Guitar Hero: On Tour - Guitar Grip Bundle (Nintendo DS)

I'm sure people will be wondering how they could possibly port over Guitar Hero from the main consoles down to the DS. You may be worrying that this is just a cheap copy missing many of the main ingredients that makes guitar hero so fun, but let me put your mind at ease and tell you that this game is surprisingly good!

The guitar peripheral plugs into the bottom of the DS and brings the four coloured buttons, the usual version has 5 but I'm not really missing the extra one.

The touch screen is used to 'strum' on the strings of the guitar and this is where the game manages to make you feel a little like you are playing a real guitar.

The tracklist is mainly recent songs (less than 10 years old) such as All the Small Things (Blink 182). They have brought over some songs from other Guitar Hero games which makes the experience even more familiar eg Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Pat Benetar) - the tracklist doesn't contain as many songs as the other versions - only 26 songs, but they are mainly original versions (only about 4 or 5 covers) and good quality.

You can play in 'Quickplay', 'Career Mode' or 'Guitar Duel'. Quickplay and Career Mode are the same as in all previous versions of the game.
'Guitar Duel' is brought over from Guitar Hero 3 and is the 2 player version which must be played locally (not online), they have added some unique features to this DS version. Whilst GH3 duels required you to press certain keys on the guitar to fend off 'attacks' - the DS uses its touch screen to create a much more fun (and sometimes more challenging) experience.

The attacks that someone may inflict on you are very creative and include:-
'autograph' - where a fan demands an autograph, you have to quickly scribble down your name before you can continue playing.
'fire' - where your guitar sets on fire, you blow out this fire literally by blowing at the screen (picked up by the microphone)
'flip screen' where the 2 screens swap places, which disorientates you a little, making you likely to miss a few notes

Overall I can't imagine them having done a better job with a first version. Maybe if they release a sequel, they may consider online play but this is a small criticism for what I consider an excellent game!

first of all some basic info which i think people appreciate but don't find in many reviews:

Game has 3 separate save files to save data.
Multi-card 2 player mode (Multi-card meaning each person needs a game cartridge and Fret board add-on)
Fret board includes a changeable cartridge pieces to allow it to fit into either DS or DS Lite (This is because GBA/DS add-on packs would normally stick out about 1cm on the DS Lite).
Strap, pick stylus, and stickers are also included.
Fret board has a changeable skin (more ways to make money I guess).
Fret Board consists of four fret buttons instead of the usual five.
The pick stylus is replaceable and can be bought from any good video game store.

Now onto my actual review:

The concept is great... Take the popular game franchise and make it portable. The game itself is not bad, the graphics are decent for the DS, and the strumming on the touch screen isn't too hard to get use to. you also have four buttons instead of the usual five which in theory should make the game easier and ideal to some players.

"Decent" and "reasonable" are the words that best suite this game as although the idea of taking the franchise portable is great for fans on the go, there really isn't anything new. You get a few features that only the DS can provide such as using the microphone to blow out a fire in duel mode but the game is let down by the difficulty in actually playing the game.

The problem in playing the game lies mainly in the plug-in fret board. For younger players this may not be a problem, but for teenagers and older, the Fret board can be very uncomfortable and painful just to play through a single song! I found it somewhat challenging to hold the fret board where i could both strum and see the screens, and remain comfortable. The frets are also a lot smaller than the original games, which is understandable, but in my opinion, just a little too small for most adult players. I also find the blue fret's position difficult to hit when you consider the length of the pinky compare to the rest of your fingers.

another thing that should be noted is that should you accidentally slide the fret board out of place, and disconnect it, you will need to turn the power off and on again. This can easily be done if not careful, but does not appear to be a problem if it happens when the DS is closed.

All in all you have a game which is fun to play if you can find a way to hold it comfortably, has decent graphics for the DS, and contains some good songs (some are from previous games though). One thing that is missing that i particularly miss is the artwork on the game screens fret board. This is however somewhat made up for by having your guitar of choice on the touch screen to strum.

It is entertaining and definitely worth a look, but at the end of the day, being able to take it wherever is just a gimmick and the game will never be better than the console versions. Get the game if portability is something that you would appreciate or perhaps if the console versions are too expensive, as in all fairness, this game and plug-in fret board package doesn't cost more than most other brand new DS games. But if you already have any of the games in the franchise, you're not missing out on much.

I don't have any of the previous GH games not having the consoles, but have played them at friends places. So when this one came out and I was buying one for someone else I figured I should one for me too!

It takes a few goes to get into the swing of it, but the tutorials are pretty helpful. There's some decent songs to play through and I cleared the easy level in just over an hour or so, laughing most of the time how bad I was. Now I'm working on medium and hard and suddenly those 'easy' tracks really are easy! It's quite addictive trying to master each of the songs and all round good fun.

However the fret board does present some challenges. I find mine doesn't sit so firmly in the slot and has a tendency to slip out just a fraction, but it's enough to diconnect the game. The buttons are also very close together which makes it harder to actually hit the right ones. It only takes up around 2/3rds of the DS length, so maybe they could have afforded to make it slightly bigger. Also, serious hand cramp! After about fifteen minutes of playing you need to take a break. For right handed users, most of the work is done by the left which in day to day use doesn't get such a workout. I find it most comfortable leaning my arm and hand on a flat surface, like a table, to keep it straight.

All in all I think this is a good port over of the main game, and providing you don't want to sit for hours and play hardcore, it works fine.