|
It’s no surprise that Music-related games were in vogue at E3 this year. In addition to a number of Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour announcements, Konami and Nintendo joined in with their own melodic offerings. Disney is also getting into the mix with Ultimate Band.
Although competing in the same space as other music games, Ultimate Band shares more in common with Konami and Nintendo’s offerings than EA or Activision’s and is aimed towards young (or, as it relates to Disney, young at heart) players. Rather than loading the game down with costly and complicated peripherals, Ultimate Band uses the Wii-mote and Nunchuk and focuses on the joy of air instruments.
Ultimate Band offers a not-so-traditional take on all of the traditional band parts – guitar, drums and vocals. When using the drums, you’ll use the Wii-mote and Nunchuk as drum sticks, hitting marks in time with the music and note bar. Occasionally, you’ll also have to shake each to simulate more complicated aspects, like fills. The guitar’s play style is a little more in-line with the norm. Notes run across the bottom of the screen and the Nunchuk is used to mimic the fret bar. The notes will indicate different combinations of the Nunchuk’s buttons, which you must match to make music. The Wii-mote is used to strum notes. You’ll also be able to show off during songs, which will pump up the crowd.
Speaking of showing off, the singer has the more active job. Rather than singing, the singer must peform various hand gestures, like fist pumps, based on prompts from the screen. Ultimate Band will include over 30 songs, including tracks from The Who, The Jonas Brothers and Weezer. None of the songs are master tracks, but each does feature both male and female vocals that are determined by the character you create.
A DS version of Ultimate Band is also in the works. The gameplay setup will be similar to the DS version, though the play mechanics will be adapted for the touch screen. Playing the guitar involves tapping guitar strings in-time with on-screen prompts.
Ultimate Band goes on tour this holiday season. |
