Wrie

Rock Band, the wildly popular music game that has been causing a stir across the nation for some time now, has been released by Electronic Arts into the app store. With its near-console quality graphics, varied song selection, and spot-on controls, Rock Band cranks the fun dial to 11.

Rock Band, the wildly popular music game that has been causing a stir across the nation for some time now, has been released by Electronic Arts into the app store. With its near-console quality graphics, varied song selection, and spot-on controls, Rock Band cranks the fun dial to 11.

Rock Band offers three modes of game play: Quick play brings 15 built-in tracks to your fingertips; World Tour takes you through a fun-filled trip to multiple cities; lastly, Multiplayer allows a meet up with friends online or over Bluetooth and rock it out party style. Tracks are arranged according to difficulty level. While some songs are pretty easy, others reach a range or practically impossible. After a song is picked, players can select the instrument that they want to play with. Drums, bass, guitar, and vocals are all present to choose from. Every song has its own difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard) and tapping challenges increase relatively. Players will travel throughout the world in World Tour mode. Boston is initially unlocked while New York, Seattle, Paris and Moscow will need to be unlocked as the tour progresses. If players have a Facebook ID, Leaderboards are available to peruse. Online play gives an experience for multiple players who can play the same song using different instruments, although not at the same time. Once each player completes the track, their respective scores will be combined to create a final score. Bluetooth grants a real-time multiplayer experience which is a lot more fun. Achievement statistics are accessible in the World Tour menu.

All the visuals in Rock Band are great even though the iPhone has a smaller screen. When bass or guitars are played with, players need to tap on pick-shaped spots on as notes pass over them. Notes travel down a vertical fretboard. Drums are slightly different since they present drum-shaped objects for tapping. Vocal play still involves tapping but this time on a horizontal scale. Swiping the screen at the right time takes the game into overdrive. If players miss taps the music will go out of tune and unpleasant pick scratches or drumstick sounds will begin. Missing notes in vocal mode will stop the song altogether. The upper part of the iPhone screen is reserved for band animations during playback.

In the audio department, Rock Band shines as much as it does visually. Included are 20 CD-quality songs from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joan Jett, Smashing Pumpkins, Blink 182, Foo Fighters, Motorhead, All-American Rejects, and more. In-app purchases are present with the ability to buy more songs in pairs for $0.99. All the controls worked perfectly as expected in our experience with the game.

As it can be quite difficult to play through a track without missing a note, replayability is very high. The game is just plain fun to play too. Although there are similar games in the App Store such as the Tap Tap Revenge series and Guitar Rock Tour, none give the full package that Rock Band offers. Plus, the others are more forgiving than this title. Rock Band is top dog if you want the most demanding tapping experience on the iPhone and iPod touch. With a price tag of $9.99, it does cost more than the competition. But we think it's worth it. This game shreds a 5 star solo right in the palm of your hand.