| 
| From: Activision Inc.
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $42.90
You Save: $7.09 (14%)
New (43) Used (13) from $37.00
Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 136
Platform: Nintendo Ds
Genre: musical_instrument_games
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Media: Video Game
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Nintendo DS
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.4 x 2
MPN: 95327
Model: 400009415834
UPC: 047875953277
EAN: 0047875953277
ASIN: B0013ZEMUK
Release Date: June 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 What should have been. June 26, 2008
W. Ashcraft (Michigan)
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
It was a great idea, however the track list is small and includes songs we've seen before. The least they could have done if including songs they're used before is to throw us some GH1 songs we haven't played in a while. Even the new songs aren't a huge draw for me, so if you like the songs on it your mileage may vary.
The controller is a great idea but I find the buttons too close, so I have to squeeze my fingers over the buttons. Playing the game was fairly uncomfortable. I hardly have big hands, I would hate to see someone like that try this game.
Even with these problems I had the game wasn't too challenging to pick up and play. While I'm hardly good- In GH3 I sometimes struggle on Expert, I had no problem beating songs on expert here. I suppose they pulled the difficulty down to make up for 4 buttons on a portable system, but I think it came down a bit too much.
 A Rockin' Good Time! June 22, 2008
Marcie K. Kuehl (Madison, WI United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This game is GREAT. A must have for Guitar Hero fans. The gameplay is the same but the interface is very creative (Strumming on the touch screen, yelling ROCK OUT! at your DS to activate Star Power).
The song selection is good and the sound quality is pretty good too considering how small the DS is.
A Pessimest's Perspective June 23, 2008
S. Bates (Chicago, IL)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
As a fan of Guitar Hero I and II (notice I left III off), I was curious how the handheld version would play. My initial decision was to not buy the game, but a coupon from BestBuy and egging from my 8 year old son was enough to take a chance. My main concern was the difficulty in setting up, using the fret buttons and strumming using the touch screen. I watched a few non-Activision videos on YouTube which made the game play look reasonable. After buying the game, it was a good decision. My son had the game out of the box and without any help was strumming away before we got home. In fact, he is having such fun with it, that I was only able to get it away from him for one song (I hit 94% of the notes).
With regard to complaints of sound quality, the DS is not meant to have great sound. If you want better sound, put in earphones which makes the sound better and the game more enjoyable for those trying to watch TV or read. The graphic are exceptional. The only down side is the number of songs available. In total there are 25, so I cannot comment on the replay factor of this game. My guess, is GH:On Tour II will be out soon enough. Enjoy!
Great, with some flaws June 23, 2008
Jeremy Tartaglia (Florida, USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
For those who have never played Guitar Hero before, this game is a pretty good replication of it. You have four fret buttons (as opposed to the normal five buttons) which each represent a different note to play on your guitar. With your pick, you can strum the note (on the touch screen display) you've chosen with the fret buttons. Do this correctly multiple times, and you can play a song. Fail, and well, you fail the song. The play is identical to that of any Guitar Hero game, or even the competing Rock Band.
The biggest difference in this game versus all the other Guitar Heroes (and Rock Band) is in how you interact with your 'guitar'. Rather than having a physical guitar controller, you have instead a Gameboy Advance Pack, which plugs into the accompanying slot on the DS. This pack has your four fret buttons, and a hand strap to keep your hand from slipping. Or so they say.
Out of the box, the pack will plug directly into a Nintendo DS Lite. Having bought the original DS when it came out, I was rather annoyed at the fact that I had to unscrew the DS lite adapter, and attach the 'classic' DS adapter. And here I thought the Gameboy Advance cartridges were all the same size.
This cartridge is where most of the flaws of the game come into play. The fret buttons themselves are so small and so close together that even an expert Guitar Hero player will have difficulty getting used to it. Having played on expert level, I felt like playing this game was a lot like roller skating down a well greased bowling alley. I don't see this as a major problem, though, since I enjoy the challenge and that "newbie" feeling of playing Guitar Hero for the first time. But it can be quite frustrating.
Another major flaw stemming from the "cartridge" is that there's nothing to secure the cart in the slot. While playing through some particularly difficult solos, you might find yourself staring at a red screen of "death", that says you were "rocking out too hard", and you need to turn off the DS and plug the cartridge back in. This is a major nuisance on those tough songs when you finally do well through the solo, but end up having to redo it anyway.
The third major flaw with the game comes from the strap. My hands must be quite unique, because my pinkie is shorter than all my other fingers. When my hand was strapped in, my fingers were just barely on the buttons. All in all, I hadmaybe 1/4 of an inch clearance between my fingers and the buttons, except my pinkie finger, which has none and barely touches the blue button at all. This is quite annoying, if only for the fact that, instead of moving the whole finger, you're limited to moving only the last knuckle or so. It's even worse in fast sections, when you need more leverage, and can even become painful (achy and sore) after just a few minutes of play. While you can adjust the strap to your liking, I found that the "recommended" way to play is really the best, and the tighter your hand is secured, the less likely you are to hit wrong buttons.
The last minor issue is that a number of songs from this version can be played on other versions of Guitar Hero (and Rock Band). Although not an issue for people new to the genre, it is a bit of a let down, to buy a game with 25 songs, 9 of which you've already played. Fortunately, the notes aren't the same, so the songs feel and play different.
Even despite the numerous flaws for "adult" sized hands, cartridge/strap design, and similar songs, the game is fun and addicting, just like all other versions of the game, and definitely a good buy for people who already own a DS. If you don't, I wouldn't recommend buying it just for this game until you try it out first, just due to the issues I've had so far.
The Pessimists Optimist! June 29, 2008
T. Rhodes (Celts,Sox & Pats Rule)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
C'mon folks, it's not perfect, but given what we have to work with, this game is awesome! I'm a big guy with big hands and fingers and I have no problems hitting the notes up to the medium level. It gets a little more interesting after that, but I have the same issues with the regular sized GH game. So it's more my skill level than a flaw in the design of the game.
Stop complaining and have fun with it, after all isn't that why we use the DS in the first place?
|
|
|
