In any group or public setting, there are few games as gratifying as those that use the power of music. Music moves us – it makes us sing loudly while driving with the windows down, makes us jig embarrassingly when we probably shouldn’t, and makes some of us enter air guitar contests with the dream of becoming the best fake guitar player in the world.

Having a strong love of music and games inspired by its lovely sound, there aren’t any music games I won’t touch. Thus, when The Naked Brothers Band: The Video Game was within an arm’s length, I reached out, grabbed a Logitech microphone, strapped on the silly Wii remote wrist strap and braced myself for the latest game attempting to steal SingStar’s throne.

Musically Successful

Most of the players who are interested in The Naked Brothers Band: The Video Game will be drawn to it because of The Naked Brothers Band. It’s easy to see why – this kiddie group is far more talented than the goofy Nickelodeon promos would have you believe. Their songs were written for kids and are much lighter than the normal angst or sex-filled tunes you’ll hear on the radio or MTV. But the soundtrack isn’t all fluff. Younger listeners will surely relate to tales of not wanting to go to school or encounter a teacher, and will discover more musical and lyrical depth than the “Mmmm Bop” craze of the 90s that threatened to destroy mankind’s ability to hear.

Brotherly Love

The concept behind The Naked Brothers Band video game is simple: using the Wii remote, Nunchuk and Logitech microphone (the latter is included with the $50 package), players have the opportunity to become a member of the band. Jam like a pro as keyboardist David Levi. Rock out as drummer Alex Wolff. Strum like a master as Qaasim Middleton. Enrich the music as bassist Rosalina or cellist Thomas Batuello. Or show off your vocal talents by pretending to be Nat Wolff.

Each character (and related instrument) is playable in the game and may be accessed individually via the Jam Session mode. Jam Session also lets you choose any city, any song and any concert venue.

Party mode is essentially the same as Jam Session, albeit with the inclusion of a second player. Only two-player games are allowed in The Naked Brothers Band, so that means you’ll have to fulfill your grander multiplayer dreams another day. Co-op and competitive play modes are featured, the latter of which adds both players’ scores together when the song concludes.

However, the real meat of this game is the Tour mode, which takes you through five cities and 20 different venues.

Mechanically Challenged

The Naked Brothers Band video game opens strongly. The game is particularly noteworthy because of the soundtrack, which succeeds despite having music from just one artist. Part of Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s success has been credited to their musical variety. EA and Activision have offered spin-off discs and downloads that focus on one artist, but they’d never risk taking that route with the primary game. The fact that this game can exist without other artists is a testament to The Naked Brothers Band’s popularity.

However, there is a big difference between existence and survival. While I have no doubt that Naked Brothers Band fanatics will flock to this game, they are not likely to stick around.

Without any music controllers to work with outside of a microphone, the developers had to make some tough choices. They must have wondered, “How do we re-create the experience of playing an instrument while waving a Wii remote?” The answer has yet to be found. Their solution aimed for simplicity but achieved perplexity.

To play the cello, players must study the on-screen pattern (a bar at the bottom of the screen with blocks scrolling across) and swing the Wii remote as the green block hits the sound bar. Your timing does not have to be perfect, nor must you show any sense of rhythm to pull this off. Simply swing, swing, swing. If a higher or lower note needs to be played, push the thumbstick up or down to reach the middle strings, and hold Z while doing this to reach the first and fifth strings. Now swing away.

The bass and guitar mechanics work exactly the same, with the former containing a marginal difference (it only uses three strings and offers another note type).

These mechanics are in no way representative of what it’s like to play an instrument. Somehow the music games of the 90s, which used controller buttons and not much else, seem more accurate. But at least these “instruments” are easy to play. Drumming is the easiest of all, as you’ll shake the remote (right notes) and Nunchuk (left notes) as the notes scroll across the screen.

Playing the keyboard, however, is messy at best. Using the Nunchuk to play the bass keys and the remote to play the treble keys, players must hold the D-pad and control stick to switch between the three keys on each side. Hold, swing, reposition; hold, swing, reposition. That’s the cumbersome pattern you’ll have to execute.

The vocal mechanics aren’t much better. There’s a mic-only mode that does its best to re-create the Karaoke Revolution gameplay style. It doesn’t work out too well, as most of the songs can be mumbled through very easily. But at least the game tried. The vocal/controller mode, however, is potentially the most ridiculous feature Wii players will experience this year. Rather than using your voice to sing along properly, you’ll hold onto the Nunchuk and push the thumbstick up or down to change your vocal bar. This eliminates the need to sing in different keys, allowing players to mumble through without issue.

Though you might think this is a handy novelty that’ll keep the kids busy, they won’t like any of the gameplay features offered by The Naked Brothers Band. The soundtrack may be good but the awkward controls and weak vocal settings will not hold a five or 10-year-old’s interest.

Gameplay: 4.0
Who knew it was possible to play the drums, guitar, bass and cello just by waving your arms? Who knew that talented vocals could be supplemented for the push of a thumbstick?

Graphics: 1.0
If you think the character designs are horrible (they look more like a five-year-old's Play-doh creation than a Wii video game), just wait until you see the lifeless animations. Magically, these musicians can play an instrument without moving their hands!

Sound: 8.0
Kids will dig the 25-track selection.

Difficulty: SUPER Easy
"SUPER Easy" – that sounds like the name of an SNES game, doesn't it? Nope, just the description of The Naked Brothers Band's difficulty.

Concept: 5.0
When the band on stage shouted to the crowd, "Wave your hands like you just don't care," I don't think this is what they were talking about.

Multiplayer: 2.0
Friends don't let friends play cumbersome games together.

Overall: 4.0
A generic, motion-based music game that doesn't come close to resembling the act of playing a real instrument.