Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero - is a blast!!

Mom Central asked us to try out 2 Nintendo DS versions of Guitar Hero - Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits and the Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.

When the box arrived, I handed each of my kids a game and told them they had to play it and let me know how they liked it. They sat there for a moment - I think they were stunned that I was making them play video games. They quickly got over it and got down to business.

The games come with stickers that you can stick on your DS. Personally, I didn't think they'd be into that at all. I was wrong. They loved the stickers. They each spent about 20 minutes deciding what stickers they would use on their DS and where they'd put them... They are 16 and 14. I guess some stickers are still cool.

The game comes with a guitar grip thing - I'm oh so technical - that goes into one of the slots on the DS. This grip has the colored buttons on it that you use to control the game. There is also a guitar pick that slides into the grip for safe keeping. (Those developers really thought of everything.) You use the pick to strum and the buttons are the frets and strings... It's pretty ingenious!! Anyway, the game comes with a skin that you can put into the grip to personalize the look of your grip... If you want to make your own skin or want a cooler skin, you can go to the Guitar Hero website and print out your own skins from the Grip Gallery... How cool is that?


Speaking of the Guitar Hero website - go take a look. I'll wait. It is really quite awesome. There is information there for parents and kids. We parents want information - and it is all there - ergonomics, song lists, how and where to purchase, etc. Kids want the good stuff - skins, videos, the Which rocker are you? quiz... (I'm Calista Valenz, by the way - tough as nails and sweet like candy - how did they know??)

Both of my kids have played the PS2 version of Guitar Hero, so they knew the rules and such. They got their headphones all plugged into their DSs and started rocking. Since they had different versions, the music was different and they didn't want to listen to the other one rock, headphones were in order. Note to parents: Headphones are the best invention ever - especially in the car. They can rock and you can still listen to the radio.

#1 had the Decades version. He enjoyed it very much and gave it 5 stars. He liked the challenge of the game, the music itself (which is awesome - everything from the Foo Fighters to Lenny Kravitz to REM and Bon Jovi), the fact that you could move up the ranks and unlock more songs. LLB had Modern Hits. She, too, loved the music itself - everything from Phantom Planet to Modest Mouse to Yellow Card. She enjoyed the ability to choose which part to play - melody, bass, etc. She did not like having to get Fan Points to move up the ranks. Alas, she managed to rock on and still gave the game 5 stars.

My kids really enjoyed rocking together and competing against each other - something you can only do if you have 2 games and controllers. They spent hours trying to kick each other's proverbial butt - both in the car and on the couch. There was much discussion about the songs, the game itself and who liked what why. I'm not sure if that was because they were game testing or if it was just something they would have done anyway. It was really neat to listen in and see what they were thinking.

There were many laughs, giggles, and groans as they Guitar Heroed together.

My kids shared music, thoughts, opinions, laughter, and time.
And really, isn't that what summer is all about?

If you are looking for a great game to play in the car, at home, in a waiting room (with headphones), or pretty much anywhere - Guitar Hero is for you!!