Closing off our title-by-title wade through Domo's résumé, we have Rock-n-Roll Domo, which finds our fuzzy brown friend fronting a wildlife-staffed garage band. It's a rhythm game that might strike many as a little too simplistic, but compared to some of Domo's other outings, this one's not half-bad.
The gameplay will be familiar to...well...probably everyone. Music notes fly in from off-screen (in several directions) and they will cross one of three outlines. You will need to activate (or trigger) each note as it passes through its outline. Doing so when it's perfectly aligned will cause the crowd to chant Domo's name...miss, and they're liable to start chanting something else...
Notes are triggered in one of two ways; you can either use the A button or the touch screen. Button control is far more accurate, but since you only ever tap one button (highlighting different outlines with a quick touch of the D-pad) you're setting yourself up for a repetitive experience. The touch screen, by contrast, offers a more frantic gameplay experience, as you get to chase notes around with your stylus and pin them in the right place. This is more fun, but the fact is that the notes are so very tiny, and your stylus is so very big, and it often obscures notes and makes it difficult to think ahead. Ergo, either control style has both its strengths and significant drawbacks.
For each note that you trigger, Domo will sing. More often than not, he will (predictably) sing a single note at a time, but sometimes he will launch into an extended aria, which wreaks havoc with your timing. This increases the challenge, but probably not intentionally.
Curiously, Domo's singing sounds more like a guitar than any singing voice we’ve ever heard, complete with hammer-ons and pull-offs. He must have had one heck of a voice coach.
There are five songs in the game, and though they feature catchy-enough grooves you aren't likely to find yourself whistling them the next day. A second level of difficulty is unlockable, but the songs are the same, and you just have more notes to hit. All of the songs are original tunes; there are no licensed tracks, thus causing us to miss out on the epic, face-melting possibility of hearing Domo belt out Mr. Roboto.
Much more interesting is the Mixer feature, which allows you to toy around with the tempo of the different songs (among other things), and this can actually be quite a lot of fun. Certainly the ability to manipulate music is the best example of a replayable extra feature in any of these Domo games. There is also a practice mode which contrary to what you might think, features Domo's band practicing without you. You just sit back and watch them jam. Or, you know, you could go read a book.
Conclusion
Overall, Rock-n-Roll Domo is quite good fun, and it's nice to be able to choose among control styles, even if each of them does have its flaws. On its own this game isn't much to recommend, but as a silly and somewhat-replayable time-waster, this is one of Domo's better options.
Comments 18
This was the one I was most interested in. Nice review, I think I'll pick this up.
ha, i'll probably pick this up when i get the chance. I love rhythm games, and I can't believe Domo's come so far from the olden days where he just chased kittens in image macros on Fark.com... :3
@theblackdragon: We'll never get back those kittens. Too many people have masturbated. :V
blackdragon, you may be interested to know that the backing track for the fifth song reminds me a lot of certain material on the Dethklok album.
Sadly, Domo's singing voice is nothing like Nathan Explosion's...but it still makes me smile.
Ahh, Rock N Roll Domo, how much do I love thee? Well, at least $2 worth!! This game is my 2nd favorite in the DOMO series, the first being Pro-Putt Domo. Pick both of these up. Great little time waster for $2 and the songs are actually kinda cute and memorable.
Crash Course was my favorite Domo game, but after playing Pro-Putt for a while, its my new fav. Oh, and RnR is pretty good also.
@CB: thanks for the heads-up.
ME WANTS
Out of all the Domos released Monday, I'll buy this, Pro-Putt, Crash-Course, and White-Water. Excellent review Chicken
Putt putt is definitely the best one of the 5. The rest range from bland to meh but for 2 bucks you can't really go wrong with any of them.
Looks like another good way to burn 200 points.
Are you sure all the songs are original? I swear that the first song is one I've heard before.
@mjc0961 - Normally there'd be little use to a practice mode that doesn't let you practice. However, in this game it's somewhat important to familiarize yourself with the tune before you can play it effectively. It sucks that there's no way to actually practice, practice, but the tool does have its uses.
@Phillip sez.. Curiously, Domo's singing sounds more like a guitar than any singing voice we’ve ever heard, complete with hammer-ons and pull-offs. He must have had one heck of a voice coach.
You're just jealous!
Quote from review: "Curiously, Domo's singing sounds more like a guitar than any singing voice we’ve ever heard, complete with hammer-ons and pull-offs. He must have had one heck of a voice coach."
LOL xD That is hularious!!!
@thewiirocks:
"Are you sure all the songs are original? I swear that the first song is one I've heard before."
Funny you mention that one, because at the beginning of that song, I always get this faint hint of a memory...but I can't quite place it. I think it just sounds a LOT like a certain popular song that I can't place. I doubt it's licensed, as the rest of the song doesn't sound familiar to me at all.
If anyone knows otherwise, though, by all means let us know!
"You're just jealous!"
Oh, guilty as charged, believe me.
Just to point out what an absolutely lucky man I am, my wife totally nailed the tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO1LbkuPfqo
I don't think they match exactly, but it's pretty darn close.
!!!
That's the one! That's the ghost of the song I keep thinking I'm hearing. Thank you! I even played the song again a few times for the sole purpose of trying to figure this out. Well done!
I'll keep my points.
Here's hoping better games will come on DSiWare later down the road.
OVERRATED OVERRATED OVERRATED Mehhhh.
@Blue_Protoman LMAO!
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