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Dance Dance Revolution may have solidified the interactive music game genre for pop culture and Guitar Hero might have taken air guitar to a new level but DJ Hero truly makes playing with music a realistically immersive and enjoyable gaming experience with a lot of thanks due to its controller.
(I will throw in one caveat. Piano Wizard (2005 for Windows and Macintosh) is probably the most realistic, actual instrument education simulator as it translates songs into a format that can then be played on a real keyboard. That is not as much as gaming experience as an education.)
Scratching the Box
Out of the box this game comes with an impressive controller. The mixing board offers a faux turntable (know what LPs are?) with sliding bar and special attack button. For most live mixers, this will be pretty familiar, if not a very simplified version of the hardware used on stage. You will likely want to set this down on a flat surface since using it from your lap will prove uncomfortable after a few minutes due to the weight, size and the stability required for certain hand movements.
If you are a lefty of simply like to swap the side the turntable is on, no worries. The controller actually comes apart so the turntable can be on either the left or the right and the button section will remain properly oriented (see the photo gallery for details).
Much like those other music games, queued notes fly at you from a rainbow and you must press buttons at just the right time to hit the right note. The difference here is that there are other moves thrown in including a scratch (flicking the turntable quickly), rewind (quickly rotating the turntable for a revolution) and sliding (moving a slide bar to the left or right). There are also subtle variations on the scratching (direction, length and duration).
While sliding does not actually speed up or slow down the turntable component, it adds an extra element to musical control within the game. Not only do you need to press buttons according to the notes a la Guitar Hero (or even Rock Band) but you also need to flick the slider to the left or right and/or quickly swipe the turntable.
The game includes eclectic mixes of songs that, when you play well, result in a virtual dance party in your family room. And the game’s background graphics pleasantly reflect that.
Diggin’ da Beat?
While some of the control elements are a bit unusual (the buttons on the face of the turntable, for example), and it is a bit scaled down, the rest of the controller pretty well simulates realistic live music mixing. Miss a slide or swipe or even turn the turntable the wrong way and you crash the mix.
This results in the most realistic feeling of doing in the real world what you are doing in a game. Guitar Hero is eventually a queued button pressing with a guitar shaped controller. This, however, has a better feel and timing than any other music game out there. When you properly play, the music melds into a danceable groove that is far more enticing and enjoyable than any simple, straightforward song you might be pressing out in those other games.
My main complaint is that the colored buttons are situated in a way that makes properly flicking the turntable a little difficult. Truly mixing means pushing the turntable with one hand on the face of the disc whereas this setup seems to make mixing easiest from the side of the turntable. Not a horrible element but still a little annoying.
I also had a small issue with the slider bar which has a small divit to make the center point discernible by feel but that is something that simply needs to be learned. When on stage you’d be mixing it without looking and completely by feel and ear any way.
Hit It!
This is easily one of the most difficult yet supremely enjoyable interactive music games I have ever played.
Not only is the music mixed well but you feel like you are actually part of the mixing process thanks to pseudo-realistic realistic controller.
I’m not a stage mixing artist but I’m guessing this game can actually translate into real-world music skills. Sure, it’s still a bit faux but the mechanism, the timing and the accuracy are in line with what a live music mixing performance might require. The ability to add a guitar controller and partake in multiplayer music mixing is a generous a bonus.
If you have a music gamer in your house or have racked up gift cards, get them this without hesitation.
Site [DJ Hero] Photo Gallery [Gamertell]
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