LEGO Rock Band (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

It appears that the LEGO franchise is now powerful enough to take on just about anything. We've already had Batman and Star Wars and the plastic brick manufacturer's take on Harry Potter will be with us sometime this year. Here we have Rock Band, a title which has previously bypassed the DS altogether in favor of the more powerful home consoles. The rhythm series has just raised its worldwide profile thanks to its partnership with The Beatles and a package that allowed you to become one of the Fab Four in your very own living room. This DS version, you'll be happy to know, doesn't have any bulky add-ons (like Activision's Guitar Hero) but is it as much fun as previous LEGO outings?

Gameplay

While you can just jump into the action with a single song, the Tour mode is a far more enjoyable and immersive experience. This puts you though your paces as a band beginning at the very bottom, playing small gigs with few fans and only the most basic of transport to get you around. Obviously it gets better as you play more your wealth as well as your fan base will grow and so you'll be able to purchase better equipment and an entourage of hair and make-up assistants along with roadies and people who hang around just to boost your flagging ego. It's not only about pleasing the fans though, you'll also be thrown into the odd challenge (thanks to the strange venues you end up playing) and 'fighting off a giant octopus' or 'rocking ghosts to the after life' won't be out of the question. The main problem here is the fact that it's the same gameplay over and over again and given the Multiplayer is based on the same thing, even playing with friends can become a little tiresome after a while.

Controls

Given the way most developers approach the DS you might expect a rhythm game to use the touch screen but Rock Band relies on the more traditional controls in challenging you to keep the beat. This involves hitting the correct notes at just the right time using the A and X buttons and Up and Left on the D-pad. The more notes you hit the more fans and points you'll get. There are different settings for these so you can keep things very simple by just selecting the bottom level, which only requires two inputs. This is Rock Band though so you won't only be concerned with a single member of the group but rather all four and it's essential that you involve everyone in the track, swapping between each musician with the shoulder buttons. Leave a member too long and their icon will begin to flash, forcing you to control their input for a while. If you chose to ignore this the whole band will lose their place in the song forcing you to pick up the pieces (or at least the chords).

Graphics

While this isn't the greatest looking game on the DS the visuals do their job and you have to remember that there's a great deal going on here (and on both screens). The game still features the wonderful FMV clips though which more than compensates for the initial disappointment of the 'in-game' graphics.

Sound

As you'd expect from a music-based title, the sound quality here is absolutely stunning and the track list is just as impressive. There really is something to please everyone here and the 25 (full length) tracks span everything from modern classics to memorable tunes from the 70's and 80's. You can play along to the Ghostbusters theme tune or get rocking with some of Queen's greatest hits. These are split into four separate streams (Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Drums and Lyrics) each of which becomes the prominent sound as and when you select that part of the track to concentrate on. You'll even hear the sound falter when you miss some of the beats, which does make for more immersive musical experience.

Dual screen

Other than some menu selections, you won't use your stylus at all, which is a bit of a surprise.

Final comments

If you happen to be one of the many rhythm game fans then LEGO Rock Band is probably just what you are looking for and, although it's taken some time for the franchise to reach the DS, it was well worth the wait. The game is packed with a many original tracks and features the same LEGO branded humor that made Travelers Tales games so popular. It's not the same as the console versions but it's just about as good as it gets on the DS. If you happen not to be a fan of the whole Rock Band/Guitar Hero thing though, then there's little here to change your mind and you probably shouldn't have even started reading this in the first place..

Pro: Outstanding Music Quality and Selection, Still Very Funny
Con: Simplistic Gameplay, Can Become Repetitive
Final score: 7.5

Share on Twitter or Facebook

Comments