DJ Star allows you to mix, scratch and fade your way to virtual fame on your tiny little DS or DSi. You’ll get to play in London, Ibiza, Miami… except much like a real DJ once down to the actual business of mixing tracks and keeping dancers happy you won’t actually be able to tell the difference between the locations, only it’s not because you’re busy and locked away in a darkened club, it’s because they all look the same. You get a quick graphical representation of travel from one location to the other but that’s about it. The game isn't about pretty graphics it's about keeping the girls dancing for the contracted period, and you do that by mixing and scratching, sliding the cross fader and adjusting the bass and treble with the DS's touch screen just like on a real turntable deck (well, almost).
The main menu is presented in a rather smart way as moving the turntable arm changes your selection between Career, Creation, Challenges, Free Mode, options and change profiles. Career is obviously the main part of the game and this sets you out on a Guitar Hero-style journey through gigs for friends’ parties all the way to the big night clubs in the aforementioned Miami, Ibiza, Berlin and Peckham (or it might be London). Once you’ve chosen your avatar it’s right into a quick tutorial. The top screen displays the dance floor and bottom screen shows your two decks. You play tunes by choosing a song from the list (you unlock more as you progress), slipping the disk onto the deck with the stylus, then picking another one with a similar beat to mix with it, fading it in to the other track with the slider controls. You also have to match the beat with the BPM (Beats Per Minute) slider so the oh-so-critical crowd appreciate your efforts rather than “Boo” and wander off if you make a mess of it. The atmosphere can also be improved via various additional mini games and tweak buttons as the game progresses, including scratching, lights, bass boost, treble, echo, even catapulting goodies to the crowd and other tricks that real DJs use – anything to get the required number on the dance floor and keep the party bangin’. Successful gigs mean new missions are unlocked along with new tunes, new upgrades for your decks and pointless but fun additions to your avatar’s wardrobe. Failed gigs mean having another try at doing it better, mastering the mini games or trying a new mix of tunes. There’s a decent selection of over 40 really rather good cover versions, including tunes that even an old fart like me recognises like the excellent Here I Come (originally by Fergie), Change Clothes (Jay-Z), I’m Not Alone and Acceptable in the 80’s (sic) (Calvin Harris), Trick Me (Kelis) and Infinity 2008, Canned Heat and Calabria by those well-known artistes I Haven’t Got A Clue and Couldn’t Give A Monkey’s.
The ‘Creation’ mode is limited but fun, and with a bit of practice you’ll be amazed how catchy a tune you can come up with. You can select brief samples from Techno, Hip Hop, House and Funk style tracks and mix them up within 5 channels, altering and mixing the timing and frequency with which they play until the cows come home, or you have a club hit, or your DS goes flat - whichever happens the sooner. These custom tunes can be up to 3 minutes long and can be shared with a friend via a wireless link, but there are only four save slots. 'Challenge' mode gives you a chance to practice and perfect the mini games and 'Free Mode' lets you play and mix any unlocked tunes.
DJ Star is a fairly unique game that tries to put a new DS-centric slant on the Guitar Hero/rhythm action genre, and for obvious reasons it’s not really one I can see many people playing on the bus or the train. Another problem is that due to the DS's teeny speakers these banging tunes don't so much 'boom boom' as 'plinkety plonk' - although things are improved immeasurably when played with a decent set of headphones.
But DJ Star is a 'grower' that really does have a certain charm and uses the stylus control well, and any game that lets you create your own dance tunes to annoy family and friends with gets a ‘big up’ from me.
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