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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Music Developer: Planet Moon Studios Publisher: THQ |
When it comes to great ideas that don’t live up to the expectations, “Battle of the Bands” is one of those games. The overall execution
of the game comes out a little on the rough side and this ends up being the reason for the demise of a game that could potentially be
great. Though it is quite fun to listen to popular songs in several different genres of music, there are many elements of the game that
pull away from the overall game play.
“Battle of the Bands” is basically what the title implies, quite literally. Two bands enter an arena to battle, playing a song in different
styles of music and only one band leaves. For those who have always wanted to hear the Latin version of “Mama Said Knock You Out”
or the rock version of “Man of Constant Sorrows” this game offers some humorous time, but that is about all that it offers. Players begin
by picking a band that mirrors what musical genre they enjoy, or just want to hear the songs performed in. These genres ranges from
rock, country, hip-hop, marching band or Latin. It is at this point that players are dropped into a venue and begin their fight against
another band for points and the chance to move on an take on other bands.
The battles are fairly easy to figure out and are played in much the same way as Guitar Hero, except that instead of strumming a guitar
to the beat given on the screen, players must follow the controls given on screen as the reach towards the beat bar. Players need to
move the controller left, right, up, down, zigzag it or stab it to hit the notes and work towards defeating the opposing band. By hitting
notes players can collect attack notes which will attack the opponents beat board creating some inconvenience for them. However, the
opponent can send over some trouble just as easily. Players can block the opponent’s attacks by timing the strikes at the right time
and hitting the B button to create a shield. There are several different attacks players can scroll through by pressing the A button.
Winning a battle is a matter of having the most points scored at the end of a battle.
The key to the game is timing. The band that controls the tempo of the song controls the way the song is performed. This works as an
advantage to the one the controls the songs and a disadvantage to the opposing band. Since the song is performed in a different
genre, players may have a difficult time following the song and in turn hit the notes as they reach the beat board. Though there are
many flaws to the game, one has to give credit to the game creators for implementing five different versions of the 30 different songs
included in the game.
As players beat an opponent, they advance through the game’s story mode which is at best, very thin. The game will also let players go
head-to-head against another live opponent in versus mode. Of course this is on a single system because of the lack of an online
multiplayer. The biggest problem about the story mode and multiplayer mode is that it isn’t even necessary to play through the game to
hear all of the songs performed in the different genres. Players go into the extras menu and open the music player which allows
players to hear all of the different versions of all the songs without having to play through the game.
The most frustrating part about the game is that the controls are very hit or miss, and sadly end up being miss more often than hit
because of the narrow window of opportunity available to hit the necessary action. Though there are several levels of difficulty, the
picture often skips occasionally which adds to the overall difficulty of the game. Also, the game seems to gets extremely repetitive and
players have to constantly have their eyes glued to the screen to ensure that they don’t miss an action; however that doesn’t differ at all
from “Guitar Hero.”
The graphics of the game are very cartoonish, making the bands fall into several very general stereotypes. The animations are light and
entertaining, but with the release of many of the other games on the Wii, it has come to be of a higher quality, and again it includes a lot
of repetition.
While the game has many flaws and doesn’t succeed on many levels, it misses the most important factor, the fun factor. The first time
gamers turn on the game it will definitely be unique and fun but it quickly loses its uniqueness and fun. Of course there is a lot more
that could have been done to make the game more successful, but with this being the first game of this type, there is a lot of hope that a
new and improved version will be released in the future. Planet Moon Studios needs to be given credit for creating something new and
have a good idea in mind and hope that a second game is in the works and that many of the problems in the first installment will be
addressed.
of the game comes out a little on the rough side and this ends up being the reason for the demise of a game that could potentially be
great. Though it is quite fun to listen to popular songs in several different genres of music, there are many elements of the game that
pull away from the overall game play.
“Battle of the Bands” is basically what the title implies, quite literally. Two bands enter an arena to battle, playing a song in different
styles of music and only one band leaves. For those who have always wanted to hear the Latin version of “Mama Said Knock You Out”
or the rock version of “Man of Constant Sorrows” this game offers some humorous time, but that is about all that it offers. Players begin
by picking a band that mirrors what musical genre they enjoy, or just want to hear the songs performed in. These genres ranges from
rock, country, hip-hop, marching band or Latin. It is at this point that players are dropped into a venue and begin their fight against
another band for points and the chance to move on an take on other bands.
The battles are fairly easy to figure out and are played in much the same way as Guitar Hero, except that instead of strumming a guitar
to the beat given on the screen, players must follow the controls given on screen as the reach towards the beat bar. Players need to
move the controller left, right, up, down, zigzag it or stab it to hit the notes and work towards defeating the opposing band. By hitting
notes players can collect attack notes which will attack the opponents beat board creating some inconvenience for them. However, the
opponent can send over some trouble just as easily. Players can block the opponent’s attacks by timing the strikes at the right time
and hitting the B button to create a shield. There are several different attacks players can scroll through by pressing the A button.
Winning a battle is a matter of having the most points scored at the end of a battle.
The key to the game is timing. The band that controls the tempo of the song controls the way the song is performed. This works as an
advantage to the one the controls the songs and a disadvantage to the opposing band. Since the song is performed in a different
genre, players may have a difficult time following the song and in turn hit the notes as they reach the beat board. Though there are
many flaws to the game, one has to give credit to the game creators for implementing five different versions of the 30 different songs
included in the game.
As players beat an opponent, they advance through the game’s story mode which is at best, very thin. The game will also let players go
head-to-head against another live opponent in versus mode. Of course this is on a single system because of the lack of an online
multiplayer. The biggest problem about the story mode and multiplayer mode is that it isn’t even necessary to play through the game to
hear all of the songs performed in the different genres. Players go into the extras menu and open the music player which allows
players to hear all of the different versions of all the songs without having to play through the game.
The most frustrating part about the game is that the controls are very hit or miss, and sadly end up being miss more often than hit
because of the narrow window of opportunity available to hit the necessary action. Though there are several levels of difficulty, the
picture often skips occasionally which adds to the overall difficulty of the game. Also, the game seems to gets extremely repetitive and
players have to constantly have their eyes glued to the screen to ensure that they don’t miss an action; however that doesn’t differ at all
from “Guitar Hero.”
The graphics of the game are very cartoonish, making the bands fall into several very general stereotypes. The animations are light and
entertaining, but with the release of many of the other games on the Wii, it has come to be of a higher quality, and again it includes a lot
of repetition.
While the game has many flaws and doesn’t succeed on many levels, it misses the most important factor, the fun factor. The first time
gamers turn on the game it will definitely be unique and fun but it quickly loses its uniqueness and fun. Of course there is a lot more
that could have been done to make the game more successful, but with this being the first game of this type, there is a lot of hope that a
new and improved version will be released in the future. Planet Moon Studios needs to be given credit for creating something new and
have a good idea in mind and hope that a second game is in the works and that many of the problems in the first installment will be
addressed.
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