Who's it for:
Music/rhythm junkies who want a humorous take on the genre.
The Good:
+ Unique twist of the music/rhythm genre:
Hearing a hip hop track go country on the fly is pretty funny. The on-the-fly musical switchover is the highlight of Battle of the Bands.
+ Visual Variety:
Variety of bands and backgrounds keep the visuals fresh. Character animations during gameplay will keep onlookers entertained.
+ Entertaining Music Player:
A time-killer where you select a song and then switch up the style on your own while it’s playing. Almost spoils the fun of playing through the game.
The Bad:
- Repetitive, disjointed motion controls:
Controls come down to timed flicks of the Wii Remote, which feels disjointed from the music and repetitive. After a couple of songs, even the game warns you to take a break.
- Short single-player mode:
It only takes a couple of hours to get through the 10 stages of Adventure Mode. Not a really rewarding experience, except for unlocking weapons (which don’t have much variety themselves).
- Avoidable storyline:
Dialogue boxes before matches feel tacked on and don’t add anything memorable. Presentation of flat 2d illustrations don’t help it.
- Song selection:
Depends on your individual taste, but there aren’t too many memorable songs here or even some that work great for mashing up (See gameplay video below for listing of songs).
Game Summary:
Battle of the Bands is a music/rhythm game, exclusively for the Wii from THQ. Players pick from bands with musical styles ranging from rock, hip hop, latin, country and even marching band. Gameplay modes include a single-player Adventure Mode and a Versus Mode (two-players or vs. CPU). Using the Wii Remote, players must move (or shake) at the correct time to score points and dominate the song. The music changes on the fly, according to the player who is doing best in the match. An interactive tutorial is included to get you up to speed on how to play. In addition to timely Wii Remote movements, each band packs their own stock of weapons. Weapons can also be used to cripple opponents, which you unlock throughout the Adventure Mode. There are thirty songs to select from, with five variations for each track, according to the music genre.
