Gamertell

Title: Guitar hero On Tour
Price: $49.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: June 22, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Activision (Activision)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for lyrics.
Pros: Portable version of the familiar franchise gameplay, plenty of songs and good use of the touchscreen.
Cons: An uncomfortable, ergonomic mess. It’s hard to hold and often too difficult to divide attention between two screens. Play with caution.
Overall Score: One wrist up, one painful wrist down; 75/100; C; * * 1/2 out of five. 

With the popularity and vast appeal of the Guitar Hero franchise, it’s no surprise the game is making way to handheld systems. There are, of course, some physical obstacles to overcome when going from a nearly full-size guitar-shaped controller to a teeny weenie palm sized system. Unfortunately, not all of them were overcome with Guitar Hero On Tour for the DS.

Don’t Fret

The game’s setup looks pretty dern familiar. Notes scroll down the screen and, as they reach the line at the bottom, you press the appropriate buttons while strumming at the correct time. Where the guitar controllers on the console games include a strum button/bar, on the DS you psychically strum a pick-shaped stylus on the system’s touch screen.

As for the button pressing, the game ships with an accessory called the Guitar Hero Guitar Grip that attaches to the DS Lite through the GBA cart slot (an adapter is included so you can also play on the original design DS). The buttons have a clear plastic skin that can be swapped out or decorated with decals (also provided with the game). The pick-shaped stylus is housed in the Grip and a velcro stap helps keep the system on your hand. The Grip also only has four buttons instead of the usual five, with the top three (Green, Red and Yellow) being used in all the songs and the fourth bottom button (Blue) being used only in more difficult songs and the higher difficulties.

The attachment also forces the presentation to be flipped on its side so (for righties) you watch the notes flow down non-touch screen on the left, you strum the touchscreen on the right with your right hand and you hold the system from behind with your left so your fingers are on the buttons. On the touchscreen there is a guitar and status bars but you can strum pretty much anywhere.

On Tour has the usual single-player Guitar Hero modes (career, practice, tutorial and CPU duels) and a few decent multiplayer modes (face-off, pro face-off, co-op and duel). Star Power also returns as does the whammy bar and rock meter. There are also four difficulty settings (easy, medium, hard and expert) and you get to pick from and unlock various your on-screen avatar, outfits and guitars.

Rockin’ It Small Core

The touchscreen is great for natural style strumming and the guitar pick shaped stylus may become a regular in my DS gaming arsenal. The DS also makes for some nice special moves including physically blowing into the microphone to put out fiery attacks and signing the screen when a fan runs by and begs for a song-interrupting autograph. The only glitch was using the microphone to activate Star Power (the game suggests yelling “Rock Out"). Some times it would activate on its own while others, not at all, no matter how loud I yelled.

Physically, the DS looks pretty kick-ass with the four-button Grip attachment. Unfortunately, that bit of innovation is also a wrist-wrenching, ergonomic mess. Take this friendly earning on page 4 of the game manual:

1. Take frequent breaks to avoid discomfort or cramping in your hands..
2. If you experience discomfort or cramping in your hand, try different styles to find the most comfortable for you. For example, you may try to keep your wrist straight while playing.

Take frequent breaks? Playing for 20 minutes is nearly impossible unless you’re able to endure a fair amount of pain or you have otherwise numbed your arm. You’ll need to suffer through it and risk carpal tunnel syndrome to play more than a few songs at a time and get in any significant practice. Also, to hold the DS so you can press the colored buttons buttons and see the screen, you need to twist the system at an awkward angle. This also forces you to press the top of the Grip more than the bottom, causing the attachment to slowly angle away from the slot. I haven’t broken a connection yet but I cannot think that’s very good for the DS for the slot’s connectors.

That also means you have to watch the notes flow down the non-touch screen at a weird angle which makes it pretty much impossible to divide your attention between the two screens let alone keep your arm straight. This becomes an issue when building up meters or Dueling where you need to quickly notice, find and tap icons on the touch screen to launch attacks at an opponent.

I know you’re thinking that I just have big ol’ man hands. I had my wife, who has considerably more petite fingers, play as well and she had the same wrist-twisting issues. Sure, maybe a pre-teen gamers might find the buttons appropriately spaced and the attachment less of a hassle but that that drastically limits the game’s audience.

Also, if you think that playing this with four buttons instead of the consoles’ five, you are mistaken. That fourth buttons is pretty impossible to press with your pinky unless you have super thin and uber long phalanges. Even then you’ll need to quickly reconfigure your grasp so you’re pressing the other buttons with your mid-finger instead of your finger tips.

Twing Twang Kachungk

Forgetting the physical pain for a moment, the core game in Guitar hero On Tour is really good and would otherwise be damn addictive. It really is the same rockin’ good time as the console game and, gameplay wise, is rather well executed. I liked the dueling and the use of the touchscreen to strum, blow out fires and sign autographs is spot on.

It’s that damn Guitar grip attachment. With even just a slight better ergonomic design to eliminate the time-constraining wrist pain, I could have recommended this game for everyone, hands down. Instead, I can only recommend this to the most masochistic rock addicts with a high tolerance for physical pain. You, my numb rockin’ friends, you will really enjoy this game. Everyone else, however, should probably give it an honest try before you buy just to see if you’re one of the chosen few who can play without much pain.

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