I mentioned in my review of Wii Music that it wouldn’t be fair to compare it to Guitar Hero as it isn’t the same type of game but I have no such qualms when it comes to Pop Star Guitar. This is essentially a watered down version of GH which in itself is no bad thing as it does manage to squeeze in a large selection of tracks which would look out of place beside the heavier variety of music which GH has on offer.

As you’d expect the tracks vary in quality from good offerings such as “Move Along” and “Dirty Little Secret” from All American Rejects to the disturbingly mundane Jonas Brothers – whom I firmly believe have been created by the New World Order to weaken our minds and leave us unable to fight back against the impending tyranny. Having said that, this is merely the opinion of one individual and I’m quite sure the Jonas Brothers have droves of mindless fans out there who are more than happy to listen to their brand of wholesome and soul-destroying crooning.

Screenshots – http://www.teamteabag.com/2008/10/03/pop-star-guitar-info-and-screenshots/

Pop Star Guitar, unlike GH and Rock Band, doesn’t require an additional guitar-controller and the Wii version comes packaged with the AirG peripheral which you attach to the Wii-mote for some air guitar fun. Well, that’s the idea, but in practice I found the AirG to be very hard work on my fingers and after half an hour with it my hand hurt so much I feel the need to take a break.

The basic premise works well up to a point as you’re asked to start a band, choose band members from a small number of characters, and then set off on your journey to world domination. When you start you’ll have a handful of songs available and, as with Guitar Hero, you must unlock the vast majority of songs as you progress through your career. There’s something about Pop Star Guitar which made this process feel like more of a chore for me than my experience with GH. The problem I had is that instead of being presented with each new set of songs in manageable chunks you instantly see a map filled with the name of every unlockable track. I admit that this is a minor gripe and the root of my problem is more likely down to my taste in music clashing with what this game has to offer. I have to admit that I found myself yearning for some Iron maiden each time I looked at the most recent batch of unlocked songs.

I can certainly see the appeal this might have for those with little interest in the generally heavier tracks which Guitar Hero offers. The plus points in Pop Star Guitar do outweigh the negatives and the game would certainly make a decent Christmas present for anyone with a more moderate taste in music than myself. While I found that using the AirG was tough on my fingers the small size of the add-on does make for easy storage which is an added convenience over the much chunkier GH guitars. If you already own and love Guitar Hero all that Pop Star Guitar really offers is a bunch of different songs which may not appeal to your tastes but if you don’t own a similar title and soft-rock is your thing then this is certainly worth checking out.

7/10

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