Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS Review

Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS can be bought as just the game, however, this is only a good idea if you already have the guitar peripheral.  If you do not have the guitar peripheral, then you should buy the package with the peripheral, as otherwise you will not be able to actually play the game.  The peripheral slides into the Game Boy Advance slot on the DS and has four buttons (green, red, yellow, and blue).  It also has a strap on the back of it to slide your hand through and make for more comfortable playing.  The peripheral also has a guitar pick shaped stylus to use for strumming.  The stylus conveniently slides into a slot on the top of the peripheral.  The peripheral does almost double the thickness of the DS, but it really makes for a better guitar music game.  I have played other DS music games that do not have a peripheral and it is simply strumming, etc., and no where near as enjoyable as this game and a big reason is the peripheral. 

In career mode you play live shows. There are a total of 25 songs to play and four different difficulty modes to try and master. You can change characters and their outfits as well as your guitar as often as you want. You purchase the outfits and guitars in the store part from the career mode menu once they have been unlocked and you have earned enough money to purchase them.

In career mode there are a total of five venues to unlock and it is the same for each difficulty level. In each venue they unlock with four songs and the fifth unlocks after you have completed the other four. The next venue then unlocks when you beat the fifth song. Just a few of the songs are "All Star," "Jessie's Girl," and "All the Small Things."

You play the songs by simply pressing the the guitar peripheral and tap the touch screen to play the notes at the right time.  You keep touching the screen to play the long notes using whammy.  You blow into the mic or say anything to get the star power to go when the meter is at least half full. 

The set up of Guitar Duels is similar to Career Mode in that there are 25 songs to beat separated into five venues.  It also has 4 difficulty levels to master.  The gameplay plays a little differently in that you do not just strum and press the right buttons to correspond with the notes.  You also have to deal with obstacles put on you by the computer opponent, such as reattaching broken strings, avoiding bomb notes, and blowing out fire.  You can also send obstacles at them by selecting the items you get by hitting the right notes.  This mode offers more of a challenge than Career mode, but can also offer more frustration.  This is more of a competitive mode while I see Career Mode as more of a relaxation mode, especially when playing within my difficulty level. 

Overall I enjoy Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS.  The peripheral is a little uncomfortable for my small hands, but I do still like it a lot more than the guitar games on the DS I have played without a peripheral.  The music is decent, although there is not all that many songs.  The gameplay depth is limited because of only 25 songs, but it does have a good amount of replay value as well as trying to succeed at the higher difficulty levels.