Jam sessions? As in, raspberry jam? (Jam Sessions (DS))

Member Name: mchitty

Product:	Jam Sessions (DS)
Date:	01/02/09 (65 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Could be cheaper than a guitar

Disadvantages: Clumsy controls, no voice record, rubbish effects

When I first heard about 'Jam Sessions' I really got quite excited. The Nintendo DS is the PERFECT system on which to build some sort of portable virtual studio - I mean, it has decent sound, two screens, and even a MICROPHONE - not to mention touch screen control.

You see, the idea of a portable studio that I can take anywhere with me, on the bus or on the train, and record song ideas that I have, is so appealing! Especially because most of the time when I come up for ideas for songs, I'm travelling somewhere.

Jam Sessions is basically a guitar simulator. Not guitar as in guitar hero - we're not talking about flashy guitar solos here, we're talking about solid chords and strumming.

The way that the game works is that you use the stylus to strum the guitar on the screen, at the same time you use the DPad, buttons and shoulder buttons to produce a variety of chords. With a bit of setting up, there are over 100 chords available so you'll be able to play most songs to some approximation.

There are two main modes - songs and free play. There are only a handful of songs available, and you must play along with these accurately and correctly. The game shines more in free play, where you can do anything you like, and also record your efforts.

Unfortunately for some bizarre, unknown reason, despite the DS having a microphone, you cannot record your own voice. This severely limits the worth of this software as a portable demo recorder, or as anything really. This really disappoints me because it would have been so much easier to add this feature!

The other rubbish thing about the game is the sound. Although the default acoustic setting is fairly convincing, you can also add effects such as distortion. These effects all sound really, really bad. They add nothing to the experience and just make things sound messy and unprofessional.

To add insult to injury I'm not incredibly keen on the actual gameplay when you are playing the guitar. It feels awkward, and a difficult control scheme with which to keep up a rhythm, as well as a difficult control scheme to smoothly transition from chord to chord.

So err, overall, somewhere there was a good idea here. Unfortunately, this is a game that is full of missed opportunities, that doesn't really do what I hoped it would do, and doesn't really offer a game that is good enough to really be fun. Oh well!

Summary: Oh so disappointed - I'd rather have spent the money on jam