Product Description

Handheld gamers can now unleash their inner rock star with Guitar Hero: On Tour for Nintendo DS. You can enjoy the unique Guitar Hero experience and show off your shredding skills with a diverse set of tracks that encompass classic rock, alternative and pop hits. The game comes with the revolutionary Guitar Hero Guitar Grip that fits into the DS and brings new thrills to handheld gaming.

Guitar Hero: On Tour offers gameplay that is easy to play yet difficult to master. Jam to your favourite tunes in Career mode and keep improving your skills. Join together with other players in Co-op mode using a local wireless network, or battle another player in a duel using new Battle Items blow into the microphone to extinguish pyrotechnics that go wrong, or use the touch screen to autograph a crazed fan's shirt.

• Includes Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Grip controller, Guitar Grip skin sheet, Guitar Grip strap
• Choose from six awesome characters and unlock five new venues
• Outfit your character in various styles and select the axe colour of your choice
• Rock out to master tracks featuring songs popularized by Nirvana, OK GO and No Doub
• Specifically designed for the unique capabilities of the Nintendo DS

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #836 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: ACTIVISION
• Released on: 2008-07-18
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Dimensions: .47 pounds

Amazon.co.uk
Guitar Hero is already one of the biggest games ever on home consoles, but can it really be made to work on a portable like the DS? A lot of effort has certainly gone into ensuring it does, with the Guitar Hero - On Tour coming bundled with a special “Guitar Grip” attachment of four plastic fret buttons.

There might be only four fret buttons, but the game can be as hard as ever

Blow into the microphone to put out a fire during an axe battle

Guitar Duels work a lot better than the boss battles in Guitar Hero III

With the Guitar Grip in place, you hold the game horizontally and watch as the notes you have to play scroll down on the top screen. You then have to press the appropriate fret buttons and strum along on the touchscreen with the included plectrum shaped stylus.

It’s a clever way to get around the fact that there’s no actual guitar controller, but watch how long you play, or you may get a case of hand cramp. You'll also want a set of headphones for maximum sound quality. No, Guitar Hero - On Tour isn't quite the same as jamming in your living room with a full guitar controller. But for the Guitar Hero-fan on the move though, this is as good as it gets.

Key Features

• Fingertip control: The Guitar Grip attachment and plectrum stylus recreate the full Guitar Hero experience a lot better than some might have expected.
• All the hits: Guitar Hero - On Tour includes 26 licensed tracks, almost all of which are master recordings, from bands including Smash Mouth, Santana, and ZZ Top.
• Familiar faces: Single-player career mode works just like on the home console games with familiar rock personas including Axel Steel and Judy Nails.
• Battle of the bands: An enhanced version of the battle mode from Guitar Hero III has you putting out flaming notes by blowing into the microphone or signing autographs as you play.
• Join a jam: Play with or against a friend in wireless mode as you jam together or take part in your own guitar duel.

About the Developer: Vicarious Visions
Founded by two brothers while they were still in school, Vicarious Visions made its name with PC space-combat sim Terminus and went on to become one of the most prolific portable developers in the United States before being acquired by Activision in 2005.

Manufacturer's Description
Liberate your inner rock star--anytime, anywhere. Guitar Hero: On Tour allows gamers to take the rock-solid Guitar Hero experience wherever they go. Utilizing a revolutionary Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral that fits in the Game Pak slot on the Nintendo DS and an included pick stylus, Guitar Hero: On Tour gives fans the ability to shred along with their favourite tunes with complete portability.

The soundtrack features exclusive music with a diverse set list of master tracks including classic rock, alternative, and pop favourites. Rock out to 25 monster tracks, 20 of which are exclusive to the DS, including Do What You Want by OK Go, All the Small Things by Blink-182, Spiderwebs by No Doubt, Are you Gonna Be My Girl by Jet, and We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister.

Guitar Hero: On Tour takes full advantage of Nintendo DS capabilities, including activating star power by yelling "Rock Out" into the DS microphone. Blow into the DS microphone when the touch screen is set on fire in pyrotechnics. Sign an autograph when it is requested by an excited fan. Fix a broken string by dragging the broken ends together.

Prove your guitar shredding skills while navigating through Career, Quick Play or Guitar Dual modes. Or go multiplayer in Face Off, Pro Face Off and Co-op and Guitar Duel modes--all utilizing local wireless play.

Select from six characters including two new rockers exclusive to the DS. You can also choose from a vast collection of guitars and all new musical venues.

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Customer Reviews

Not quite guitar hero PS3, but still pretty damn good!
I'm sure people will be wondering how they could possibly port over Guitar Hero from the main consoles down to the DS. You may be worrying that this is just a cheap copy missing many of the main ingredients that makes guitar hero so fun, but let me put your mind at ease and tell you that this game is surprisingly good!

The guitar peripheral plugs into the bottom of the DS and brings the four coloured buttons, the usual version has 5 but I'm not really missing the extra one.

The touch screen is used to 'strum' on the strings of the guitar and this is where the game manages to make you feel a little like you are playing a real guitar.

The tracklist is mainly recent songs (less than 10 years old) such as All the Small Things (Blink 182). They have brought over some songs from other Guitar Hero games which makes the experience even more familiar eg Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Pat Benetar) - the tracklist doesn't contain as many songs as the other versions - only 26 songs, but they are mainly original versions (only about 4 or 5 covers) and good quality.

You can play in 'Quickplay', 'Career Mode' or 'Guitar Duel'. Quickplay and Career Mode are the same as in all previous versions of the game.
'Guitar Duel' is brought over from Guitar Hero 3 and is the 2 player version which must be played locally (not online), they have added some unique features to this DS version. Whilst GH3 duels required you to press certain keys on the guitar to fend off 'attacks' - the DS uses its touch screen to create a much more fun (and sometimes more challenging) experience.

The attacks that someone may inflict on you are very creative and include:-
'autograph' - where a fan demands an autograph, you have to quickly scribble down your name before you can continue playing.
'fire' - where your guitar sets on fire, you blow out this fire literally by blowing at the screen (picked up by the microphone)
'flip screen' where the 2 screens swap places, which disorientates you a little, making you likely to miss a few notes

Overall I can't imagine them having done a better job with a first version. Maybe if they release a sequel, they may consider online play but this is a small criticism for what I consider an excellent game!

Portable but with problems...
first of all some basic info which i think people appreciate but don't find in many reviews:

Game has 3 separate save files to save data.
Multi-card 2 player mode (Multi-card meaning each person needs a game cartridge and Fret board add-on)
Fret board includes a changeable cartridge pieces to allow it to fit into either DS or DS Lite (This is because GBA/DS add-on packs would normally stick out about 1cm on the DS Lite).
Strap, pick stylus, and stickers are also included.
Fret board has a changeable skin (more ways to make money I guess).
Fret Board consists of four fret buttons instead of the usual five.
The pick stylus is replaceable and can be bought from any good video game store.

Now onto my actual review:

The concept is great... Take the popular game franchise and make it portable. The game itself is not bad, the graphics are decent for the DS, and the strumming on the touch screen isn't too hard to get use to. you also have four buttons instead of the usual five which in theory should make the game easier and ideal to some players.

"Decent" and "reasonable" are the words that best suite this game as although the idea of taking the franchise portable is great for fans on the go, there really isn't anything new. You get a few features that only the DS can provide such as using the microphone to blow out a fire in duel mode but the game is let down by the difficulty in actually playing the game.

The problem in playing the game lies mainly in the plug-in fret board. For younger players this may not be a problem, but for teenagers and older, the Fret board can be very uncomfortable and painful just to play through a single song! I found it somewhat challenging to hold the fret board where i could both strum and see the screens, and remain comfortable. The frets are also a lot smaller than the original games, which is understandable, but in my opinion, just a little too small for most adult players. I also find the blue fret's position difficult to hit when you consider the length of the pinky compare to the rest of your fingers.

another thing that should be noted is that should you accidentally slide the fret board out of place, and disconnect it, you will need to turn the power off and on again. This can easily be done if not careful, but does not appear to be a problem if it happens when the DS is closed.

All in all you have a game which is fun to play if you can find a way to hold it comfortably, has decent graphics for the DS, and contains some good songs (some are from previous games though). One thing that is missing that i particularly miss is the artwork on the game screens fret board. This is however somewhat made up for by having your guitar of choice on the touch screen to strum.

It is entertaining and definitely worth a look, but at the end of the day, being able to take it wherever is just a gimmick and the game will never be better than the console versions. Get the game if portability is something that you would appreciate or perhaps if the console versions are too expensive, as in all fairness, this game and plug-in fret board package doesn't cost more than most other brand new DS games. But if you already have any of the games in the franchise, you're not missing out on much.

Guitar Hero: On Tour
I bought this game when it came out (18th July) and i must say i absolutly love it! I have never had a guitar hero game before and i love the way its so different and it works so well! I found myself addicted to it in a couple of hours and getting into music that would never have listened to before! I also love the fact that you use a plectrum type stylus to play!

Unlike another reviewer i found the add-on (with the buttons) easy to use and iam 21 so i would say i have big fingers!

To conclude i think that any guitar hero or NDS fans should buy without hesitation. I cant wait to play this on holiday and look like a complete idiot! hahah!