DJ Hero

Game: DJ Hero
Format: PS2, PS3, Wii, 360
Publisher: Activision

“Everybody wants to be a DJ” claimed hip hop icons De La Soul in 1989. That may have been true then, and it’s certainly the case now.

Since that iconic lyric, dance music has blossomed to the point where it is an everyday part of going out and staying in for all kinds of music fans. Most of us have been to a club, or go every week, and everybody knows how adored and respected the DJ is. The booth he or she stands in is hallowed ground, and the wheels of steel at which they play are the new alter at which popular culture bows its head.

Yet in mundane reality, most of us will never get near playing on real decks to a real crowd. As well as the expense of the equipment, there’s the immense time needed to perfect the skills, and years of collecting records before you can get up to speed. But imagine if there was a video game that would give you something of the sensation of DJing, and a taste of the thrill of a successful technical mix, without all that hassle.

Well, imagine no longer, as DJ Hero is here, and that’s exactly what it does. As you might have guessed, this game is brought to you by the people behind Guitar Hero, meaning from the off it is sealed with an assurance of quality.

Packaged with a sleek, very well made single plastic turntable around an inch deep and equivalent in size to the lid of a large shoebox, DJ Hero lets you scratch, crossfade and pitch-bend along to 93 original mixes, themselves sharing 102 tracks from a myriad of musical genres.

As with Guitar Hero, you play along in time to numerous set lists, following an instinctive, clear onscreen guide. Each set is originally performed and conceived by high profile turntablists such as DJ Shadow, Daft Punk, DJ Yoda and the all important Grandmaster Flash. The mixes themselves bring together classics from the dance, pop, RnB, rock, hip hop, funk, soul and electronica genres, meaning you’ll get to drop cuts from Beastie Boys, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Justice, Vanilla Ice, Jay-Z, Queen and a huge range of others.

If you don’t really understand mixing, it isn’t a problem, as DJ Hero makes the process of combining elements from two or more tracks very simple and rewarding. However, if you’ve spent a little time with a finger on the fader and another pressing a single headphone to your ear, as LOVEFiLM has, fear not. We were sceptical too, but DJ Hero really does do an authentic job of simulating the sensation. As you scratch, crossfade and sample, what you do with your hands genuinely relates to what you hear with your ears.

Activision have nailed it again, and created a superb title with flexible difficulty that will surely plaster a smile across all kinds of music fans. For beginners it is easy, immediate and rewarding, and with the difficulty at full volume it offers an incredibly technical, hardcore challenge.

DJ Hero is extremely good fun in multiplayer or alone, and has plenty of longevity thanks to an-ever expanding set of downloadable extras. There’s none of the up-on-your-feat performance of Guitar Hero, and maybe, just maybe, it makes you feel just a little bit cooler.