By Gaetano Prestia
One would think that after the success of music games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band, a new entry into the genre that didn’t include some sort of instrument peripheral probably wouldn’t be all that good. After all, we’ve seen the genre evolve from PaRappa the Rappa and early Beatmania titles in Japan, with most rhythm-based music games nowadays including an add-on so as to create a realistic music-creating experience. When it was announced that Ultimate Band would use only what came with the Wii console, gamers couldn’t help but be skeptical – a guitar game with no guitar? A band game with no microphone or mock drums? How exactly would that work?
Thankfully, Ultimate Band does “work”. In fact, it works on quite a few levels. It’s not going to overtake either Rock Band or Guitar Hero in the sales stakes and even quality wise it probably doesn’t have what it takes to take them on, but it’s actually a pretty good rhythm-based title with a decent soundtrack and accessible gameplay.
The guitar fundamentals with Ultimate Band are quite simple. Instead of holding the controller in a weird fashion to simulate a real guitar, you use the Wiimote and nunchuck, pushing down a specific button to move the note catcher, which in turn simulates playing a note on the guitar. It’s a simple formula that works well.
What really makes Ultimate Band good is that you get the genuine feeling that you’re actually playing the song. In some of the poor music titles available on the Wii, all you did was hit a button as it came inline with an area on the screen. There was more of a focus on the beat rather than the rhythm, but with Ultimate Band the aim is to generate a consistent rhythm in beat with the song being played. It really makes you feel like you’re part of the track itself.
The career mode is pretty much identical to the DS version – choose a rocker and play through a whole bunch of venues, choosing your desired instrument and rocking out to songs on three separate difficulty levels. The hardest difficulty won’t challenge you as much as Expert would on Guitar Hero on Rock Band, but this is a game obviously aimed at a more casual crowd and it’s challenging enough to be enjoyable. It won’t take you a long time to master on the hardest difficulty, but it’s fun enough to warrant a second play through for certain songs.
The main aim of the career mode is to guide your band and eventually win the major RockDome competition. You work your way up through the venues, playing to crowds and developing a following before going in to the final.
Of the instruments, the guitars are far more enjoyable as the drums are probably just a tad too easy. Even on the hardest difficulty, all you’re doing is hitting intone with its position on the screen. It gets harder as you progress, but it’s never going to really challenge you. While the guitars offer at least some level of challenge, the drums actually have a really low learning curve and won’t dictate much of your dedication to master. That’s a shame, because the drums in the DS version actually work really well with the touch-screen and two stylus’. It’s not like the game increases how many different tones there are, but rather how many different beats are coming down on the screen. All you really need are fast hands and you’ll being a superstar rock drummer in no time.
A feature that is quite innovative is the front man feature, which has you pumping up the crowd using the singing front man of your band. Instead of using a microphone to sing lyrics, you merely have to use the nunchuck and Wiimote to punch towards the screen in time to generate a clapping motion and pump the crowd up. It’s a unique feature that’s kind of cool but doesn’t really offer a lot of challenge. It can definitely be expanded on if the developer chooses to continue the franchise, which they should considering how relatively well they’ve done with a band game that has no instrument peripherals.
Graphically, Ultimate Band looks good with some nice looking venues and nice character design. The presentation as a whole is simple and accessible for a younger crowd, which should also appeal to those looking for an easier rhythm-based title other than the Guitar Hero or Rock Band series.
The songs themselves are OK, with some memorable rock tracks and contemporary pop. They are all covers and the singers do a decent job of recreating the original classics.
The Final Verdict
Ultimate Band is a great option for those looking for a more simple and accessible music title. The hardest difficulty won’t challenge Guitar Hero veterans, but that’s OK because the gameplay itself is actually pretty fun. You’ll get quite a few hours out of the career mode and there are a few unique gameplay features that put Ultimate Band up there with the best rhythm-based titles on the Wii.
Gameplay
7.5/10
Nice use of the Wiimote and nunchuck to generate a rhythm-based music experience. The drums could have offered a bit more of a challenge though.
Graphics
7.5/10
Nice looking venues and nice character design. . The presentation as a whole is simple and accessible for a younger crowd.
Sound
7.5/10
A good track list with decent efforts from the covering artists.
Value
7.5/10
There’s a four-player co-op and two-player head-to-head, but you’ll get most of the enjoyment out of the fairly lengthy career mode.
Overall
7.5/10