Music on: Drums (DSiWare) Review

Story: There is no story present in this game. As it is a music creation game, the lack of plot is not a bad thing.

Gameplay: Music on: Drums is a drum beat sequencer on the DS. The key to this game is that it has a relatively simple interface. Sure it still will take at least a half an hour to understand at the most rudimentary level, but there is a lot of control here. All options are clearly visible, and after a perusal of the help menu, basic beat creation is possible. The number of sounds available is remarkable; there should be a sound to match whatever you are trying to create. Just remember this game is about beats not strings, brass, or other instruments. The process of switching sounds can be cumbersome. There are just so many sounds, and it can be difficult to use them all because you have to go to another screen and scroll through the giant list of sounds and select the one desired. Recording the patterns created and sequencing them to make a song is for the most part simple; it would have been nice to see more customization options, but given that this all needs to fit on the DS screen, it is adequate. The big problem is the long, arduous process of “exporting” songs from the DS; this begs the question why not just find a drum beat sequencer on the computer.

Graphics: There is not much vibrancy to the user interface, but this is a good thing. It does not distract nor is it ugly to the eyes. Nevertheless, please, somebody change the look of the standard DSiWare help menu.

Audio: The audio quality of all the beat sounds is very good. Every sound is clear and distinct, and given that, this is the crux of Music on: Drums, the lack of any other audio does not hurt the overall experience.

Replayability: There is so much depth to this game. You could spend hours discovering what it has to offer. The sheer number of edits and sounds allow the player to create their perfect beat pattern; with that said, the lack of an easy export option will have people questioning how much time they should invest in a song that will not be transferred anywhere.

Pros:

• Large number of sounds
• Unobtrusive user interface
• Sound quality is very good

Cons:

• Limited number of edit options when sequencing patterns
• Game only has beats no other instruments
• Sound selection can be cumbersome

Editor: Zach Felling

Go to 8:18 in the Video

7/10 Good

Value: Full Price ($5)