Preview - Guitar Hero: On Tour

Guitar Hero is one of those few games that manages to catch the attention of a broad range of people. The Guitar Hero series has made fans of hardcore gamers, people that never play video games, and everyone in between. However, Guitar Hero has never really been available to people on the go. That is, the experience hasn't been available until yesterday's release of Guitar Hero: On Tour. On Tour makes use of a proprietary accessory that helps capture the Guitar Hero experience.

Today, we go hands on with the new game and its unique way of playing. The full review will be on its way in the near future.


Due to the physical constraints of the DS system, the guitar panel has been reduced from five buttons to four buttons. It's possibly because of this that the game seems a bit easier than Guitar Hero III does. The buttons on the adapter seem a bit small for large hands, but they still work well. Instead of creating a strum bar, On Tour includes a pick-shaped stylus to simulate strumming the on-screen guitar.

As unconventional as this all sounds, the core experience really does translate surprisingly well to the DS. In fact, as a self-proclaimed guitarist, I find using the touch screen to strum much more natural than the strum-bar on the traditional guitar controllers.


In technical terms, the game is pretty impressive so far. The set-list may only be 25 songs deep, but it's a strong set-list with little redundancy from previous Guitar Hero games. The actual sound is general clear and accurate to the original song recordings, which is an impressive feat on the DS. Likewise, the graphics have been rather impressive. Though it seems likely that the video side of things is pre-rendered, that's not really a let-down. The character models are surprisingly smooth and detailed.

And, so far, the game is a blast to play. The game responds quickly and accurately to the controls. The songs are fun, too. However, whether it's the lack of a fourth button or just the way the songs are designed, the difficulty level seems a definite step down from Guitar Hero III. Perhaps this is a design decision for on-the-go gamers.

My only other complaint so far is that, in learning how to hold the DS right, my wrist cramps up fairly quickly when playing some of the more intensive songs. Beyond that, I actually find it more comfortable to use the traditional stylus than than pick-style stylus.

Morally, the game is a mixed bag like its predecessors. Some characters are immodestly dressed, and the lyrics range from clean to implicitly sexual. The game hasn't come off as overbearing in these things, but they are there and worthy of note.

Still, on the whole, On Tour has been a surprisingly good jump to handheld gaming for the series. Fans of the series could be happy that not a lot has been added to the gameplay, but the way it is played is a cool change of pace. Look forward to a full and detailed review soon.

-Kenny Yeager (kenny@revolve21.com)