Ultimate Band (Nintendo DS)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 11/25/2008
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Genre: Music
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: Fall Line Studio

Feel free to boo the Wii version of Ultimate Band offstage before sound check, but stick around for the DS edition's encore. Unlike the console gestural flop, the DS edition has no problem providing a tactile, engaging music game that doesn't require expensive gear. The stylus is the venerable one-hand-band where lead, rhythm, bass, and drums each feel distinct enough to stand on their own without controlling too differently from one another.

When looked at as a whole, Band for the DS plays and feels like a mixture of Dance Dance Revolution, Elite Beat Agents, and Jam Sessions. Drums, for one, feel most like Elite Beat Agents, as you hit the skins within collapsing circles. Harder difficulties offer one-handed rhythms that conjure the signature beast of Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen. Just don't expect to see "Pour Some Sugar on Me" on the setlist. A measly 15 songs (half of which are covers -- and all abridged versions) round out an otherwise excellent music game.