Ultimate Band
Rock and roll comes in all shapes, sizes, flavors and colors, but there is one truism. All great bands don’t just play their music, they live it. And now you can do the same as you play and perform moves just like a rock star with Ultimate Band for Wii. Ultimate Band puts players on the track to Rock n’ Roll stardom by advancing their music careers and popularity from playing in a neighborhood garage to performing in front of an international audience at a world famous venue. But this isn’t your typical rhythm game.
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Unlike other games in the music genre, Ultimate Band utilizes the innovative Wii Remote and Nunchuk that players already have to provide the ability to play the drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, or take on the role of the front man, without the extra cost of music-mimicking peripherals. Players also use the familiar, intuitive controls of their Wii Remote and Nunchucks to create and customize characters that reflect their own unique personalities and attributes. Along the way, players unlock new songs, venues, and accessories that can be used to customize their band members as they experience a new type of musical gaming experience that will take them where they have never been before.
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Join the “Ultimate Band”
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Key Game Features:
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Gameplay: Out of the Garage and on to ‘Stage Breaks’
Although there are many ways to play Ultimate Band, one of the most exciting is through its compelling storyline, told via cutscenes. Players begin by choosing the gender of their character, crafting their image with a wide variety of clothing accessories and choosing a band name. Once the other members are added in a similar way, the touring cycle begins that will lift player’s bands out of the garage, into the clubs and possibly on to the biggest stages in the world; but the story doesn’t end there. Once players have hit the big-time there is the challenge of ‘Stage Breaks.’ These are special events that only happen when musicians are in their groove and are in context with the theme of each game environment. For example, in ‘Jamhalla,’ a Viking-themed Rock n’ Roll fortress, a dragon punctuates the performance of your song. Just make it through the song, and he just makes an appearance. But rock the house and he blasts flames. Now that Rocks!
Nintendo Wii/DS Connectivity
If you have Ultimate Band for the Nintendo DS you can sit in with players on the Wii version. Simply set your DS to search Wii versions of Ultimate Band in range and you can join in the fun. While the Wii gamers roam from gig to gig and in and out of the studio, you have the ability to play VJ by altering the color of the lights, as well as turning on and off stage effects among other things.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Kids Love it
Really, I purchased this product because it was the deal of the day, and it was highly rated. It looked like it might be fun. Well, I can say that the kids love it. The songs are safe, and the remote/nunchuck action is simple to learn. The songs are a little bland, but its fun listening to the kids wander around the house singing, “Whip it, whip it good”.
4 Stars Great Fun for Music Lovers
Wii Ultimate Band is geared towards kids who want to make music without the complexity of multi-note combinations. Instead you wave your nunchuck and swing your controller along with the rhythm. It can actually be challenging!
First, the basics. For people used to a Guitar Hero or Rock Band world, this is quite different. It’s not about following notes up and down a guitar neck, or about combinations of tom toms and cymbals. Instead, it’s primarily about rhythm. You do get to choose from singer, drums, guitar and bass - but each instrument is then played by rhythm.
So let’s take the singer. You don’t actually sing. Instead you hand-bunch, wave your hands in the air, clap and so on. For the guitarist you do strum, but all you do is “high strum” or “low strum”. You can also do arm windmills and claps. Drummers are at least doing hits and stick twirls, so that makes sense.
That being said, it can be quite fun. They’ll have the singer punching forward with one hand while turning in circles with the other hand. It’s like patting your head and rubbing your stomach - quite challenging!
The character customization is very basic - a few face styles, a few hairdos. I do like that they have the song sung in a male or female voice based on the character who is singing the song. The graphics for the venues are fairly impressive given the Wii’s limited capabilities.
The songs? This is always going to be highly subjective based on the player. If you take any song list and give it to 20 different people you’ll get 20 different reactions. For us, there are too few “good classics”. The versions they have are not wonderful. You have to unlock them in story mode before you can play them in free play.
Speaking of unlocking, it’s really annoying. In other games you can play through each song once to move on to the next area. Here you have to play songs multiple times. Why? Not only that, but you have to play as different instruments to get more points. So let’s say I really like being a singer. I can sing through each song in a level - but them I’m *forced* to go back and play drums or do something else through each song an entire second time before I can move on. I don’t like that. If you play with a friend at least you only have to play through one song twice - instead of three - but for people playing solo that’s a lot of song playing through songs you may not like in the first place just to finally unlock songs you enjoy.
Especially as this is a game aimed at kids - and you can definitely tell by the “gentle” grading and the fact we could play on hard right away without much trouble - you would want to let them have fun. If a player loves drums and wants to play drums all the way through, why force them to replay songs on another instrument to progress? I don’t see the logic there.
A great idea, but a few tweaks could make it even better.
4 Stars Fun alternative to Guitar Hero/Rock Band
We have a blast with this game … the song set is excellent and the controls are a lot of fun. There is a lot to remember on the controls, but we did the tutorials a couple times and think we have it down now. This is a a great alternative to the more expensive band games and give you the freedom of not having to store bulky instruments.
4 Stars My daughter likes this game better than guitar hero
I have not personally played. But my daughter seems to enjoy it. She is 9 years old. We have guitar hero games but she finds them somewhat difficult. She can never beat any of the songs.
With this game, she was able to beat many. It is made by Disney and much more age appropriate than the other games and songs. She was so relieved that she was able to progress through the game.
4 Stars Great Alternative for younger players
I have a 8 year old boy that gets easily frustrated and discouraged when he can’t keep up with the family on Guitar Hero. Now he has his very own band game that he can play by himself or with his friends. You can play up to four players it it uses additional Wii Remote Controller and Wii Nunchuk Controller for each player. The band includes, Bass, Lead Guitar, Drums and Vocals. Game playing level can be set to easy or harder as they progress. Gameplay is quite basic so you just follow the button sequence or remote movement. Even if you are not following the sequence correctly it will not effect the music play. Of course, the more difficult level you play the harder it will be. There is a lot of repetition of songs in career mode. However, I believe this game is geared more for children under 10 years old.
The song selection is much more “cleaner” and family-orientated than the other Wii band games out on the market. The list is complied from recent to late 60’s hits. Here is the list with songs and artist.
All Day and All of the Night, The Kinks
All Right Now, Free
Always Where I Need to Be, The Kooks
Anna Molly, Incubus
Beverly Hills, Weezer
Break on Through, The Doors
Club Foot, Kasabian
Complicated, Avril Lavigne
Crushcrushcrush, Paramore
Dashboard, Modest Mouse
Bebaser, Pixies
Fell in Love With a Girl, The White Stripes
First Date, Blink-182
Get the Party Started, Pink
Girls Not Grey, AFI
Hanging on the Telephone, Blondie
Helena, My Chemical Romance
Hold On, Jonas Brothers
I Want You to Want Me, Cheap Trick
In Too Deep, Sum 41
Just, Radiohead
Just What I Needed, The Cars
Move Along, The All American Rejects
My Generation, The Who
Our Time Now, Plain White T’s
Rock Lobster, The B-52’s
Somebody Told Me, The Killers
Song 2, Blur
Steady, as She Goes, The Raconteurs
Stumble and Fall, Razorlight
The Take Over, the Breaks Over, Fall Out Boy
Unconditional, The Bravery
When Did Your Heart Go Missing, Rooney
Whip It, Devo
Filed under: Nintendo Wii Games Reviews