Korg DS-10 Plus Review for Nintendo DS

System: DS	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Cavia / AQ Interactive	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Xseed	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Feb. 16, 2010	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-8	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

To make things easy on the budding musician, a number of preset patterns and loops are available to play around with. You can add or subtract things from these presets. The KAOSS pad lets you add weird arpeggios to single notes that you can use as a basis for a melody or rhythm pattern. All of the notes generated by the pad will automatically be in a related key. There are 31 scale modes including major, minor, Lydian, Aeolian, and even exotic Eastern-flavored scales. When you find sounds, beats, and melodies that you like, it's simply a matter of saving them as patterns. These patterns can then be linked together to create a song up to 100 measures long.

Korg DS-10 Plus screenshot

After your song has been created you can use the mixer to balance all of the individual tracks. You'll have control over volume, effects, and where the sounds sit in the stereo spectrum by utilizing the pan control. There's no way to export your song as a file form, so you'll have to output it and record it onto another medium. You can share your songs online, and you can even jam with other DS-10 Plus enthusiasts, but it's not as much fun as it sounds. You're much better off jamming with yourself as what I've experienced online is a catastrophic cacophony. Perhaps this software was given to a group of monkeys as part of some bizarre social experiment.

As far as the graphics go, the game looks sterile. It would have benefited greatly from routing patch boxes of different shapes and colors. It's cool to see the quarter-inch phono jacks utilizing virtual cables for patches, similar to an antique phone switchboard. Like the actual synthesizer, there are an array of knobs, buttons, sliders, and switches, all of which are functional and interactive with the stylus. There are plenty of different screens to access which can be daunting if you haven't done your homework. So make every effort to learn this software before you start getting serious about creating a song, because nothing will stifle your creativity faster than having to put your right brain on hold while you engage your left brain to address some technical issue.<\P>

It's a great feeling when you complete a challenging game, but at the end of the day nothing compares to having actually created something original.

By Cole Smith
CCC Senior Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

3.5

Graphics
Clean, but sterile look. Could be funked up a little to highlight different filters.

4.9

Control
Nearly flawless control of entire system. Realistic movement and perfect real-time adjustments.

4.9

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Even trained professionals will have trouble telling this from the real thing.

5.0

Play Value
This program offers unlimited replay value for musicians and non-musicians alike.

4.8

Overall Rating - Must Buy
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Designed after the famous KORG MS-10 music synthesizer, KORG DS-10 Plus is a revamped version of the revered music-creation program for the enjoyment of both professional and aspiring musicians alike.

The sound sources in the KORG DS-10 come from KORG, one of the world's top musical instrument producers, and no effort was spared in the replication of creating high-quality sounds.

Features for KORG DS-10 Plus include per-track MUTE/SOLO built into the SONG mode, and EDIT/PLAY enabled for all modes within the SONG mode for further improved real-time performance.

The touch-screen controls of Nintendo DS are utilized to the fullest to provide an authentic feel and operability across a dual-screen layout that is unsurpassed in portable music creation.

A 6-track/16-step sequencer enables precise control and provides a wide range of musical possibilities.

Up to eight units can be linked via wireless connection to play together or to exchange sounds and songs.