Everyone else? Not so much.
You see, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was not intended for rhythm game fans. Maybe not even music fans. It was made for die-hard Aerosmith fans.
Rhythm-based video games have garnered themselves an impressive cultural buzz, a fact perhaps most clearly illustrated on Wii.
Activision, for example, has had remarkable success on Nintendo’s system with its popular Guitar Hero series. Since its Oct. 2007 release, Guitar Hero III has sold 2 million copies on Wii in North America. And surprisingly, the Wii version has also become Activision’s top-selling Guitar Hero III SKU; IGN reported last Thursday 152,000 more copies were sold in North America last month.
With EA’s behemoth Rock Band franchise coming to Wii in June, it seems safe to predict millions more will be virtually rocking on Wii, gimped ports and all. Given the success with the genre on Wii, and the inevitability of blockbusters to come, the newly released Battle of the Bands represents a smart business move for publisher THQ.
Unfortunately, despite some unique ideas and genuinely enjoyable moments, Battle of the Bands doesn’t fully deliver on its interesting premise and never quite reaches the outstanding level of its powerhouse rhythmic counterparts on Wii.
If it has achieved anything, the recently released Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast has proven Nintendo-produced Wii software is certainly not immune from negative criticism.
Dave Rudden of GamePro called Donkey Kong’s latest outing “offensive to all senses” and warned its “rancid nature…is likely to give you acid reflux.” IGN’s Mark Bozon bluntly called it a “waste of a game,” and Alex Navarro of GameSpot claimed it is nothing more than a “fifth-rate Mario Kart clone” with “frustrating AI and (a) total lack of personality.”
To say this game has received atrocious reviews would be an understatement. But while most critics have accurately honed in on the problems crippling Barrel Blast, they have been unnecessarily harsh with their criticisms. Despite the abundance of areas in which Barrel Blast whole-heartedly disappoints, there are some enjoyable qualities to be found within the game.
Not many, but some.
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