Rock Band Unplugged Review PSP

I never was really into the whole music games genre until a friend of mine came over my house in 2007 and brought his Guitar Hero game for the XBOX 360. I liked the idea of a game where a player could emulate playing a guitar, but I wanted something that could be played with friends. I loved Rockband the moment it went on sale in late 2007 and have played the sequel as well. In June 2009, Rockband Unplugged for the PSP will be released. I must say, that for a portable game, Rockband Unplugged exceeded my expectations, although my expectations were not very high, given that most portable games are not done very well.

Graphic and sound:

The graphics in Rockband Unplugged actually look almost identical to the console versions with a little bit of a downgrade for the lower resolution on the PSP. Rockband has always had simplistic and cartoony graphics when it comes to the scenery and characters in the game, which makes it easier to port to less powerful systems such as the PSP. The sound is excellent coming out of the small speaker ports on the PSP. When switching tracks, the music will focus on the current instrument being used and the other instruments will be pushed to the background.

Gameplay and controls:

The game has several game modes; quickplay, tour, and band survival. Quickplay allows the player to jump right into the game and quickly choose a song to play. Tour mode allows the player to create a band and perform various venues, gathering fans and money to purchase better staff, clothes, instruments, and other accessories, while unlocking a multitude of songs. The game also allows for a few cheat options that can be enabled right from the start, including; no failing songs, no solos, and unlocking all songs. The flip side is that the game cannot be saved with these options enabled. There is also a training mode to get accustomed to the controls and gameplay and a warmup mode that allows the player to choose one instrument to play.

The gameplay is actually very fun given the fact that it is on a portable system without an instrument to play. The game is played with 4 buttons as opposed to 5 on the console systems. Although many game players will be upset by the 4 button limitation, the game compensates for this lack of difficulty by forcing the player to switch between 4 instruments throughout the game; the drums, the guitar, the bass guitar, and the microphone. The game becomes quite a feat of dexterity when switching instrument tracks on higher difficulty levels using all 4 buttons.

The controls are very easy to get accustomed to and are split between the triangle, circle, up, and down buttons. The left and right triggers are used for switching instrument tracks and pressing down or x enables the bonus. The button presses are easy to see, and the only time I missed pressing a key was if I switched tracks late.

Overall thoughts:

Overall, this game is a treat at a time when the PSP has had very few good releases beyond Resistance Retribution and a few other gems. It was fun taking the game along for trips with a pair of headphones. For those looking for quality games on the PSP, this is a must have. I actually prefer this over the console versions, because honestly, I do not want to have a closet full of useless peripherals in the future and this satisfies my urge for Rockband on a budget. The game is easy to play, very fun, and I cannot wait for the downloadable content that was announced for the near future.