On Tour overcompensates for the missing fret by making the note charts ridiculously complex at the higher difficulty levels, and the huge piles of notes don't jive well with the strumming problems mentioned earlier. Considering that you have to hold the entire system with that hand, it's an understandable design choice, but it also removes a lot of the challenge for fans who like to play on Hard and Expert. On a more subtle level, it removes a large part of Guitar Hero's strategy by ensuring that you never need to shift your hand. This has the obvious effect of simplifying solos and taking certain chords out of the equation. The biggest difference is the lack of a fifth button. Overall, the Guitar Grip works quite well and feels pretty close to the fret buttons on the guitar controllers. It's tricky to hold the system, press the buttons, strum on the touch screen, and keep the other screen in view all at the same time this problem is mostly alleviated by resting the DS (and your fretting hand) against something sturdy, like a table. I found it most comfortable to play without the strap, but there is no way to remove it completely (short of scissors). The fret buttons are a bit small and too mushy. At least you can turn off the microphone activation of star power, which came in handy when I was riding the bus and the ambient noise set off my star power every time the meter filled up to the minimum level. More customization, like being able to turn off star power touch activation, would help. Also, it's very easy to accidentally use star power on the touch screen. The whammy effect is easy to use, but you have to be careful to quit warbling before the next note comes up, since there's no physical difference between strumming and using whammy. The uni-directional strum simulates the "bass guitar" style on the normal Guitar Hero controllers, which is difficult to perform quickly for fast chords or tremolo, as is often required on Hard and Expert. Guitar Hero players who normally use an up-down rhythm will have the most trouble, as strumming works best if you lift the stylus after every strum. Strumming just doesn’t feel right without any tactile feedback, and the strumming recognition is nebulous and inconsistent. The game's reliance on the touch screen for multiple functions proves to be its biggest problem. Maybe it says a lot about the Guitar Hero formula that On Tour is still fun to play despite these serious issues. Not only does the DS interface break the fantasy of playing guitar, but the retrofitted controls don't work well with the gameplay. Would Guitar Hero be as much fun without the guitar controller? Guitar Hero: On Tour definitively settles this question-and the answer is negative.
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