Rock Band Unplugged

Rock Band: Unplugged is not the game you might be expecting. Instead of recreating the classic console multiplayer experience on the handheld, Harmonix intriguingly decided to get back to their roots with what is essentially a homage to their own cult hits, Amplitude and Frequency. It works surprisingly well, yet you may be left wanting after playing.

The core elements of the now standard Guitar Hero/ Rock band formula remain- hit the coloured gems which race down the screen in beat to the music. The vocalist/drummer/bassist/guitarist combo return from Rock Band, albeit with a twist- you control all four at the same time. While this might sound obtusely complicated, Harmonix actually pulled it off very well. 
Instead of strumming, singing or hitting pads players are instead forced to use the face buttons to ‘play’ the notes, which are now organised in more enjoyable to play patterns instead of attempting a realistic representation. For example, even vocals are represented by button presses. Hitting a sequence of notes successfully will automate the instrument, making it play itself without you having to worry about it. You then hop over to another instrument’s note highway and repeat the process. While difficult to describe, you could compare the mechanic similar to spinning multiple plates- you have to keep on top of them and give them all equal attention, otherwise one will fail.
This mechanic keeps the game feeling fresh- the likelihood is that each time you play a song you will be playing different sections on different instruments, depending on your time spent on each one. While switching between different tracks could have been jarring, Harmonix were quite clever in giving you current track a boost in volume- letting you easily focus on the relevant part.

The ‘career’ mode of the game takes the form of Rock Band 2’s World Tour, seeing your band travel around the globe and gaining in prevalence. If you’ve seen the console version you can expect the exact same here, right down to hiring staff. The create a character function is also available, although unsurprisingly limited. Various hairstyles and clothes are available and the models and animations are decent enough, especially considering you hardly see them behind the four not highways during gameplay. Further DLC is even available off of the PSN, complementing the already decent (although familiar to console owners) setlist. It’s nice to see that the console experience fits on the handheld version.

That said, there are several issues I have with Rock Band: Unplugged. Firstly, there is absolutely no multiplayer. The series suddenly went from being the best party game around to a solitary experience? Having a multiplayer mode where each player controlled an individual instrument would have been expected, in the least. Online leaderboards are also absent.
Furthermore PSP Go owners will be unhappy to hear that they can only purchase the game in a specific manner. They’re able to buy the game for less than five pounds , with the catch that it only has about five songs included. The rest of the setlist has to be bought separately. While this is good in that you can avoid the tracks you don’t want, it balloons the price massively if you want a decently sized amount of songs to play. This is made much worse when you consider the Band World Tour requires a certain amount of songs to advance in. An option for Go owners to buy the whole game in one download would have been a welcome option.

For regular PSP owners who are a fan of rhythm games, Rock Band: Unplugged is a solid purchase. PSP Go owners should be aware that while the initial download is great value (cheaper than some Minis) building up the song library will get expensive.