Musiic Party: Rock the House is a Wii Rhythm / Music game, developed by Independent Arts and published by DTP Entertainment. Luckily this is one rhythm game that doesn't sell itself by coming with a guitar shaped peripheral, as all the music can be played with the Wii remote and Nunchuk.
Musiic Party isn't so much a conventional Rock Band style music game, but a rhythm game much like Gitaroo Man. It even has a story told in comic book style, telling a tale about a music obsessed teenager becoming a rock star.
Lead guitar, bass and drums are all at your disposal, with vocals the only thing missing unfortunately. In story mode you don't get to choose which instrument you play, as each one is chosen for you at every venue. Naturally guitar and bass control the same, while drums differ slightly.
The notes came in from the top, bottom, left and right towards the centre. When they hit the centre circle, the analogue stick on the nunchuk has to be pushed in the direction the note came from, and the Wii remote has to be strummed at the same time (held down for longer notes). For drums you need to whip the nunchuk and/or remote downwards as the notes fall from the top of the screen, as if both are drum sticks.
It's a good test of timing and coordination. You can also earn awards for strumming together a set of notes without faltering, such as new costumes. Luckily there's also three difficulty settings, easy, medium or advanced, which means anyone of any age can pick up and play and even find enjoyment.
Naturally the track listing is very rock based, with one or two classics present, amongst one or two unknown (to me anyway). There's around 30 tracks, including Ace of Spades (Motorhead), All the Small Things (Blink 182), Before I fall to Pieces (Razorlight), Final Countdown (Europe), I Fought the Law (The Clash), Just Like a Pill (Pink), Our House (Madness), Out of my Mind (James Blunt), Shake It (Metro Station), She Loves me Not (Papa Roach), Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple), Take a Look Around (Limp Bizkit), Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus), Whisper (Evanescence), Wild Boys (Duran Duran), Wild Thing (The Trogs), and With Arms Wide Open (Creed).
If you're not one for jamming alone then there's two player rival head to head and three player co-op mode. Both of which work very well, giving the game much more playability. Plus, for the budget price of £20 you can't really go wrong with this decent rhythm game.
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