Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (Nintendo DS) Review

If you've ever wanted to act like a musician on a bus while staring at a plastic-and-metal box, now's a pretty good time for you. Rock Band Unplugged was recently released on PSP, and we're now on the third DS version of Guitar Hero in less than twelve months; the swift development cycle made possible thanks to the shared engine on the platform. As with the others, the GBA slot guitar grip is mandatory for play, leaving DSi owners out in the cold until somebody works out a way of prising the money out of their hands, too, and the idea still works surprisingly well. Slip your hand into the handle to secure your hold on the system, press the four coloured buttons for your notes and strum on the touch screen, rubbing about for whammy bar sections, and you're well on the way to portable rock stardom. Maybe you could even go busking with it, if you can ignore the hand cramps that tend to come in after 20 minutes of play. Take regular breaks.

It's a solid concept, but the same cannot be said for the tracklisting, which leaves something to be desired for anybody who is not a massive fan of mainstream modern music. It does what it says on the tin. There's nothing that is a particularly big hitter outside of The Dandy Warhols' 'Bohemian Like You', Kings Of Leon's 'On Call' or a number of tracks from overrated British bands, and it's worrying to see a game kick off with an Avril Lavigne song ('When You're Gone' ). You can, however, use the excellent multiplayer mode to hook up with the previous On Tour games and stream songs from both versions to each other in the session; fantastic when you consider their superior setlists.

It's pleasing to see that lessons have been learnt as the music genre has grown; all songs, with multiple guitar tracks such as bass alternatives, are unlocked from the very start in the Quick Play mode, meaning you're not going to have to play for 13 hours and get five stars on everything just to play Tenacious D's 'The Metal'. Things are more irritating in the Career. You play a number of songs at each venue but, rather than progressing after simply completing the songs, you have to expand your fanbase until it's of a sufficient size to move on. This involves repeating the same songs multiple times to complete challenges (fan requests) such as 'play 90% of the notes' or 'fill your star power meter', which in more cases than not you will have accomplished during your initial playthrough if you were on a difficulty setting comfortable to you. It would have worked a lot better if these challenges 'stacked', so if you inadvertently fulfilled them while playing the regular songs you would gain extra fans and complete the challenge at the same time, thus taking down the amount of repetition; as it is, it serves only to artificially lengthen the game.

The only exceptions are the duel challenges, wherein you still have to play the same songs but against an AI opponent. In duels battle item sequences replace the regular star power ones, awarding objects that hinder your opponent (or you) in a variety of ways; for example, by speeding up their highway or having cameras flash over their screen. Others use DS functions, such as the one that forces you to sign autographs mid-song, or the screen-switching power-up - perhaps an ill-advised inclusion given the appeal of the series to the casual consumer, since the top screen is, of course, not a touch screen. You might not want to play duel mode on the bus, either, as one of the objects involves blowing out fire with the microphone. At least for star power you can just click the touch screen while out and about...though feel free to yell to activate it all you like when you're in a nice, safe place. Alone.