EA’s Rock Band Shreds it on the iPhone

Across the nation almost everybody knows the popular music game by the name of Rock Band. Now it has been released into the App Store by Electronic Arts. The iPhone version sports near console quality graphics, a nice selection of tracks, and great controls. Rock Band thrills to soaring levels.

Rock Band offers three modes of game play: Quick play brings 15 built-in tracks to your fingertips; World Tour takes you through a fun-filled trip to multiple cities; lastly, Multiplayer allows a meet up with friends online or over Bluetooth and rock it out party style. Tracks are arranged according to difficulty level. While some songs are pretty easy, others reach a range or practically impossible. After a song is picked, players can select the instrument that they want to play with. Drums, bass, guitar, and vocals are all present to choose from. Every song has its own difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard) and tapping challenges increase relatively. Players will travel throughout the world in World Tour mode. Boston is initially unlocked while New York, Seattle, Paris and Moscow will need to be unlocked as the tour progresses. If players have a Facebook ID, Leaderboards are available to peruse. Online play gives an experience for multiple players who can play the same song using different instruments, although not at the same time. Once each player completes the track, their respective scores will be combined to create a final score. Bluetooth grants a real-time multiplayer experience which is a lot more fun. Achievement statistics are accessible in the World Tour menu.

Rock Band sports impressive graphics even on the small screen of the iPhone and iPod touch. Both bass and guitar make players tap on pick-shaped spots as notes flow vertically down a virtual fretboard. The upper part of the screen is reserved for band animations. If players don’t tap on the notes at the appropriate time, the song will quickly go out of tune and pick scratching sounds start. A long streak of successful note taps grant multipliers and greater points. If the iPhone screen at the right time will throw the game into overdrive. Drums offer a similar experience, but players must tap on drum shaped objects as notes pass over them. Missing notes makes a drumstick sound activate. Vocals are a little different animal. Players need to tap on notes that stream horizontally across the screen. Missing enough notes will cause the song to stop indicating failure.

All the songs in Rock Band are fantastic. 20 CD-quality songs are packaged in, all with great variety. Blink’2, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joan Jett, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Motorhead, All-American Rejects, and more are all present. A music store is available where pairs of additional songs can be bought for $0.99. In our time spent with Rock Band, all the controls worked flawlessly.

Rock Band offers great replayability as its super difficult to make it through any of the songs without missing a tap or two. This game is simply a blast too! Now, we must say there are similar titles in the App Store like the Tap Tap Revenge series and Guitar Rock Tour. Yet, neither of these have the fullness that Rock Band seems to capture. Additionally, they are all a little too forgiving in our opinion. If you are looking for the most demanding tapping experience, Rock Band is our AppSmile team choice. With a $9.99 price point, Rock Band will set you back more than the competition. Yet, it’s definitely worth the extra cash. Rock Band is a hard rockin’ app that shouldn’t be overlooked!

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