PixlBit

Happy Wednesday Pixlbit Nation! Three days in and I hope you all are having fun! For today’s entry I wanted to talk about one of my newest Lego game pickups, that I am really enjoying because it combines two of my favorite interests, Lego and Music. The game I am talking about is Lego Rockband

 

Lego Rockband isn’t my first Rockband game, I actually bought it on the PS3 but since I don’t have a guitar, it sits quietly until I can borrow or purchase one. This game is fun but I’m not going to ruin the experience with a controller. I happened to stumble upon the DS version during one of my trips to GameStop where it was sitting in the cheap DS pile that’s found on the counter. I really didn’t know how the game would play. Would it buy like the regular Rockband, Rockband Unplugged on the PSP where you switch between instruments & vocals, or would it be useless because I don’t have that crazy add-on that the Guitar Hero games on the DS need. Since Lego Rockband was a $2 game, it was fine to take chances on. At worst it was just another Lego game in the library, so why not?

 

The game’s first impression was that it looked like every other Rockband game, which is a positive because I could just jump in and play. The menus were identical to the console/PSP versions, which meant that I could navigate around with ease.

 

The song selection had a decent sampling of different artists, and musical styles. My one gripe with this portion is that the speakers are lacking, and I feel sound a bit “tinny”. These are obviously not made for quality sound but it does the job for other games.

 

One of my favorite things about Lego is the minifigures, and Lego Rockband is exceptional at animating these little guys. It’s a shame that when playing the game I don’t get to really watch them because of the Rockband layout on two screens.

 

As for the actual gameplay, the use of Lego pieces go well with the presentation. At first it does feel like a Lego skin was slapped on Rockband Unplugged, especially if you are familiar with the previous versions of this style of Rockband, but game moves smoothly and instead of having the instrument icons be animated once you fulfill the required amount, the faces of the minifigures appear. Another difference in the game is that there isn’t a required section of the game screen that you have to clear. In previous games a section of the game screen is embellished with a bold border to let the user know this is the section of the song that needs to be cleared before switching over. This is available in Lego Rockband, but as a glowing purple border that grows with every completed noted. I like this version because there is no wait for a new section to begin if you miss a note, so there’s no awkward pause within gameplay.

I’ve had Lego Rockband for around a week, playing a song or two and I really have no complaints. Sometimes the response from button push to action on the screen is a little slow for my taste, but overall it’s the same Rockband goodness I’m used to playing Rockband Unplugged on the PSP. If you are a fan of the portable style of Rockband, or Lego, give this game a try.

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris