Encore once more…ds1

You know what’s funny? I did a bit of digging around before I got down to writing my review and realized that the DS version of Guitar Hero has seen its third offering in about a years time. So you know it’s been selling relatively well to merit a sequel and since the Guitar Hero Brand is popular there is no stopping this juggernaut on any platform. Despite that it’s a bit too quick to be releasing so many sequels if you ask me.

With Activition’s third offering for the DS we dive into the basic same game with a different playlist and more broad approach to single player progression. Save for a few key setbacks this has become my favorite Guitar Hero title on the DS simply because of the aforementioned feature and playlist.
Now andPOP has reviewed the previous iterations so for a full understanding I will kindly ask you to refer to those in depth reviews to get a broader understanding of the game.
I find it funny that this game actually took physical form, it couldn’t be download only on the DS, but had they gone that way I wouldn’t be surprised since that’s the amount of content that’s packed within the cart. That’s not to say it’s not worth a pick up if you are a huge fan of the series on the DS but if you’ve played and owned the previous two versions than you’ve essentially played the third. Now if you don’t have any of the DS incantations then this is the version you have to pick up.
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Game play
Developed by Vicarious Visions, the same fine people who blew our minds on the Gameboy advance with the stellar Tony Hawk conversions. These guys know and understand the DS and this is evident the moment you start the game. Essentially the true Guitar Hero feel and vibe is spot on and the presence has been scaled down and fit inside your DS screens.

The game play has remained the same tried and true formula of playing songs in different venues to open up more songs and more venues. The primary difference this time around is that this experience is made less linear. Now each venue has different songs categories that need to be played; these are Headline, Opening, and Fan request. Essentially you are free to check each venue and play either category in any order you want in order to progress to the next venue and their list of songs.

In a sense you can probably call this just an organizational method cheekily hid behind “a new game play” banner and you’d be almost right. I said almost because the third mode in each venue-fan request- has you playing through the songs with special conditions to satisfy. Sometimes you’ll have to hit a 100 note streak, other times you have to use no star power, and a couple more to make the repeated songs you’ll play seem a bit fresh. It gives the game a small boost since objective play was very rare on any of the consoles previous installments.
The title has the same game play options since its debut, save for the online component and playlist, you will feel like you’ve played this twice before (assuming you did buy the other two versions). I must say I did enjoy the guitar strumming on the DS and my hand didn’t cramp this outing, probably because it’s used to it by now. The pic stylus always makes me smile. The once unique control still suits the title and has not lost its charm.

ds3

um... the 80's called and want their style back.

Graphics
It wasn’t really broken so they need not to try and fix the visuals, but I wanted something of an upgrade.
It’s hard to demand upgraded visuals of a title that probably was developed in tandem with the other DS version and knowingly released a good few months later.
It’s sort of sad but none of the animations have changed and things still don’t sync up to what you are playing, not that it was ever their intention to do so but you lose the connection with the visuals knowing they’re just there and are not affected by your actions. For what it’s worth it has the Guitar Hero look and feel but still carries the late N64 era visuals that look half decent on the DS screen (go read our review on Guitar Hero: On tour for the DS). I’m sort of getting a bit bored with the ultra stylized look and feel of the Guitar Hero games and this game doesn’t help. Maybe it’s time for a visual overhaul and a fresh rocking look guys?

Sound
The most important part of the game is handled very well.
You won’t believe the sound quality on these 25 tracks (plus 2 bonus), not only do they sound crisp but they manage to avoid sounding like glorified cell phone ring tones. I never knew my DS could output such quality. Kudos to the developer! Personally I like the music selection the most in this version, with favs like the Strokes-Reptillia, Tenacious D-The metal, and Kaiser Cheifs- Ruby this is the best selection of different styles of music to ever make it into the DS version. That’s more or less a personal taste thing here. If you dig The Strokes, Modest Mouse, AFI, and Wolfmother then you’ll dig this game.
I won’t ruin the whole playlist for those few that are like myself and through game progression discover what made the cut, though if you’re not sure you’ll like the selection offered just check the rest online and make your decision.

Replay
The game is very short and you’ll realize the linear nature of the Guitar Hero games more on the hand held than any other platform. We all love and bought every Guitar Hero game on the consoles but it was the plastic guitars and multiplayer options that made the game worth. It was a party machine on the consoles and here it seems like an alternative to listening to your MP3 player. Granted the multiplayer options have been beefed up so as you can connect with any of the previous two games and have access to the combined playlists of the series (OVER 50 TUNES!!), but this is only if you have friends who decided to buy the DS version instead of the console offerings. You certainly will get a kick out of how fun the multiplayer option can be on the hand held, but even with the entire list of shared tunes you will find this isn’t the same as its console brethren.  Adding to the replay factor is the fact you have either the lead guitar and rhythm or bass to play and a bit more replay can be squeezed out of each song.

What this game is at its core is an updated playlist with a couple of added features. If you must have anything and everything Guitar Hero this will satisfy your appetite! For all the others out there, this is getting a bit redundant and repetitive since the games launch. They could have done some really cool groundbreaking things such as streaming live selections online every week, or new download only challenges (Professor Layton, I’m looking at you) but they just opted for an updated playlist and new title.

If I were to get one version of the hand held series this would be it, but they have to do something more than just a playlist update the next round to keep my attention. As it stands it’s fading pretty fast.

Game Play 2.5 /5
Graphics    3 /5
Sound         4.5 /5
Replay       2 /5






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