Guitar Hero: On Tour is something that few ever thought would see the light of day: a portable Guitar Hero game. Shrinking down the half-sized guitar peripheral into a little GBA slot add-on, Vicarious Visions managed to create a peripheral that is as ingenious as it is strange.

Plugging into the DS's GBA slot, the "guitar" grants the player four tiny buttons to wail on and includes a special guitar pick shaped stylus to strum the touch screen with. While it may seem a little clunky and cumbersome at first, the peripheral works surprisingly well in practice. Strumming on the screen with the stylus is instantly intuitive to anyone who has used a pick before, and the buttons work great when pushed down firmly.

With that said, people with meaty (or tiny) paws: beware! The buttons are rather small and placed at a certain unmovable distance away from the DS, making it a "one size fits all" affair that might not work perfectly for some people. If you're a behemoth or a baby, you'll probably want to try before you buy.

In addition to the peripheral, Vicarious Visions got many things right when bringing the strictly-console series over to the little screen(s). For starters, the attention to detail and amount of thought that went into this game is nothing short of staggering. From big things like finally getting the majority of artist-performed songs on a Nintendo system (which were mostly absent from Guitar Hero 3 Wii), to little touches like displaying your equipped guitar on the strumming screen instead of solely on your character, the amount of time and care that went into the game makes it feel like much more than a simple cash-in port. The note charts are also extremely well done and fun to play on Hard and Expert, and will give most players a fun level of challenge until things get tough during the last few songs.

And while you might still argue that it's "just a port," On Tour features loads of DS functionality that makes it a completely new experience. Instead of just having one single straightforward mode comprised of 25+ songs, the game boasts an additional Guitar Duel mode that pits you against opponents in battles reminiscent of the face-offs in Guitar Hero 3. Even though the challenges range from the expected (camera flashes; silent "amp overloads") to the annoying ("blowing" out the fire via the microphone; "signing" shirts with the stylus), the Duels give it a special DS touch and a bit of extra replay value.

Anyone paying attention to Nintendo over the past few years has noticed its insatiable interest in the larger "casual" market. Guitar Hero: On Tour exemplifies this— featuring the most accessible track list seen in the series to date. In a complete 180 from the first few games, On Tour is entirely radio friendly and features 25 inoffensive chart-toppers from the last 30+ years with an extra bonus track from a certain band longtime fans will recognize.

Almost anyone should be able to find a few tracks to enjoy, ranging from the current to the classic (Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd), with a handful of guilty pleasures everyone knows along the way (Smashmouth; No Doubt). While audiophiles will obviously want to stick to the consoles, the songs come through surprisingly clear and sound noticeably better than some other DS music games. Curiously the game actually sounds more muddled and distorted when using average headphones, so stick to the speakers whenever possible.