Wii's 'Battle of the Bands' completely off key

To the tune of "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones, a gang of hillbillys crosses banjos and whiskey jugs with an undead Mexican trio known as "Scaryachi."

Next, an edgy goth group trades the notes of "Brick House" on stage with a spirited, baton-twirling high school marching band.

It's these unlikely, goofy musical crossovers that "Battle of the Bands" puts forth: a quirky rhythm-based music title for the Nintendo Wii.

Comparing "Battle" to rhythm gaming's forefathers may be unfair, but the title draws on the familiar template of ascending notes to ground its gameplay. In place of a plastic guitar or microphone, players swing the Wii remote in a handful of directions that correspond to the arrows on-screen, racking up points and damage-dealing power-ups. The result is pretty simplistic. For all the gestures the Wii controller can capture, it's a head-scratching choice for the developer to employ just four.

A downward swing, a stabbing motion, a few shakes and a horizontal flick of the wrist are all you'll have to perform during songs, but it's not so much that these gesticulations don't mirror any musical counterpart (aside from erratic conducting, maybe), it's that the patterns the game puts forth aren't very appealing. "Battle of the Bands" doesn't boast nuanced notes like "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band," and that's fine -- but the lack of depth means there isn't a progression of difficulty and complexity to enjoy as you complete the game's 30 songs.

"Battle" swaps some of this with weapons that give meaning to the game's title. Each of the 11 bands arm themselves with basic and special attacks that execute automatically as you wiggle out combos with the Wiimote.

Basic combos might toss a grenade or flame burst across the screen while earning a few points; special abilities can screen your opponent's fretboard with smoke, make their notes shrink, scroll faster, or slide about the board. You can block oncoming attacks by tapping the B button at the right time, adding a neat bit of defense to the combo-combat mechanics.

Otherwise, the game lassos together a decent selection of B-list tracks to back the gameplay. Gorillaz, LL Cool J, Soundgarden, Rick James, Def Leppard, Tenacious D and AFI are among the groups, but better yet, each song is covered in five different versions that seesaw as you play: rock, Latin, hip-hop, country and marching.

Hearing Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain" transition from a country cover to translated Spanish lyrics is a nice little novelty, and it supplements the comic tone of the game.

The same can't be said for the game's cartoon aesthetic. "Battle" is begging for more dynamic graphics and a better interface -- measuring one band's sonic skirmish against the other could've been shown in some fun, unique ways on-screen; instead, we get low-res flames and green skulls floating back and forth as points tally up.

The bands themselves are cutely designed: a hip-hop group might have a turntable with machine-gun barrels, a bass drum might have a makeshift cannon sticking out. It's a shame these characters' hijinks aren't emphasized more -- there's only a few basic animations to flesh them out.

Using high scores to settle scores between bands is a neat concept, and "Battle of the Bands" chips in a mildly fun mechanic based around attacking to differentiate its experience.

But other than the entertaining re-genred renditions of the songs themselves, there simply isn't enough content here. An unchallenging campaign isn't topped by a basic versus mode, and "Battle's" visuals don't play up the game's playfulness as much as they could.

At a lower price point "Battle of the Bands" might've been a reasonable party game purchase; at full price it stands as a shallow retail booby trap for Wii owners.

Fun: Colorful covers of songs; responsive controls; appealing comic tone and presentation; vibration utilized well.

Unfun: Shallow use of motion controls; low difficulty curve; bland interface; limited modes.

Platforms: Wii Developer: Planet Moon Studios Publisher: THQ Genre: Music Rating: .½