So why is it not good? Well, for starters, my hands cramped up in the middle of the first song, “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, because of the placement of the buttons. There is NO landscape view in the game, even though you’ll be wishing they’d implemented it before you’re through playing your first set. It definitely would’ve been a lot less painful on my hands.
The main issue with the placement is that the buttons are so close together that you’re bound to hit the wrong note, expert or not. So what’s this do? Why, lower your score of course. And being a huge music fan (and Rock Band fan in general), I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to playing. I actually hit a friend of mine once when he purposefully kept messing me up. So you can understand my annoyance when on the first set, I only scored 95% on the “hard” difficulty level...and I can hit 100% on that song in the real game!
The music selection is also rather limited at first. I was really hoping for a wider selection, but it seems that beggars can’t be choosers with this. Yes, you now have in-app purchasing so you can get more songs, but why not include them in the primary release? Wouldn’t it have made more sense? I know I’m not one who’s always willing to play Blondie, but throw me a bone here! Packing in a mere 15 songs is not enough for a guy who almost filled up his 32GB iPhone 3GS with music. And the fact is that I really don’t like Blink-182 nor have I ever heard of the song “Hanging on the Telephone” by Blondie.
But enough with the negative aspects. After playing the game for about an hour, I found that the music actually came in rather clearly through my iPhone’s speaker. There was very little distortion and even the lyrics were very clear. The timing of the button-mashing ranks up there with games like Tap Tap Revenge and Tapulous (very early iPhone games from the App Store that have seen success.) Even the graphics rank highly compared to the game on the PSP, XBOX 360, and PS3.
It’s also a fun portable version in the sense that the version available for the PSP is only mediocre. Even the version of Guitar Hero on the Nintendo DS provides fun in the sense that you are playing a mini guitar (a little like a ukulele when you think about it). But there are a few more drawbacks to consider...
The accelerometer factor - In order to activate “Star Power,” you have to practically shake the phone. Since my iPhone doesn’t have a lanyard or clip on it, the odds of it slipping from my hands are HUGE! The fact is, they probably could have put in a button on the side or something, but, of course, they didn’t. Keep it true to the actual instruments, right? So if I break my phone, will MTV/Harmonix pay for it?
PRICE!!! - The game was originally released with a $9.99 price tag. I got it for $6.99, which is still a hefty price tag to pay considering the amount of content. Hardcore Rock Band fans may be willing to pick it up, but the price tag isn’t justified in reference to the actual game itself. I’ve paid less money for better iPhone games.
So what it really comes down to is this: Is it worth the $9.99 price point for the possibility of having to spend an extra $199 - $299 to get your iPhone replaced when it goes flying out of your hands? Having seen enough cracked iPhone screens, I don’t think so.
Andy Edelheit is a techno geek who works for a computer retailer in Long Island, NY.