REVIEW: LEGO Rock Band DS

LEGO ROCK BAND

While I will get the console versions and import if only for "The Passenger", I tried the DS Version, and I must say, it makes me wish for a proper Amplitude sequel, or at least an update for AmplituDS.

The DS version of LEGO Rock Band, instead of using peripherals like it's X Hero Counterpart, uses a control scheme similar to Rock Band Unplugged. The L and R buttons change between the instruments, and Left, Up, X and A hit the notes.

It isn't entirely like Amplitude, since missing a note doesn't screw up your combo, but messing up a streak of note when one of your band members' head is blinking does. Instead of building the tracks by getting entire measures accurate, it's about streaks. Hit a certain number of notes, and one of the notes changes color to purple. Hit it, and that band member is satisfied.

Star power is more or less the same: blow into the mic to activate it, and get double the points.

Whether or not you should buy this game, as always, rests on the setlist:
All American Rejects, “Swing, Swing”
The Automatic, “Monster”
Blur, “Song 2”
Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighting”
Counting Crows, “Accidentally in Love”
David Bowie, “Let’s Dance”
Europe, “The Final Countdown”
Good Charlotte, “Girls & Boys”
Iggy Pop, “The Passenger”
Jackson 5, “I Want You Back”
Kaiser Chiefs, “Ruby”
Katrina & the Waves, “Walking on Sunshine”
KT Tunstall, “Suddenly I See”
P!NK, “So What”
The Primitives, “Crash”
Queen, “We Are The Champions”
Queen, “We Will Rock You”
Rascal Flatts, “Life is a Highway”
Ray Parker Jr., “Ghostbusters”
Spin Doctors, “Two Princes”
Sum 41, “In Too Deep”
Supergrass, “Grace”
Tom Petty, “Free Fallin’”
Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”
We the Kings, “Check Yes Juliet”

I would have traded out a couple songs, but that's about it.

What's awesome is that you can still play as Queen, Iggy, Bowie and Blur.

FINAL VERDICT: A quadrillion times better than the other games I reviewed for the DS. It's not as fully featured, or well presented as its console counterpart, but it's a pretty worth play.

Tomorrow: "Seven Nation Army"

REVIEW: Guitar Rock Tour DS

When I saw this game was done by GameLoft, that should have been my first red flag.

But Guitar Rock Tour is the polar opposite of Rock Revolution for the DS.

Unlike Rock Revolution, the game actually has 3D characters on the top screen playing on stage. The DS HAS seen much better, but it's a step in the right direction.

However, the songlist: Echh... Bad enough I have to put up with Top 40 radio in my gym, now I have to put up with it on my DS? "Who Knew" by Pink, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne, some emo songs from bands I've never heard of, and for the love of God, NICKELBACK. There are some good songs, like "Message In A Bottle", "What's My Age Again?" and "You Really Got Me" (Van Halen version). Still, the songlist isn't up to par with Rock Revolution. However, the quality of the covers are much better.

The game does play significantly better than RR. The guitar requires you to strum across strings on the touch screen, which can get hectic on higher levels, and songs with arpeggios (like "What's My Age Again?") make you tap furiously across the screen. Drums are much simpler, boiling it down to only a cymbal, bass drum, and snare.

However, the game is, as far as I know, IMPOSSIBLE to beat for drums on Hard difficulty. "Message In A Bottle" starting acting weird, giving me just the drum track and playing no other sound.

BOTTOM LINE: Skip. For the love of God, skip. There are some good songs, but you have to play through the crappy ones several times over to get to the higher levels. Just get GH: On Tour. You'll look dumber, but you won't feel dumber.