Rock Band Unplugged for PSP Reviews by Gamers

I admit. I didn't think i would like Rock band on a hand held with no peripherals. But Rock Band Unplugged is so fun and addicting, even after playing it's bigger brother on a console. It has over 40 songs. A lot of the songs are from the Rock Band disc on the consoles, but also a lot of the songs are from downloadable content from the consoles. So if you didn't buy these songs on the console version, you get to play them here.

How did they do a rock band game with no instruments? Well, you control all 4 instruments by yourself, and you have to use 4 buttons for the 4 colors on the screen. Default is Left, Up, Triangle, Circle. You can change them if you want, but i found that those are pretty good. You play phrases on a song, and if you complete the phrase, you basically are setting that particular instrument to play by itself for a short while. Then you hit the Left or Right Trigger to move to the next instrument and try to do the same thing. It is very challenging to try and not mess up while doing all 4 instruments. To pop overdrive, you hit X or Down. Popping overdrive messes me up a lot though for some reason.

The game has tour mode. You create all 4 band members. You cannot customize them as good as you can in the console. I couldn't put facial hair or tattoos. You also have to unlock hairdos. The tour mode is very long. Lots of places to play just like the console version. I do not know if it has the unlimited set list, i have not gotten that far yet. It also has a mode called band survivor. You play all 4 instruments again without phrases. It's harder.

The major negative i have with Rock Band unplugged is that there is no multiplayer at all. Not even Adhoc. They could have done some Adhoc head to head battles. It would have been great.

There is also a store to download songs. This is the first psp title to have downloadable content that you have to pay for. About time.

This game very fun and addicting. I recommend it. Have fun.

Don't get me wrong, I look fondly at my copies of Amplitude and Frequency. But there's a reason I don't play them any more: Harmonix upped the ante with Guitar Hero and then Rock Band, and there's no going back. Playing through the 41 songs of Rock Band Unplugged (a track list which has quite a few repeats from previous versions) is fun, but it's a momentary thrill: unlike the console versions, where half the fun is in switching instruments, and the other half is in showing up your friends, there's little replay value here.

That said, the game still plays smoothly and looks great. But I'd rather play a wacky rhythm game like Elite Beat Agents than have a lesser "Rock Band" experience. With some tweaking, this game seems like it'd be a better fit as an iPhone app, allowing you to play along with your own collection of songs; as is, it's a quick PSP rental. (And be sure that you have headphones; without 'em, good luck following the tinny rhythms of your poor PSP speakers.)

Indeed, times have changed; no need to step back to an analog era.