
Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades

The popularity of the Guitar Hero series is undeniable. Love it or really love it, people are buying the games off the shelves and rocking out to the music. While Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades does not have any fancy guitars, drums or microphones like the console Guitar Hero games do, it does get a nifty handheld fret bar that is similar to selecting notes on the frets of a guitar. The device simply plugs in to the Game Boy Advance slot and players hold the Nintendo DS sideways using the touch screen to strum.
There are a few noted differences in this version of On Tour in comparison to the original. First, there are three play modes. The play modes include the guitar story, the bass story and a guitar duel. Second, there is a few tweaks to the touch screen display including Star Power activation. The problem is that the new display arrangement reduces the field for strumming. Finally, the song lists is now similar to that of the console versions of Guitar Hero and feature more of the popular songs.
A feature that was previously available in the original game, but no one could use it, was the ability to exchange songs between the versions of On Tour. That is right, if a player has the original On Tour and another has On Tour Decades, they can play songs from each version in the versus modes. What happens is the song is temporarily downloaded in to the Nintendo DS' memory and is purged when the song is completed.
The game's sound is near the best the Nintendo DS can serve. While it may be in stereo, like in the original, there seems to be a little bit of over modulation in the audio. Over modulation is that static a player hears when the sound becomes louder than the game system can handle. Turning down the game system does not help. However, for the best audio results, wear a stereo headset. Graphically the game is equal to the original. The menus and backgrounds have changed, but the result is essentially the same.
This game contains more songs than the original dating back to the 70s to more recent times. To unlock every song, players must play through each of the venues. What is missing is a lack of an online mode and unless there is another player with either On Tour game around quite often, there is little reason to keep playing.
If you love music games and either cannot afford a game console, the Guitar Hero games or perhaps love to travel, this game is for you. If you already own the console versions of Guitar Hero and do not travel, you may simply be wasting your money.
Review ID: 10000000010734937

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