Guitar Hero on Tour Decades Nintendo DS Review

Rated E 10+ by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). This game is for everybody ages 10 and older, it has songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s and today. If you love Guitar Hero then this game is the same with a few minor changes to meet the Nintendo DS portable system. There are only four buttons instead of six like the home system has, but you can still get the same effect.

The game comes with a guitar grip strap, a pick stylus but it does not come with an instruction booklet. It's best to visit your local game store that sells Nintendo game cases so you can keep your game secure. To get started you need to fire up the game and touch the icon labeled Guitar Hero On Tour Decades. Game play instructions will appear and it will show you how to hold the Nintendo so you can play.

Once you are past the beginning information a heavy metal guitar starts playing and you know that its time to rock out. You have five prompts on the start screen, Single Player, Multiplayer, Training, Options and Credits. Single Player gives you the option of Career or Quickplay. Choose Career and you get to create a profile under New Band, you can use you your name or a fictitious band name. Sal will help you set up your profile, you can only use eight letters for your band name, and then you will set up your character and pick your guitar. After that you will be given instructions on how to play. Read thoroughly if you have never played before.

Quickplay for is for beginners and lists all the songs available minus the mystery songs. You can begin playing immediately with Quickplay. All you have to do is pick a song and get started. To hear a snippet of the track just tap on it and it will play.

During the tutorial you will be given information about how to boost your score and how to use the whammy bar to get extra points. You can also get star power by yelling into the mic on your Nintendo DS. If you see somebody yelling at their DS then you know what is going on, if you don't want to yell you can blow air into the mic or press any button on the control pad, yelling is more fun though.

Once you have set everything up, you can choose your storyline, Lead Guitar, Bass/Rhythm Guitar or Guitar Duel. If you choose Guitar Duel you will need to have some more strumming under your belt. You pick your song and then you start playing in a venue. Once you are done it will give you a score and percentage. It tells you how many notes you hit and what your streak was. You will earn money towards equipment and clothes.

After you have completed the song it will check it off your list and then you can choose another. If you want to hear what the song sounds like just click on it and listen. You can also get song information about each track by selecting "Info". You must clear all the songs on your list to unlock other songs.

There are four levels of difficulty, Easy is for beginners, Medium is for those who have played for a little while. Hard is for those players who want to challenge themselves. Expert is reserved for hard core gamers. There are three mystery songs to unlock. Overall this game is fun for those who like Guitar Hero and love the music it provides.