CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

xx Age of Empires: Mythologies
64 Air Traffic Chaos
xx All Star Cheer Squad
51 Animal Paradise
xx Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Make the Grade
xx Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
xx Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno
65 Away: Shuffle Dungeon
xx Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games
82 Bangai-O Spirits
xx Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs
xx Ben 10: Alien Force
83 Bleach: Dark Souls
xx Bolt
xx Brain Quest Grades 3 & 4
xx Brain Quest Grades 5 & 6
xx Bratz Girlz Really Rock
xx Bratz Kidz: Slumber Party
82 Call of Duty: World at War
87 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
xx Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer
xx Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom, The
91 Chrono Trigger
xx Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force
xx Colour Cross
64 Commando: Steel Disaster
xx Cradle of Rome
42 Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant
xx Dancing with the Stars: Get Your Dance On!
xx Defendin' DePenguin
49 Digimon World Championship
62 Dinosaur King
81 Disgaea DS
xx Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell
80 Dragon Ball: Origins
80 Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
68 Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition
xx Driving Theory Training
xx Dropcast
56 Dungeon Maker
64 Exit DS
66 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli
84 FIFA Soccer 09
55 Flower, Sun, and Rain
73 Football Director DS
63 From The Abyss
41 Garfield's Fun Fest
79 GRID
xx Guinness World Records: The Videogame
79 Guitar Hero: On Tour - Decades
64 Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
xx Hell's Kitchen
xx Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge
xx High School Musical 3: Senior Year
xx I Heart Geeks!
xx Igor The Game
xx Imagine Teacher
xx International Athletics
xx King of Clubs
79 Kirby Super Star Ultra
84 KORG DS-10 Synthesizer
xx Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors
xx Last King of Africa
71 Legend of Kage 2, The
59 Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, The
72 LEGO Batman
59 Line Rider 2: Unbound
72 Little League World Series 2008
70 Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ
80 Lock's Quest
56 LOL
75 Luminous Arc 2
xx Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
xx Madden NFL 09
xx Make 10: A Journey of Numbers
xx Margot's Word Brain
xx Mary King's Riding School
63 Master of the Monster Lair
xx Mazes of Fate DS
75 Mechanic Master
70 Metal Slug 7
70 MLB Power Pros 2008
xx Monster Jam: Urban Assault
70 Monster Lab
xx Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi
xx My Chinese Coach
xx My Japanese Coach
xx My Make-Up
xx My SAT Coach with The Princeton Review
xx My Secret World by Imagine
xx My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr
58 MySims Kingdom
69 Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir
82 N+
xx Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase
62 Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2
xx National Geographic Panda
xx Need for Speed Undercover
82 Ninjatown
61 PictoImage
71 Pipe Mania
50 Pirates: Duels on the High Seas
70 Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
71 Pop Cutie! Street Fashion Simulation
67 Populous DS
66 Prey the Stars
xx Price is Right, The
xx Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
73 Princess Debut
70 Puzzler Collection
64 Quantum of Solace
xx Quick Yoga Training
xx Rain Drops
xx Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
50 Red Bull BC One
68 Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
xx Rhythm Heaven
xx Road To Vegas
xx Robocalypse
xx Rock Blast
xx Rock Revolution
xx Rock University Presents: The Naked Brothers Band - The Video Game
xx Rubik's World
54 Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle
xx Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
58 Shaun the Sheep
xx Shaun White Snowboarding
xx Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy
69 SimCity Creator
49 Sims 2 Apartment Pets, The
xx Six Flags Fun Park
xx Skate It
73 Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
72 Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals
77 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
xx SpongeBob SquarePants featuring NickToons: Globs of Doom
66 Spore Creatures
xx Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
61 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
51 Subbuteo
xx Suzuki Super-Bikes II: Riding Challenge
xx Tak: Mojo Mistake
65 Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff
xx Theresia
66 Time Hollow
xx Tom Clancy's EndWar
xx Tomb Raider Underworld
xx Tony Hawk's Motion featuring Hue Pixel Painter
51 Tornado
77 TouchMaster 2
77 TrackMania DS
69 Transformers Animated: The Game
xx Ultimate Band
65 Unsolved Crimes
82 Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise
43 What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver
57 Wordmaster
56 WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009
xx Zenses Ocean
xx Zenses Rainforest
75 Zubo

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums
Jam Sessions ds Game Reviews
Jam Sessions
Critic Score
Metascore: 72 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.4 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

Jam Sessions is a music experience that transforms the Nintendo DS system into a portable guitar. Players literally strum the guitar via the Touch Screen and select chords with the +Control Pad. Now even the most "non-musical" person to become an instant rock star. The portability of the DS system makes Jam Sessions a concert-on-the-go, perfect for parties, commuting to school/work and other social gatherings. Jam Sessions appeals to a wide audience of music lovers and creative souls. [Ubisoft]

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
DEVELOPER: Plato
GENRE(S): Music
PLAYERS: 1
ESRB RATING: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
RELEASE DATE: September 11, 2007

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

98
Cheat Code Central
An amazing, versatile program that is perfectly suited for a handheld system. You can plug in headphones and silently rock out on the bus, or you can plug it into an amplifier, crank it up, and play for an audience. This is a must-have for any musician or music-lover.
Read Full Review
92
GameZone
Jam Sessions is practically flawless at what it’s trying to do. If you come in expecting a game, you’ll be frustrated and disappointed. If you come in expecting a versatile musical tool, you’ll be pleased and impressed.
Read Full Review
85
Digital Entertainment News
Don't expect this game to turn you into any kind of music expert if you're not one already, but if you already have some skill, Jam Sessions is a surprisingly good tool for any musician who wants to dabble in song creation.
Read Full Review
81
NGamer UK
A logical evolution of "Guitar Hero." Being able to record our sounds and keep them ensures longevity. [Nov 2007, p.64]
80
IGN
To put it plainly, Jam Sessions works on basically one level, but achieves near-mastery in it.
Read Full Review
80
Official Nintendo Magazine UK
Jam Sessions offers a toy for wannabe guitarists who don't have time to learn. [Oct 2007, p.87]
80
GotNext
Like any good tool, though, the amount of enjoyment gotten from Jam Sessions is going to be directly related to how much work goes in.
Read Full Review
75
Game Chronicles
It’s not much of a game, and it’s no Guitar Hero, but it’s a pretty decent instrument simulator for the aspiring guitarist.
Read Full Review
72
Extreme Gamer
Jam Sessions from Ubisoft is a unique guitar simulation application that doesn’t have any merit as a game, however as a portable mini guitar, it works.
Read Full Review
70
1UP
The one killer drawback to Jam Sessions is that you can't play individual notes.
Read Full Review
70
Pocket Gamer UK
It's not a game, but as a neat virtual guitar Jam Sessions provides great sounds, a tons of musical options and the ability to record your own tracks.
Read Full Review
70
GameDaily
There's not really much of a game here, with no goals and too few songs to choose from. The inability to record vocal performance hinders it, too. It's still worth jamming with, though, so find a seat.
Read Full Review
65
GameSpot
Jam Sessions is neat if you want to turn your DS into an acoustic guitar, but that's about all it does.
Read Full Review
65
PALGN
While it's an excellent package worthy of further investigation for those interested in music, it's likely to be quite a disappointment to those interested in buying a game.
Read Full Review
62
Worth Playing
With the number of cookie-cutter titles out there, it's a breath of fresh air to see developers taking a risk with a new genre. Unfortunately, innovation does not necessarily translate to quality. Jam Sessioins is dull, and calling it a game doesn't seem right because it's mainly one big music lesson.
Read Full Review
60
EuroGamer
As a concept it sounds pretty liberating, but in reality, the fact that there are no preset challenges actually limits Jam Sessions in terms of actual playability.
Read Full Review
60
Zentendo
Jam Sessions is the simulator for musicians at heart. Featuring any note you could want from a guitar and the ability to record your music, it can deliver hours and hours of soul food for self-expression and the arts. For everyone else, there is still Guitar Hero.
Read Full Review
60
Thunderbolt
For those of you that are considering adding Jam Sessions to your collection, be warned: this is not a game. Instead, it’s a program that basically turns your DS into a makeshift guitar. It fulfils that job well; the sound is remarkably crisp and accurate, the controls are easy to pick up, and some guitarists might appreciate all of the little tweaks and customizations available. But when it comes to the other gameplay aspects, Jam Sessions falls flat.
Read Full Review
60
Game Informer
It takes more than just a neat idea to be a truly compelling piece of software. With no scoring system, backing music and vocals, or career mode, this isn’t really a game in any sense. And, honestly, strumming and singing to yourself gets old after about 15 minutes. Stick to Guitar Hero.
Read Full Review
60
Modojo
Overall, though, Jam Sessions is different and enlightening enough to be worth at least a mild recommendation, especially if you're in the same boat as other aspiring guitar players around the world.
Read Full Review
60
Edge Magazine
This is no Guitar Hero, or even a rhythm-action game, but something more akin to a portable notepad for musicians. [Nov 2007, p.97]
58
Gaming Age
Jam Sessions is a neat idea and a unique way to tinker around with your DS, but if you aren't a hardcore musician, I can't see anyone finding much appeal in this title.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John G. gave it a10:
Great game, it's so easy to use and just pick up and play. The controls are incredibly intuitive and sensitive. I wouldn't compare it to Guitar Hero because it's NOT a Guitar Hero game. It is meant to be a creativity based game, not some button pressing rhythm game in which you can only play preloaded songs and aren't able to record you're own stuff.

Chris O. gave it a0:
This isn't a game, nor is it a very useful utility for guitarists, or those learning to play. Basically, this is Guitar Hero without any challenge whatsoever. And let's not mention how ridiculous a person would look if they whipped this out and started "strumming their DS" on the bus.

Eric E. gave it a9:
This "game" is great! I'm a music teacher and I just got this game. I'm working on getting this into the curriculum just because it is so much fun. I've played piano for 22 years, but have never had time to pick up and learn the guitar. This is literally the next best thing.

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use