|
Once upon a time, there was a little game that could. It started out as a novelty and was a tough sell due to the price, but all it took was one good Christmas season fueled by word-of-mouth and some strategically placed demo kiosks to gain a foothold. The meteoric rise to fame meant, somehow, it would eventually end up on the DS, and now there have been two versions in under six months. Still, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades works surprisingly well, despite its truncated set list. Everyone's played Guitar Hero or one of its variants by now, so there's not much point in rehashing the gameplay. The note pips still stream down same as they ever have, though cut down to four colors on the DS, and strumming while holding the appropriate button as they cross the line at the bottom of the screen still keeps the guitar track playing and the score multiplier alive. The only major difference is the clever little add-on that converts the DS into a pseudo-guitar. Packaged with Decades (or the previous On Tour) is a large plastic widget that attaches to the DS by its GBA port. This is the Guitar Grip, and it contains the hand-strap and four colored fret buttons that make Guitar Hero playable. The DS is held book-style during gameplay, so the fret buttons are at a 90-degree angle to the scrolling pips, but once the minute it takes to get used to that is over it's time for the real challenge: learning to hold the DS in such a way that your hand doesn't cramp up into an unusable claw in the middle of the first song. The following information is included due to the sheer number of complaints about the Guitar Grip, which I'll admit took some experimentation to get working right. The strap on the back of the Guitar Grip looks perfect for putting a hand through, but that's just going to result in the DS sliding down your hand and needing to be readjusted a few times per song while every tendon screams bloody murder. Once you hook just your thumb through the strap, adjusting the strap's length so that your fingers rest naturally above the fret buttons, all problems are solved and it works perfectly, cramp-free. It takes a few tries to get right, but once done you never have to think about it again. The other advantage of this setup is that it almost completely eliminates the Guitar Grip ever coming loose from the DS mid-song. Once the mechanics are out of the way it's time to settle down for a good round of Guitar Hero, and Decades does about as well as you could hope from a handheld version despite some design oddities. The left screen has the note track, but the touch screen on the right has the strum bar, multiplier, score, and star-power meter. Looking away from the note track is always a bad idea, so this information is all but hidden during any song that needs focus. It would be nice to have this info without having to break out the peripheral vision, but that doesn't make nailing the songs any less fun. The songs are all originals, divided up (as the title suggests) by decades, but there are only 28 available. The set lists are divided between Modern, 2000, 1990, 1980, and 1970, with four songs and an encore in each and three more as unlockables. Whether the song list is any good or not is a matter of personal preference, but it's hard to go wrong with Can't Stop, Sweet Home Alabama, or I Can't Drive 55. As an added feature, Decades links up with the original On Tour and the two can stream songs between them in multiplayer. Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades is a competent if smallish version of the console series. There have been a few concessions made to the handheld format, but the only real letdown is the tiny playlist. The mechanics are solid, the music is decent, and overall it's a nice substitute for when you can't rock out in widescreen stereo glory. So long as you don't mind looking like a doofus in public, Decades is a capable, portable addition to the ever-growing Guitar Hero library. |
