LEGO Rock Band merges two of the most popular video game franchises to deliver a unique family-friendly music experience that will take tweens, teens, families and gamers of all ages on a wild journey to rock stardom in order to “Build a Band and Rock the Universe.” Combining authentic rhythm/music gaming experience of Rock Band with the accessibility, customization and humor of LEGO games, LEGO Rock Band allows players to create their own unique rock star style and customize their own avatars, band members, roadies, and managers.
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Gameplay
Action in LEGO Rock Band for DS is true to the Rock Band standard of play found in other releases in the franchise, only with a LEGO twist. Your goal is to run through a succession of rock tinged, family friendly song tracks with your band. Bandmates are indicated by four separate avatars representing your guitar player, bass guitarist, drummer and vocalist. The game doesn’t need a peripheral like other music games on the DS, instead the player indicates the appropriate rhythm for each bandmate in turn through a combination of the DS’ D-Pad, face buttons, mic and eventually its stylus. Players switch between parts using the shoulder buttons. The game also supports 2-4 person multiplayer over a DS multi-card Wi-Fi connection. One of the fun LEGO influences is in the tablature flowing across the screen that directs your play. This is in the form of LEGO blocks color coded for each controller. As with all Rock Band games, consistency gains the player multipliers which earns them more points. As players successfully complete songs and rock challenges, they can collect LEGO ‘studs,’ with which they can customize their avatar and other in-game goodies in true LEGO Snap-On fashion. In addition, players can unlock additional content and collect amazing vehicles, which can be used to transport their band from local gigs at rock clubs to epic stadium shows and even fantasy settings on Earth and beyond. The game contains a variety of play modes including Quickplay and Challenge, which guarantees varied gameplay.
The Song List
LEGO Rock Band for DS/BSI allows players to rock along to both current hits and classic favorites that the whole family will enjoy. These include:
- All American Rejects – “Swing, Swing”
- The Automatic – “Monster”
- Blur – “Song 2″
- Carl Douglas – “Kung Fu Fighting”
- Counting Crows – “Accidentally in Love”
- David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
- Europe – “The Final Countdown”
- Good Charlotte – “Girls & Boys”
- Iggy Pop – “The Passenger”
- Jackson 5 – “I Want You Back”
- Kaiser Chiefs – “Ruby”
- Katrina & the Waves – “Walking on Sunshine”
- KT Tunstall – “Suddenly I See”
- P!NK – “So What”
- The Primitives – “Crash”
- Queen – “We Are The Champions”
- Queen – “We Will Rock You”
- Rascal Flatts – “Life is a Highway”
- Ray Parker Jr. – “Ghostbusters”
- Spin Doctors – “Two Princes”
- Sum 41 – “In Too Deep”
- Supergrass – “Grace”
- Tom Petty – “Free Fallin’”
- Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
- We the Kings – “Check Yes Juliet”
Key Game Features
- Use the LEGO character customizer to create and personalize your band, instrument controllers and entourage.
- A rock tinged, yet family-friendly song list.
- Pull off killer riffs in LEGO themed Rock Power Challenges to perform amazing feats such as defeating a giant octopus, summoning a storm or demolishing a skyscraper.
- Build fame LEGO style by completing songs to collect LEGO studs – unlock cool vehicles, progress to new venues and unlock new characters and instruments.
- Express yourself with a personalized LEGO Rock Den that can be accessorized and decorated to perfectly suit your rock style.
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Really fun game,
I bought this game for my pre-teen niece, who tells me that she loves playing it, it’s really fun, and that I’m “the best aunt ever”.
I was surprised to see so many folks purchasing this for younger kids… probably because of the Lego theme. I was pleased that even a 12 year old didn’t find this “too babyish”. I was looking for something wholesome, yet entertaining, and I think I really hit the mark with this one. Her mother assures me that the value for the game is tremendous, considering how many hours my niece has spent playing it.
Personally, I thought the game screen looks a little cluttered, with lego singers, scrolling lyrics at the top of the screen, video frets, some kind of progress bar across the top, a score tally, and many other flashing winking things besides. I couldn’t tell where to look first. No matter! My niece seemed to grasp this just fine, quickly becoming really good at it.
If you already own a Nintendo DS system, do yourself a favor and pick up this affordably priced, entertaining game.
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|happy 5 year old,
My 5 year old son got this same for Christmas and he loves it. I like that the music is appropriate and songs we all know and that it is a nice break from the shoot ‘em up games that most boys want.
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|A fun little game,
So the basics of this game….there are 4 members of your rock band. As they are playing a song, you have to switch between them when prompted and use 4 buttons on your DS to play “notes” as they appear on the screen. The more accurate you are, the more $ you get so you can purchase upgrades for your band. I LOVE the music in this game!!! I’m glad that the makers decided to use the ACTUAL songs instead of using cheesy imitations of them. We love Queen’s WE WILL ROCK YOU and David Bowie’s LET’S DANCE. My only issue with this game is….you can’t really take your eyes off of the bottom screen (if you do, you will miss notes) so you miss watching your band perform on the top screen. As someone else said, there are a few songs that I think my 5-8 year old don’t need to hear…..I prefer them to listen to more positive music. But most of the songs are okay and some places in the game allow you to choose which songs you want on your playlist.
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