20.7.2010

It's perfectly forgivable to initially mistake Jam With The Band for shovelware from some dodgy two-bit publisher hoping to cash in on the Guitar Hero/Rock Band craze. That forgiveness ends right here, though. This comes directly from Nintendo as the sequel to the Japanese DS launch title 'Daigasso! Band Brothers', which attracted a cult following over here but never saw an official release outside of its home territory. And now Nintendo has belatedly and casually slid the 2008 sequel under the European door with a new name and absolutely no fanfare.As a game with origins back in 2004, this isn't direct competition to the DS Guitar Hero games.There's no use of Activision's peripheral or anything like it (not that that matters to DSi/XL owners). It's all about oldskool rhythm action usage of the d-pad, face and shoulder buttons. Each track has up to eight instruments and these can be taken up by you and seven of your mates via a single game card, or you can jam on your own with any instrument of your choosing. You're guided through the game by Barbara the Bat, a thoroughly atypical Nintendo character whose attitude makes her better suited as one of Sonic The Hedgehog's universally hated friends.You need to know that all the tracks here are unashamedly twee MIDI covers. This would never do on a home console but in the hands of Nintendo on the DS they has a sublime retro chiptune charm to them. Perhaps the biggest thrill comes from playing Mario, Zelda and F-Zero medleys. Or maybe a rock version of Swan Lake or a NESified take on Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique. Personally, I've become obsessed with mastering all the instruments for Madness' Our House. There are four difficulty levels and the latter two can get very punishing and dangerously (for your DS) frustrating, but with patience and practice I'm on my way to mastering Suggs and the boys' 1980s masterpiece.The dedicated selection of tracks is as eclectic as it gets but where the game really takes off is in the studio where you can create and share tracks of your own. I would encourage you to search YouTube for 'Daigasso' to see for yourself some of the fine examples of what can be achieved with the tools at your disposal. Not everyone is a musical genius, of course, especially when given a DS and a stylus to write and record on, but even an amateur like me can knock out a competent upbeat salsa take on Chopin's Funeral March. No, really, it's very danceable.In addition to this we're told we can download 50 extra songs from a current selection of over 200 for free via WiFi. The sizable download list teases us with many cherished Nintendo themes and classic (and classical) songs. It started life with teething troubles and an error code (31105) which made it impossible to download anything other than the three most recent additions. It's since been fixed, but I'm guessing future support for JWTB won't be all that great.On the surface Jam With The Band is an average rhythm action title, but beneath that surface lurks a great deal of depth that could keep you going for ages if you're the kind of gamer who values playing on a stage in front of cartoon hedgehogs and monkeys, or you're just happy to hear the Mute City theme from F-Zero again.As a footnote, there's also a singing option that I've conveniently ignored till now. When you sing the trial at the beginning (Queen's We Are The Champions) the game tells you what type of music your voice is best suited to. I'm a shy type as it is, but I bit the bullet and sang like Freddie into the mic as asked, only to be told afterwards that there is no style or genre suitable for my voice. Ouch! This from the same company that told me I was bit dim in Brain Training and out of shape in Wii Fit.

21.7.2010

I have to say in the past I have only ever played a 'Guitar Hero' type game at a friend's house and have not been tempted to enter into the franchise myself as I remained sceptical about the amount of fun one could have when playing this type of game by yourself, however 'Jam With The Band' proves that this type of game can be fun solo.The game starts off with Barbara the Bat (whom I slightly in love with...) asking you in to perform a gig at the lowest level of difficulty, which is basically pushing any button you like in the required rhythm. Of course for the majority of people (especially those with experience on this type of game) would probably find this an easy enough task,however for someone with as much dexterity as a dead snail I have to admit that I even found this easy stage a relative challenge. There is also the opportunity to sing a song of your choosing and the DS should analyse your vocals and tell you your singing style. This is nothing if not consistent-I tried three times each time coming out with the result that I am a ballad singer and hence should try the Sinatra classic 'New York, New York'. I guess that with these games their success is down to as much as anything else the track-listing and this one is in my opinion pretty decent. There are a selection of well known songs (Material Girl, Lady Marmalade, Stop! In The Name of Love, Our House, Walking On Sunshine are just a few of the 50 pre-selected that spring to mind.) Alongside these pop offerings there are also a number of Nintendo classics-Zelda/Mario themes and classical songs. No the music quality is not the best ever, but does that really matter in a game like this one? I personally don't think it does as long as the melody is clearly there and it is on these. Furthermore there's the option to add a further 50 tracks to the 50 pre-loaded ones and there's a pretty wide variety of choice here too (I'm Like A Bird and What's New Pussycat are two I can think of!). The worst thing about this feature is the inability for the player to delete any of these downloaded tracks-so think carefully before selecting them!!!!Once you've got over the initial thrill of the game then there is the opportunity to perform in 'Today's Gig', where Babs the Bat selects a theme of the day and a track for you to perform to each day using a different instrument; depending on how well you perform Babs will move you up a star ranking, down a star ranking or leave you where you are. The objective here is presumably to get up to a full star rating. If you do a good job then there will more than likely be an encore with a different theme-if not then the gig ends and although you can play 'Today's gig' as much as you want in a single day the theme does not change (although the actual song invariably does!). In my opinion this brings you back to the game day after day.There is also the free-play mode where you can play any instrument, any difficulty and also hone your singing skills. I haven't yet tried the multi-player mode but can imagine this would make the game even more fun!So overall I highly recommend this game-the presentation isn't the best, but it's a darn site more fun than many other games I have bought for the DS. The difficulty level is challenging enough to ensure that even the very best players won't complete the game too quickly and the opportunity for multi-player adds yet another dimension to an already excellent game!

20.8.2010

I'll have to admit, this didn't sound like the best game ever made when I ordered it, as it sounded like something that would have been made in a shed by middle aged blokes! However, it's not like that at all! This game allows you to either sing or play along to 50 tunes which are included with the game. With the play option, you have to play in time, otherwise a "BAD" or "MISS" will appear and dock you some points. Hence, the objective is to get as many "GOOD" signs as possible. Before the start of each song, it tells you the difficultly rating of each part you have to play along with, such as piano, violin, bass etc. I have managed to master all the easiest parts,

2.8.2010

Jam with the band is another good Nintendo DS game that allows someone to "play along", with a stylus or the Nintendo keypad, to over 50 different songs. There is a wide selection of instruments too for you to choose from, although they are predictably synthesised in sound.The basic premise that you chose your ability, select a song and then you will be presented with a rolling screen of notes you need to hit at a specific time. You are then scored on how close you are to hitting the note at the correct time. There are practice sessions as well as scored solo sessions.This sounds a fairly common theme for Nintendo DS games, such as Cooking Mama. Where this game really scores is the connectivity.

3.9.2012

Jam with the Band is a rhythm game for the Nintendo DS. I've always been interested in rhythm games so I gave this one a whirl. It was exceptionally cheap and I'd heard nice things about it. The game itself is nicely presented with a very simple interface. You are able to play songs where you must certain buttons at certain times to pass the course of the song. If you fail to do so, the crowd watching your performance will simply walk away. There's an option to go through a course of multiple songs or you can freely pick your own. You are able to download from a somewhat restricted library online for up to a maximum of fifty additional songs, including some Nintendo classics from The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.

19.7.2010

Games like `Guitar Hero' and `Rock Band' have made the rhythm action genre incredibly popular, so much so that other developers are trying to emulate this success. The Nintendo published `Jam with the Band' is the latest to attempt this on the DS. The game is actually contains three separate elements, play along, sing along and create. Each is slightly different and can be hours of fun depending on what type of activity you like. I liked the play along element best as it was a tried and tested gameplay similar to the likes of Rock Band. Singing is a karaoke style game and there is a neat touch with the DS giving your voice an echoy sound.Perhaps the biggest element of the game is the create section that allows you to design your own tracks and then post them online.

19.1.2011

I know this recieved some dodgey reviews, especially official reviews from various websites, but i think this needs to be seen from a kids point of view.Its not meant to be a serious music kit for the DS, its a fun guitar hero/lips/music lab for the young ones to jump around to.From my point of view i lost interest in about 5 minutes, my 7 year old niece however wouldn't put it down until the DS went flat. She loved it and carried on playing it for a while after.I think the downsides were the limited songlists as my niece only tended to stay to the songs she knew, so she kinda lost interest after a few days. But for the cheap price its at, its worth it i guess.

19.5.2011

I bought this game for my Boyfriend, for Christmas.He is a bass player in a band, and I thought he'd enjoy being able to play the instruments that are offered in this game. I've read a few reviews and decided to purchase it for him.I obviously cannot say about the gameplay, having not played the game myself, but from what he has said, it is good!Once playing through the game, he now uses it to write music for his band, easily showing the other band members and writing parts for them. Obviously not as good as playing your instrument, but a close second..He still uses this game and enjoys it to this day.So a good purchase, for a music lover.

7.7.2010

You would be crazy not to buy this game at such a low price!The game is a guitar hero style music game, except it uses the face buttons of the DS which makes it more challenging. However I am sure you could find a better description of the gameplay elsewhere.I am going to concentrate on the multiplayer. Up to 8 DS's can play together from only one gamecard, and the game comes with a download ticket for a designated wii chanel so you can all link up to that and play through the television!well worth the money!

17.8.2010

I handed this one to my daughter (age 11) for a test run. She reports it to be easy to get the hang of, a lot of fun (especially the singing, she loves karaoke style games), and with some really good music. She wasn't sure how long it could hold her interest, but generally it seems to have a lot of entertainment value and be user-friendly.Update after several months; she's still playing it quite often, so it does retain interest.

22.5.2013

A very good rhythm game with a varied choice of different choices with the ability to download more. There is a good learning curve but which involves all the buttons on the ds. The only drawback is the looks of the game is a bit basic.

1.9.2013

Was great to play, but the interest went after a few plays. But we had a right laugh when we did play it. Might even get it out again.

1.2.2013

a very entertaining take on the music action types of game and a one of a kind experience for the handhelds

25.11.2017

Thank you

7.5.2015

Excellent

Jam With the Band (DS) - Reviews

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