Being that this is the PSP, there are no instruments to be used for Rock Band Unplugged. Instead, Harmonix and Backbone Entertainment, go a different route bringing back a game from its grave. Let's take a little trip down memory lane. The year is 2003; Harmonix is working on a PS2 game for Sony. The game is called Frequency and for its time, offered a different way to handle rhythm games. Rhythm games, up to that point, had been about following a pattern on screen that is done on the beat of song (DDR, Parappa the Rapper) or play an instrument to correspond to notes in the song (Guitar Freaks, Beatmania). What Frequency did is that it had you follow a patter based on the beat of a song but it actually allowed you to construct a song. You start off hitting the buttons to go along with the basic beat track of the song then you do the same for the guitar, bass, drums, synthesizer and vocals of the song thus coming together to create the actual song. It was a unique idea but Frequency, and its sequel Amplitude, failed to gain the interest of gamers due to rhythm games being not popular at that time and that gamers aren't big on playing games using club music. Developers really need to get this in their heads; club music is only good for being in the clubs while drunk or on ecstasy. Once you leave the club and sober up, no one wants to listen to these crappy songs. So it sold poorly, and Harmonix used the gameplay they created to make the big seller Guitar Hero and then making the even bigger seller, Rock Band, realizing that gamers in this country wanted to play rhythm games that featured some good ol' fashion rock-n-roll.

With that, we have Rock Band Unplugged where the gameplay is exactly like Frequency. There are four track representing the four instruments the band plays; vocal, drums, guitar and bass. When a song starts, one of the tracts will begin with four notes coming down the track path. Each note has a corresponding button with the default being left dpad, up dpad, triangle and circle. You will need to successfully hit the right button for the notes in a section of the track path earning points with every correct note. Depending on the difficulty, this can vary on the number of notes. If you miss a note or press the wrong button on a note, this will be considered a missed note and will grey out the section of the track. Actually, it's more of a percentage you have to miss in order for this to happen with sections consisting of many notes will let you have more than one miss. Once you complete a section, you'll get a bonus and you can jump to another track by hitting the left or right shoulder button. Keep hitting the correct notes on multiple paths and your points will be multiplied. Hit the special white colored notes and this will build up your Overdrive meter. At the halfway point in the meter, this will allow you to use Overdrive and dramatically increase the points you receive. Missing multiple notes on a track can eventually have that track stop altogether, and eventually lead to a failed song if this continues. Like in the Rock Band game, if a track is failing, the Overdrive can bring that track back and let you play all the tracks again. By completing a section with all four instruments, you'll be in a "Band Groove" and receive an even bigger multiplier.

There are four gameplay modes in Rock Band Unplugged. The first one is "Band Warm Up" which is essentially the practice mode. Second is Quickplay which all veteran Rock Band players are familiar with in that it lets you play a song right away. "Band Survival" is new to this Rock Band game allowing you to play a frantic game of having all tracks going at the same time meaning you have to go back and forth between tracks, completing sections as quickly as possible before you fail the song.

Then you have World Tour that comes from the previous Rock Band games. In World Tour, you create your band and play at venues in various cities. Each venue has a set amount of sets you have to play varying from just one song to several. Completing the sets with a high star rating (based out of 5 possible stars) will increase the fans you have the money you get from a gig which can be used to hire some staff or get new clothes.

In comparison to other PSP games, Rock Band Unplugged is right up there in overall graphics. The game pushes the polygons as well as any other games which mean that it doesn't have many textures to it. Don't let that sound as a strike against the game because it isn't since the best looking PSP games share the same look. While there's not a lot to see being that the game stages are only that of a venue, crowds, and the band itself, there are still plenty of details to focus on. Those details are seen when you get some money and dress up your band in a variety of outfits fitting whatever rock band style you prefer.

That leads us to the soundtrack of the game where the game take a little hit. Why a hit? Because there are not that many new songs in the game. As a series, Rock Band has always increased the catalog of music with plenty of new tracks that weren't seen on previous games. With over 40 songs, there's plenty of music, with songs seen from the previous Rock Band games. An issue that comes to play is that if you're a loyal fan of the Rock Band that downloaded songs for the console versions, don't expect them to transfer over. You can download more songs if you want since there will be DLC released on a regular basis yet the lack of transfer of songs saved on the PS3, considering how easy it is, shows that not a lot of thought was put into this game.

Audio quality is top notch but if you're playing a lot of the same songs that are on the console, there's simply not much reason to want to play it on the portable. Lack of new songs shows an obvious shortcut from the developer which is unfortunate in that if you're not putting much effort in a portable version of the game, don't be surprised that fans are not picking it up.

Fun is still fun, and that's what is important with this game. Rock Band 1 & 2 are incredible games but they're simply something that can be played on a whim or on the go. Though the experiences are vastly different between those games and Rock Band Unplugged, there is still that Rock Band feel when playing the game. Rhythm game fans and Rock Band fans will find plenty to enjoy with this game making it a buy for them, but those who are not fans of the genre or series will not find a compelling reason to pick up the game.

- O.G.

article id: 566 | poster: OG