Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Ever since Guitar Hero was first shown off in the Kentia Hall at E3, we knew it was destined to become a hit. What we never expected, however, was that the series would end up making the jump to the Nintendo DS. At first glance, it might appear that this is just a case of Activision milking the franchise, but after spending some solid time with the game, it quickly became apparent that Guitar Hero: On Tour was more than a simple money grab. Activision is hoping that On Tour will show handheld gamers that the series is more than just a novelty on the DS, and that this will be the first in a line of portable Guitar Hero releases.

What's Hot
Believe it or not, the touch screen and four button peripheral work quite well on the Nintendo DS. The add-on is solidly built, is suited for both the original DS and the DS Lite, and is extremely responsive. The guitar pick stylus (included with the game) is perfect for strumming the touch screen. After a few minutes of adjusting to a smaller screen and smaller "fret board," you'll be rocking out just like you're used to on the console versions of the game.

At first glance, the track listing seems to be a bit more mainstream friendly, but they're still quite fun to play. Also, despite the cartridge format, the bit rate on the music is respectable, and it's completely playable just using the built-in DS speakers.

As mentioned earlier, the game is much more than a simple money grab. It would have been quite easy for Activision to just green light anything to capitalize on the success of the DS and the series' brand strength. Instead, the game was faithfully translated from a console game that requires a rather large peripheral to a viable and fully portable game. It's quite rare that successful console titles make a successful leap to a handheld, especially those dependent on special hardware.

What's Not
When you shrink down a peripheral from a few feet in length down to a few inches, you're bound to have a few quirks arise in the process. Due to the size of the attachment, the DS version of the game only supports four buttons, instead of the five you get on the consoles. The loss of a button isn't a huge issue, as the songs still play well, but it's surely a noticeable step down from the console experience. Also, long play periods will produce some cramping, no matter how you hold your hands. Being a portable title, however, most play sessions will probably be shorter anyway.

Being a DS title, it's obvious that DLC is out of the question, so it's hard to knock the game much for that, but once you've mastered the track list, there's really not too much more to experience or look forward to.

Final Word
Guitar Hero has been a smash hit on the consoles, and while many people scoffed at the idea of a DS version, Activision has proven that the series can thrive in a portable setting. While you lose a button and you have to put up with a little bit of cramping due to the peripheral, you can't help but to be impressed and entertained by the ability to rock out on the go. Once the word gets out about Guitar Hero: On Tour and its faithful recreation of the series on the DS, we're pretty sure that On Tour will be another chart-topping hit for Activision.