DJ Hero

DJ Hero

DJ Hero primarily simulates turntablism, a music style used by disc jockeys to create a new mashup song by incorporating one or more pre-recorded songs played on turntables, along with sound effect generators. The game features score-attack gameplay similar to the Guitar Hero games. The controller consists of a wireless deck that includes a movable turntable with 3 "stream" buttons, an effects knob, a crossfader, and a "euphoria" button; a hidden panel contains additional controller buttons to interact with the game console outside of the game. Part of the controller can be removed and reattached to adapt the device for left-handed users. Notes move in an arc across a spinning record on the screen, and the player holds down one of three stream buttons to play the notes; two buttons reflect the two songs used in that particular mix, and the third button represents samples that are added to the mix and can be adjusted with the effects knob. Also, the player must constantly adjust the crossfader to the icons on the screen, which changes the relative volume of the songs to bring a song to the forefront of the mix for a short time. Certain tracks are displayed on the screen as a series of up or down arrows representing scratching sections. The player must turn the turntable in the direction of the arrows while holding down the button to score points, mimicking the scratching of the record needle on vinyl albums. "Euphoria" is the equivalent of Guitar Hero's Star Power, which is obtained by successfully completing certain phrases in the song mix, called Perfect Regions, and can be triggered by pressing the Euphoria button. There is also a "Rewind" indicator that builds up through constant successful play, allowing the player to rewind the song to correct mistakes in their performance. The player must continue to play well or the performance meter will drop and the music track will be interrupted. Unlike in Guitar Hero games, it is not possible to fail the song. There is a single-player career mode, as well as a competitive and cooperative multiplayer mode ("DJ vs. DJ"), which can be played both locally and remotely. Ten songs have been specially mixed so that they can also be played with Guitar Hero and other compatible guitar controllers in a "DJ vs. Guitar" mode. Players can also use a microphone to add to the mix without scoring. In Party Play mode, the game plays the songs automatically, and a player can jump in and play along at any time.