[#] Rock Band 3 (MTV Games, Nintendo DS, 2010)

The final frontier of fidget toy music gaming.

Listen, I've played just about all the Guitar Hero and Rock Band out there, with and without the Fisher Price instruments, but Rock Band 3 for the DS is up near the top. Do not mistake this for a cut-down cast-off port of a game that "needs" the drums and guitars—Rock Band 3 DS has you playing the whole band, tippy-tapping the D-pad and buttons for one instrument before switching to another (a la Amplitude), and this is the most polished, flow-inducing, manically satisfying of all the portable Rock Bands that fit that description. All the little nitpicks have been filed down, and you get all the band customization, play challenges, and even Pro Mode of the console versions. You can even still play in a band with multiple DSes.

The Rock Band 3 DS engine feels immaculate. The note scroll speed is just right. The notes are easy to read regardless of what crazy patterns they throw at you. Whereas the charts in Lego Rock Band DS and Rock Band Unplugged were a bit messy and awkward, damn near every pattern you play here is perfectly alternated between the thumbs. Adding onto those previous games are three-note chords and sustains with extra notes on top of them (say, for harmonies in songs, or complex keyboard parts), adding lots of tricky satisfying bits as you swap around and try to keep the whole band together. You don't even have to fit activating Overdrive between your notes—activating will also play the note you activate on. How's that for polish?

Obviously they couldn't fit the entire 83-song setlist onto a DS cartridge, but you do get 26 here, and they sound great. There's a definite bent towards the pop rock and indie end of the setlist (not complaining), but your Hendrix, Ozzy, Doobie Brothers, Joan Jett, The Cure, and Yes help to round out especially the higher difficulty songs. Sadly, they are more censored than the console counterparts to attain an E10 rating, so Smash Mouth doesn't want to buy the world a toke here, and Rilo Kiley can't tell of the touching leading to sex. Alas. I understand why, but it really is a shame you only get so many songs, because Rock Band 3 DS is just about the most mechanically satisfying game I have ever played. Someone let me know when they get customs working and I'll bake you a full new setlist. That's a promise.