WHAT'S better than learning how to play the guitar? Why, playing Guitar Hero of course! The music rhythm franchise proved to be a smash hit amongst console gamers with an endless variety of sequels and thousands of plastics guitars sold worldwide.

Guitar Hero: On Tour takes the fun of playing Guitar Hero and condenses it into a neat portable form that you can bring along with you anywhere you go.

One for the road

First things first, On Tour isn't your typical DS game. It isn't just some repackaged console game stripped down to portable size. Included in the game's package is the Guitar Grip, a device that slaps on to the DS? Gameboy Advance slot, integrating four coloured buttons (or frets) that run around the bottom of the DS.

Shrinking it down to portable size means there are some inevitable changes to the game. The most obvious difference of On Tour's Guitar Grip compared to its bigger console cousins is the absence of a full size guitar and missing orange key - the original game has five frets whereas there are only four in On Tour.

Honestly, I've never played a Guitar Hero game before this, so my (virtual) guitar playing skills were quite atrocious in the beginning.

Fortunately the game has a helpful tutorial section that quickly brought me up to speed with the basic gameplay as well as briefing me on On Tour's exclusive new Guitar Duel mode (more on this later).

Strumming those strings

On Tour's control scheme was easy to pick up as I found out and the dual screen nature of the DS seems like the perfect fit for the popular rhythm music game to land in portable form.

The game works with you strapping your hands around the DS with the Velcro strap firmly in place while watching the notes scroll down on one screen. You then have to hit the notes in time to the song on the DS's touchscreen with the included guitar pick (which is little more than a stylised DS stylus).

However, there are a few problems that surface when playing On Tour. For one, cradling the DS to play the game as if I were reading an imaginary book with my hand strapped to it easily tires my wrist after a few songs.

Even the game advises players to take short breaks in between songs to get the feeling back in their hands. The discomfort eventually does go away after a couple of plays through.

Another problem I had with the game is how loose the Guitar Grip attachment felt when playing the game. Players can easily slip the attachment out by accident when playing, ending your game prematurely and forcing you to restart.

All in all, it would've been great if the grip could be more firmly attached to the DS.

While it takes some getting used to, the overall control scheme for On Tour still feels intuitive.

Much of the core gameplay from the original game has been retained for this portable version including notes energised with Star Power, which upon maxing out will increase your score multiplier with each successful note played.

To activate your Star Power you will need to shout "Rock On!" into the DS' built-in microphone as opposed to tilting the guitar in console versions of the game.

Of course, if you feel foolish shouting at your DS in public, you can opt to press the Select or Start key to achieve the same effect, though with great difficulty.

Serviceable graphics

In terms of graphics, there is nothing visually arresting with On Tour's presentation. As expected, graphics aren't everything for a rhythm music game considering that you will be focusing on the notes most of the time.

On Tour still brings back the original stable of stereotype rockers that are animated pretty smoothly though they lack the level of detail and polish of their console counterparts.

Still, the presentation is acceptable and really picks up when the game shifts into the Guitar Duel mode with highly animated characters pulling off insane guitar moves while jumping around on stage.

The environments aren't too shabby-looking either with flashing stage lights and tight camera angles around the rockers themselves. However, there isn't a whole lot of variety to the concert venues. Only five venues are included in the game.

Take it on tour

The Career mode makes up for the bulk of your single player experience with the premise of you organising a band and going on tour around various locations.

As you progress through the Career mode, you will earn cash to buy new outfits for your character and custom paint jobs for your guitars.

I didn't find the idea of earning money to unlock extra goods compelling since the unlocked outfits and items are just visual treats and do not affect the game in any way.

The music in On Tour takes on a more mainstream approach with both pop and rock tracks thrown into the mix, with the likes of Maroon 5, No Doubt, Los Lonely Boys and Jet joining in with hardcore rockers like Kiss, Nirvana and Ozzy Osbourne.

While some might find the combination a little scatter-brained, I enjoyed the few mainstream hits like This Love, Spiderweb and Are You Gonna Be My Girl?

However, there's no denying that the song collection in On Tour feels limited with only 25 songs in total when compared to the console versions. The lack of a downloadable content mode to grab new songs also limits the game's replay value.

Also the relatively short Career mode can be completed in a matter of hours, so chances are your only draw to the game would be to perfect your technique and obtain the insanely high score set by the developers.

Friendly competition

Of course there's more to On Tour than just the single-player Career mode. A variety of competitive and co-operative multiplayer modes make up the game's multiplayer component.

Two players have the option of playing a song co-operatively over a wireless local connection with one as the lead guitarist while the other plays backup. Alternatively, if you are up for a more competitive sort of sport, there's the earlier mentioned Guitar Duel mode. As players battle furiously for supremacy of the scoreboard, they can execute a number of different power-ups that screw up the competition's playing.

A couple of examples: You can set your opponents guitar on fire making it unplayable until he blows the fire out using the DS's microphone or more dastardly tactics like increasing the song's difficulty level.

Being on the receiving end of the power-ups, I couldn't help but feel that some of them were unnecessarily tacked on for the purpose of differentiating the DS version of the game. Still, Duel mode should definitely provide some added replay value and bring back players who have finished the Career mode and are looking to take on friends for a challenge.

Last note

All in all, Guitar Hero: On Tour is a solid game that allows you to enjoy your favourite Guitar Hero moments on the road. As a standalone game, On Tour has a short but sweet Career mode and a great mix of rock and pop tracks that are immediately recognisable.

However, the game is not without its faults. The Guitar Grip could use a little tightening to prevent it from sliding out of the DS while playing and the song collection is limited to just 25 songs.

On a more positive note, the experience of On Tour parallels that of its console version. It is still a balanced game that caters to both newcomers and veterans alike.

Pros: Good single-player Career mode; decent mix of pop and rock songs; two player Duel mode.

Cons: Guitar Grip is too loose; limited song selection; sub-par graphics.