Posted: Friday 1st August 2008

Guitar Hero has become a cultural phenomenon. After conquering all the major gaming consoles, the popular title has finally made its debut on a handheld with Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS. How can this be we hear you cry? Surely you don’t have a wireless controller that works with the DS do you? Well the answer is no you don’t but what you do get is a very nifty Guitar Grip that plugs into the Gameboy Advance cartridge slot on your DS. The Guitar Grip has four coloured buttons on in a similar style to the wireless guitar controller for the console versions of the game.

So how do you strum your guitar without an actual replica guitar? Well the Guitar Grip contains a stylus pick that you use to strum a virtual guitar on the touch screen. This can be a little tricky to begin with but as you get the hang of it, it becomes really easy to strum in time. As with the console versions, you must strum and hit the right note determined by the coloured notes hurtling toward you on the screen. We can just about cope with Medium difficulty but once you go higher than that we just fall to pieces. Hard and Expert are incredibly difficult to master but they give you something to practice for and when you do get it right it feels incredibly rewarding.

Boasting 25 tracks from bands including Maroon 5, Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt and Daughtry, Guitar Hero: On Tour puts a bit more of a pop slant onto the proceedings. Those looking for the legendary guitar solos featured in the original Guitar Hero games may be disappointed but we were mostly happy with the song selection.

For the DS version you can choose to play guitar or bass. Playing bass adds a new dimension to the game and allows you to change things up a little if you need a break from guitar.

The real highlight of this title is the Guitar Grip. It works really well and as it fits into the palm of your hand, it doesn’t feel awkward to use. Co-ordinating your finger movements takes a little getting used to but you pick it up fairly quickly. The only real issue with the gameplay is the strumming but once you’ve played on the title for long enough you’ll get it right fairly quickly.

Alongside the Career, Quick Play and Practice modes, gamers can also choose to hook up with a friend and play via the Wi-Fi connection. Gamers can choose to play together on the same track with parts split out or they can battle to their hearts content and claim victory as the best guitarist around.

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a great addition to the Guitar Hero series. Whilst it doesn’t offer the same incredible experience as the console versions, it does an admirable job of trying to replicate the experience. For the most part it succeeds and Guitar Hero: On Tour is one of the strongest DS titles to be released in ages. The game is sure to become a classic and we can’t wait to see what the makers have up their sleeves next.