Guitar Hero: On Tour

As our industry strides confidently into a brave new world of mass-market, family-friendly gaming, there are a handful of franchises that are leading the march. And despite what you might think, they’re not all made by Nintendo.

Granted, without the DS and Wii it’s likely that this revolution would never be happening. But the same can be said of Sony’s EyeToy, Buzz! and SingStar titles. And it would be criminal to leave Activision’s Guitar Hero from that list.

Guitar Hero first emerged on PS2 in late 2005 courtesy of developer Harmonix, which up to that point had achieved success with the likes of Amplitude and Frequency. Guitar Hero II came the following year, but after the Guitar Hero: Rock The 80s edition, and the buyout of publisher RedOctane by Activision, Tony Hawk’s developer Neversoft took over the reigns – resulting in the release of the global smash Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock last year.

This third edition of the game has been an ongoing presence in the UK charts since its release. It’s a constant feature in the Top Ten lists for all three next-gen consoles, and at the time of going to press actually features three times in the PS2 Top Ten. It’s just one of those titles that appeals to everyone – thanks mostly to its frankly awesome guitar peripheral.

And its this truth that makes the move to DS a bit of a challenge – carrying around a replica guitar doesn’t exactly fit well with the ethos of portable gaming. But Vicarious Visions, the developer behind this outing, has come up with a remarkable solution.

On Tour comes bundled with a ‘Guitar Grip’ peripheral, which slots into the DS’s cartridge slot, and a custom fret-style-stylus. Gamers hold one of the four fret buttons as they strum on the touch screen – on first glance it seems radically different, but in practise the experience is remarkably similar to the version we’re all accustomed to.

Other features including blowing into the microphone to extinguish out-of-control pyrotechnic displays, and signing fan’s shirts using the stylus. Activision also says that the game contains the most ‘diverse’ track list ever on a Guitar Hero title.
Considering the wide-reaching appeal of both the Guitar Hero franchise and Nintendo’s portable hardware, it’s safe to assume that On Tour will be nothing other than a huge commercial success. Rock on!