Jam Sessions Impressions

I was ready to rock out when I opened up the box and popped in the cartridge. How quickly that lofty goal came crashing down. Guitar Hero this ain't.

However steep this game's (hell, this isn't a game, so much as it is a chord-progression simulator) learning curve is, though, the actual guitar's learning curve is a hell of a lot steeper. It took me weeks before I was having the slightest bit of fun playing guitar. Jam Sessions lets you start having fun in about an hour.

And oh, it's fun. A bit tough on the thumb (those diagonal chords are a bitch), but lots of fun. I mean, how can you not like playing guitar? In some ways, Jam Sessions is much better than Guitar Hero. For one, you don't have to buy a guitar controller. Two, you can play songs how you want to (even if that means butchering them beyond recognition) and at your own pace. Three, the song list is virtually unlimited, since any song that is made up mostly or entirely of chords is playable. Four, it has effects. You can have a clean, bright acoustic sound, or chunk it up with distortion. You can add wacky fades and tremolo, mute notes, strum up and down (which creates a different sound, just like on a real guitar), and even pitch notes up or down depending on the type of song you want to play. In short, Jam Sessions does a ton of stuff Guitar Hero doesn't, and probably never will.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to give "Like a Rolling Stone" one more try before I call it a night.