PSP World

Rock Band Unplugged PSP Review

Music has been transformed numerous times throughout history, from Bethoveen to Weezer. But perhaps no musical genre has been as dynamic, popular, and global in reach than Rock n' Roll. The mystique of performing on stage in front of thousands of screaming fans, the groupies, the camraderie with band mates, and of course the outrageous clothes, have made "rocker" one of the leading career aspirations of youngsters the world over. Rock Band offers perhaps the most accurate music analog for all consoles and now the portable version has finally arrived for the psp. Now, spark up those lighters, wave them side to side, and get ready to rock through our Rock Band Unplugged review.

I know the first question that comes to mind is, "How can this game possibly work on a handheld console?" Some of you might not know, but rockband on consoles uses four instrument peripherals: Microphone, bass, guitar, and drums. Trust me, I was a bit baffled about this transfer to the PSP until I picked it up and realized that I was controlling the whole band. That is right, but before I get ahead of myself you will have to go through the basics. Yes you can play Rock Band without making a band first! You customize each band member with the ideal look and attitude you want them to portray; even clothing and the instruments you want them to use. There is a fee for certain things but you can unlock that on your own later. Once you are finished making your band you have to give it a name and make it styling to suit your rockstar persona.

Great, you finally made it to the tour area after styling your band's hair and picked your clothing of choice. You will of course start off with nothing, not even a proper manager besides your mom on your adventure. The first stop is Amsterdam and during your tour of course will have to pick certain songs to play in and create a fan base while earning money for each show you perform. On the onscreen display once you choose your song and difficulty, the display will show line of all four instruments and by hitting the left or right trigger you will switch between each. The idea is too keep the instruments in sync with one another. Keep the rhythm for each so you can switch over without having to worry about the instrument you left, meaning if you do each line perfect it will remain blank until you finish the line with one instrument and then switch the next. However if you make a mistake you have the choice to stay and finish then switch or just switch and come back to it later. There is star power to save your band just in case of emergencies, and players will use it often.

You will be rewarded with more fans and money of course to unlock other items and once you done enough shows you will be able to unlock new spots and managers especially street teams to bring in more crowds to worship you. The song list is pretty cool with Billy Idol, The Police, Weezer, Jackson 5, and many others. Hopefully Sony will give out downloadable content for future songs.

The negative aspects of RB Unplugged are not as severe as you would assume: for starters, there is no ad hoc which some people will surely miss. If you think about, it you can do self made ad hoc vs. mode just have two people playing the same song and whomever comes out on top will be the victor, but a battle of the bands mode would have been nice. The concept idea is not as difficult as other music based games on the psp (i.e DJmax portable which has a high difficulty rating). This is a game to just pick up and jam in rhythm for laughs. When playing certain concerts you will be punished playing the same song over and over again sometimes back to back which made me wonder that they didn't put too many songs to use. The attitude and animation of the bad members also repeats itself being a slimmer version from the console I would still think more action and personality on the stages would have been a nice touch. It is good to pass the time, though.

Now cool cats, we will break down the scene for you. Rock Band Unplugged is a nice addition for fans of the genre and easy to get into for all ages. The game play is fun being in a rhythm style and the auto wammy for certain rifs is a nice touch. Repetitive actions and repeats of songs can be tiring at times, and the game also fails at being really difficult. There is no ad hoc, which takes away the competitive aspect of the game. So as we prepare to rock out to yet another power ballad, we award Rock Band Unplugged a solid 3 and a half devil-horns out of 5.