are excellent, which I guess is to be expected. There are several things to keep you, and your friends entertained such as playing each song in a co-op mode with lead guitar and bass guitar working together over a wireless local connection or you can go head to head and have a “guitar duel” whereby you play and obtain these power ups to disrupt your opponents playing.
There is plenty of hours entertainment in multi player mode and it is amazing how the “just one more song” or “just one more battle” turns in to numerous tracks and many hours later.
With all that's going on, the developer even managed to get a decent visual engine going to accompany the notes running down the screen. The characters might not lip sync, strum or beat the drum in time to the music, but it's still cool to see them in full 3D and wearing your custom items earned, purchased, and selected.
****Conclusion****
The producers of the DS version have done a fantastic job in getting Guitar Hero from the main consoles and transferring it to a portable handheld. Considering the game play, graphics and audio on such powerful systems and having to transfer that to something much less powerful must have been a daunting and challenging task but the producers have really pulled it out of the hat.
The graphics are simply stunning, although they are a bit over the top and not really necessary, the audio is fantastic, the track listing consists of all well known songs (without any fillers), the game play is just like the console version and it provides hours and hours of entertainment, in both single and multi player modes.
Whilst the experience on the DS is not as realistic or captivating as strumming a life size replica guitar, like on the console version, (and it would have been naïve to think it ever would be) the unique fret button controller, combined with the strumming on the touch screen, does add some authenticity and realism to the game. It also allows you to enjoy rocking out to your favourite tracks whenever and where ever you want. I must stress that headphones are a must have accessory so make sure you have a genuine controller, don’t go and waste your cash on a cheaper third party produced one from Ebay like I did.
The only real disadvantage of this game is the discomfort of an unnatural playing position or though you will find that this soon reduces as you get used to it and rack up game playing hours. That said, I have found that I still have to take regular breaks during extended game play to get the feeling back in my hand, as I now find I get numbness rather than pain.
Overall this is a fantastic game and I can’t recommend it highly enough, and whilst this particular version may not ever be a classic I think the Guitar Hero concept and controller will be and hopefully there will be many more Guitar Hero games in the future.
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