Game review: Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show - Sony PSP (From Wimbledon Guardian)

Game review: Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show - Sony PSP

3:55pm Monday 26th October 2009

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Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show for PSP is a watered down Rock Band Unplugged-style game for young girls.

It’s a very simple, and short, music/rhythm game which fans of the TV show will undoubtedly love while anyone else will find it mediocre at best.

That said, if you’re not a Hannah fan or a pre-pubescent girl you’re unlikely to play the game in the first place so therefore it’s likely to achieve pretty much 100 per cent satisfaction with its target market.

For those not in the know (anyone male and/or over the age of 10) Hannah Montana is a hit Disney TV show starring teen singing sensation Miley Cyrus. In the show Miley plays the dual roles of country gal Miley Stewart and her secret international pop star alter ego Hannah Montana.

Unfortunately the first thing fans of the show will notice when embarking on Rock Out the Show is that Miley Cyrus and her co-stars from the TV show are nowhere to be seen or heard.

The characters of Miley/Hannah (of course), Lilly, Jackson and dad Robbie (Billy Ray Cyrus) do pop up in the game but in the form of what can best be described as cardboard cutouts. Their voices are provided by sound-alike actors delivering some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue you will ever hear, even cornier than the TV show (which takes some doing).

The game comes with two modes – quick play and story, the latter providing the main content.

In story mode Hannah is about to head out on an international concert tour when her manager/dad gets ill and has to stay at home.

So it’s up to you to help her out. The story is told through a combination of text and voice segments as Miley/Hannah travels around the various locations.

Before each show players can customise everything from choosing outfits for Hannah and her dancers to setting up lighting and special effects. Young ladies will particularly enjoy the wardrobe part of the game, going through various costumes and accessories as they dress Hannah.

Performing on stage involves a series of mini games that represent singing, dancing and playing different instruments.

None of the games are especially challenging, all of them involving hitting certain controls or buttons at the right time based on visual cues.

The difficulty level of the mini games has been pitched about right and the variety of switching quickly from one aspect of the performance to another should stop things getting repetitive for players.

What could get slightly samey, even for Hannah fans, are the songs. The game blurb boasts Rock Out the Show has more than 10 songs to enjoy. The actual number is only 11, which is a pretty small playlist.

Fans of the TV show will instantly feel at home with the visuals in this video game, though there is nothing spectacular about the graphics. The stuff between the concerts can best be described as basic. The on-stage parts of the game look more impressive though they are far from awe-inspiring. Particularly disappointing are the character renderings, with Miley/Hannah looking a bit odd throughout. She looks recognisable, but just hasn’t been captured perfectly.

Controls and menu navigation are very straightforward for younger players, and the overall presentation is very slick as you would expect from a Disney product.

One drawback of the game is that it is very short. Even young, inexperienced gamers will have no trouble working their way through the story mode in a couple of hours. One long car ride or session at home during half-term and they’ll be done.

The game barely has any substance but I don’t suppose that will bother its intended audience, who will probably happily play through it again on completion of the story.

Disney Interactive Studios was never going to win any new Hannah Montana followers with the release of this new video game. Instead, very sensibly, it seems the aim has been to create a game with maximum appeal to the show’s existing devotees. That has been accomplished, with Rock Out the Show sure to go down a storm with Hannah fans.

It’s a fun game for what it is, one of the better TV character tie-ins on the market.

Verdict: Judging this simply as a game it would be hard to give it more than 5 out of 10 for its overall content, graphics and gameplay. However, for Hannah fans I’d give Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show 7 out of 10 as it’s easily the best video game outing yet for their idol.

Watch Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show video:

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