Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown - Kotaku Comments

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

MrLister — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:08:08 MDT

I no longer want this, but I'd love the soundtrack! Some of my favourite songs are on it and you can never get enough undead mariachi covers!

MrLister

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

quen — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:21:08 MDT

@machinespirit: So um, this game doesn't use any instrument controllers, and its core mechanic (the one that's actually in the title) is about 'fighting' between two different genres of music.

Leaving aside maybe the visuals (let's face it they are shit anyway, who cares if they also look like similar to something else), I don't see any more similarity between this and Rock Band than between Rock Band and Dance Dance Revolution.

In other words the problem is not that this game is a shitty clone, the problem is that within its genre it's a great, innovative idea - with a shitty game built around it. If it had been a bit more of a clone, like say by using guitar controllers, the game would probably be significantly improved.

Guitar Hero was a pure clone of the Konami original anyway, right? Didn't seem to do them any harm...

quen

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

eastx — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:39:34 MDT

@machinespirit: If you're going to call this game a clone, then you should call it a Guitar Hero clone because it has a lot more in common with Guitar Hero than Rock Band. yes, Rock Band is a lot like GH but far more complex, just as Battle of the Bands takes GH for inspiration and spins off in its own odd direction.

eastx

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Adam In Texas — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:13:24 MDT

Haha, I'm one of those people that has been playing the music/rhythm games for a long time. Those interested might want to hunt down copies of "Bust a Move/Groove" or "Bust a Move 2" for the Playstation. They were fighting/music games more in the style of DDR with the controller instead of actually playing the music though. They are pretty fun to play through. Here are a few links to youtube videos of both:

Any music-centric games have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I've got the Taiko No Tatsujin Drum on the shelf along with the Beatmania IIDX controller, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc. It has come up in conversation back in the past on Kotaku but I imported a DDR 3rd Mix from Korea way back in the day. A year or so later I imported a Beatmania IIDX machine from Hong Kong and put them into an arcade in small town Texas. It was culture shock for the cowboys at the time (DDR was still on the 1st Mix in the USA) but the weight conscience game players were dumping money into 3rd Mix at a record pace. I imported them mainly because I wanted to play them. I miss those days.

Adam In Texas

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

machinespirit — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:07:35 MDT

@Sunjammer: Reading the review and looking at the screenshot should tell you the core gameplay and interface are very similar to Rock Band.

The only substantial difference being in the "battle" mechanics, which seem like a half-baked attempt not to be a pure Rock Band clone. When I said it's not enough to set the game apart, that's what I was referring to. It's a Rock Band versus mode with an uninteresting mechanic behind it.

machinespirit

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

machinespirit — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:59:18 MDT

@ChibiKyKiske: Karasu already said it - music games need a strong tracklist and good gameplay. Just having one of those doesn't cut it.

machinespirit

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Palladium — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:59:31 MDT

Mi madre dice que yo tengo que le da un punetazo a ti?

That'd actually be pretty funny to hear.

Palladium

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

swarmster — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:12:29 MDT

Poor Planet Moon, what happened to you? In the past, a la Giants and MDK, they've taken their excellently bizarre concepts and matched it up with just-as-excellent gameplay. Hopefully Shiny, the company they left, hold up better when they put out Silent Hill and Earthworm Jim (has it been confirmed they're getting dev duties back for that?).

swarmster

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Steel_Pelican — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:25:31 MDT

@daCuk: You're right. We do have to be idiot.

Steel_Pelican

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

daCuk — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:12:28 MDT

At least the game caters to other music genres' fans.
You have to be idiot to think that Rock is the only worthy music genre.

daCuk

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

legacyed — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:45:11 MDT

What's this game's rating? The review makes it sound kind of raunchy, and up until this point, everything I had seen about this game had me thinking it was targeted at kids.

So what we have here is a game that kids should be allowed to play, and that older folks won't want to play? On the Wii?

Great Success THQ!

legacyed

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

HaydenTenno — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:06:24 MDT

@liquidnumb: Don't forget S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl. Amazing game published by THQ.

HaydenTenno

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

TRT-X — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:04:59 MDT

@Desfunk: This game reminds me that I wouldn't be against a few country or rap songs in Rock Band.

Or at least...I'd buy "Hey Ya!" for Rock Band.

TRT-X

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

liquidnumb — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:52:13 MDT

Relic games are the only decent ones THQ ever published.

liquidnumb

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

globones — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:52:12 MDT

@ TRT-X:

Oh man, that made my day because i've recently been enjoying simpsons all over again.

globones

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Sunjammer — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:50:14 MDT

@Sunjammer: In terms of gameplay of course. If all you need to compare it to rock band is that there's music in it, you're in a heap of trouble.

Sunjammer

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Sunjammer — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:49:50 MDT

@machinespirit: Not enough to differentiate it from rock band? In what way is this even SIMILAR to rock band?

Sunjammer

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

globones — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:47:09 MDT

I was hoping this game would be good. Oh well.

*flushes toilet*

globones

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Truvill — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:44:26 MDT

@Truvill:

should be "are NOT helping"

Truvill

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Truvill — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:38:51 MDT

"The Aesthetics: Oh my goodness, it's hard on the eyes. If a froth-mouthed fanboy wants ammunition for his "glorified GameCube" argument against the Wii, he would be well-served to screencap this game. It's almost inexcusably low-fi."

Ha ha, oh man.

After trying out those older guitar games on arcades (way back when most of them were still around), I already bored myself out of this genre. "Clones" likes these are helping, although ultimately, it's the price that's gonna bother most people about it.

Truvill

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

little computer eerk — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:30:56 MDT

Another difference between cult-hit rhythm games (PaRappa The Rapper, Vib Ribbon, Ouendan, Electroplankton) and recent rhythm games is that the former games aren't only great music games but also feature innovative, groundbreaking design. Guitar Hero, as great a game as it may be, looks awful. And apparently Guitar Hero's graphics have become the new visual standard for music games.

little computer eerk

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

karasu is my homeboy — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:28:50 MDT

@ChibiKyKiske: He meant a game cannot suck and just hope it'll get good reviews because the music is good.

The gameplay has to be good, too.

karasu is my homeboy

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Desfunk — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:25:57 MDT

played it for about an hour, got bored, and never touched it again.

i'll admit, it's funny how every song was recorded in different styles, but that couldn't save it.

Desfunk

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Klaymen — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:25:14 MDT

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: THQ = videogame poison.

Klaymen

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Cruz — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:24:28 MDT

It's nice to see some press about this game, good or bad, as the game landed with a whimper. I have the game on my Goozex queue, if only to hear their work on the music.

Cruz

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

ChibiKyKiske — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:22:40 MDT

@machinespirit: of course a good tracklist makes a music game. i mean, you wouldn't want a music game with tight controls coupled with solid gameplay, but with a terrible soundtrack would you? i wouldn't.

ChibiKyKiske

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

TRT-X — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:22:25 MDT

"Insane in the Brain"...

Do you mean to say I can actually re-enact that classic Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza" ?

"Did somebody order the London Symphony Orchestra? Possibly while high? Cyprus Hill I'm looking at you..."

(Or something like that)

TRT-X

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

karasu is my homeboy — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:15:33 MDT

This game seems like a horrible imitation to make a quick buck not on it's own quality, but by parents who figure it's a cheaper alternative to the big guys.

The review doesn't seem to disagree with this notion.

Mess.

karasu is my homeboy

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Derigor — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:13:53 MDT

So just wait for a Rockband on the wii to give to my nephew for xmas.

Derigor

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

Jypsy — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:12:51 MDT

I actually rented this and it is a phenominal 2 player game.

a friend of mine who really doesn't care for rythm games in general really enjoyed this with me, and we have been playing it all week.

The single player mode is pretty boring overall, I agree, but it is fun hearing which band has "control" of the song, especially when you choose a very weird genre intentionally.

The game gets kind of lame when both players choose the same genre.

I have to say this is purchasable if it were $20, maybe $30 at most, but is absolutely worth a rental!

Jypsy

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

machinespirit — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:10:42 MDT

Unfortunately, a decent tracklist does not a good music game make, and the concept is not enough to differentiate it from Rock Band.

machinespirit