Gaming on the Nintendo DS

A few weeks ago I tried Guitar Rock Tour for the Nintendo DS.  It was not horrible, but it really got me wanting to try a real guitar peripheral game for the DS.  The peripheral games cannot be rented through Gamefly (or if they can they do not come with the peripheral), so I had to buy it to try it.  I had a gift card for Toys R Us and even though it was only enough for half the price of the game I decided to get it there since at least that way it was new and out of pocket it would not have been much cheaper or about the same if I bought it used.

I have only had it for a few days now, but I have played enough to be glad that I did buy the game.  I really do not own many DS games and none are ones that I really like.  Now I have at least one good game for road trips and such.  I still find the controls a little uncomfortable and I think that is because I have small hands, but it is still tolerable and a much funner experience than the game without the peripheral.

The best thing about this game is that I actually know some of the songs and like them.  Most music games I dislike the songs (such as all DDR games I have played) or they are only okay (such as the Rock Band ones that come with it).  This one, though, I actually like a good portion of the songs and play with the sound on, which is extremely rare for me to do with a portable game.

Overall this is a really fun game, although I do not recommend it for kids because I think they may have even more trouble than I do with the controls due to small hands.  Those older than 12 or 13 should not have much trouble, though.  Also, the songs seem to be good clean ones as far as I can tell, so it is pretty kid friendly in this way.  The graphics are not anything special, but then again with this type of game you really are too busy pushing buttons and strumming to notice anyways.  I do really like that it comes with a little pick shaped stylus for strumming and it fits in a slot in the peripheral buttom thing.  Now if only that also had a slot for the game cartridge, as that would be totally awesome.

Hannah Montana Music Jam for Nintendo DS is an action adventure game based on the Hannah Montana Disney Channel show.  The game is a pretty good reflection of the general stuff that goes on in the show.  The gameplay is mostly running around between places and switching between being Miley and Hannah.  There are different mini games you play along the way doing things like posing for pictures, playing guitar, and figure skating.  Overall these mini games are pretty easy and fun.

This game, however, has very limited game depth.  It will probably take most only a few hours to beat and the mini games may offer some more entertainment beyond that, but I doubt it is worth purchasing for anyone.  The worst part is that the graphics make the plot part pathetic, especially since the characters look nothing like themselves for the most part.  In particular, Miley’s dad looks quite odd.

The Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensations is an adventure type music game.  It is set after between the happenings of the second and third Cheetah Girls movies.  It may be a fun game for Cheetah Girls fans, but other than that it is not a very well put together game.

The game levels are organized into days.  You do a variety of tasks helping different members of the band and try to have the target score by the end of the day.  You can go back and do tasks to get the target score.  The tasks include things like composing music by tapping the notes in the correct order, dancing by tracing paths, and singing in rhythm by blowing or singing or pressing B at the right time.  The last part is  the most disappointing, as you really cannot just sing along unless you really know the lyrics because it does not show the lyrics and you are just seeing bubbles reach a meter.  I found the only way to do it is pressing B as constantly blowing in rhythm is tiresome.  I think singing would work, but I do not know the songs good enough to even try that way.

While this game does have a decent plot and some good games that I think fans of the Cheetah Girls will enjoy, I found it tedious and boring.  Then again I do not like the Cheetah Girls or music or fashion.  The main thing that put me off about this game is the graphics are horrible.  I usually could care less about graphics and I tend to care more about gameplay, but boy are these graphics so unrealistic and poor quality for a DS game. The girls do not look like themselves at all and the downtown scenes are incomplete with odd pinkish background stuff around the edges.