Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show [PSP]

In case you didn't know, Sony's pinning its hopes on winning over the tween demographic on the vocal chords of Miley Cyrus. See, Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show is coming to the PSP along with a Hannah Montana bundle featuring a 2 GB memory stick, the game, stickers, a UMD with three episodes of the TV show on it, and a lilac PSP.

Sure, you could just buy the game on its own, but the bundle will give an easy in to all the girls who will soon storm electronic stores nationwide to grab this title.

As a proud holder of PlayStation 3 Platinum Trophy for Hannah Montana: The Movie, gameplay in this portable game is old news to me, but I'm still amazed at how many people seem mind-boggled by it. You don't sing in Rock Out the Show; instead, you guide Hannah through her on-stage routine. She'll show up, and you'll need to tap an onscreen button in time with the music. From there, a number of icons representing different parts of the performance will begin lighting up one-by-one. When you hit X, you enter mini-game for that part of the show. When you finish that game, you tap the button in time again and select another piece of the Hannah puzzle.

Now, the mini-games are pretty simple, but they do offer a bit of variety. When you get the dance icon, Hannah will being to groove and a number of movement directions will pop on screen. As those directions scroll through the onscreen indicator, you tap the D-Pad or move the joystick in that direction. When it's time for the drums, you'll need to tap out the rhythm with the shoulder buttons as the little Ls and Rs scroll through the indicator. The guitar uses the face buttons and directions, while the piano is simply an X-O-Triangle-Square affair. Now, Rock Out the Show doesn't use points to tell you if you're doing good. If you're nailing the concert, you'll see a simple vine growing around the corners of your screen. If you suck, there won't be a vine present. In the end, a butterfly icon fills with light to represent how well you've done.

You'll take these moves and games into quick play (where you can just jump into one of the game's 11 songs, three of which are brand new) as well as story mode. Here, Hannah's pa -- Billy Ray Cyrus -- has taken ill, and it's up to you and Miley to plan the seven-city tour. You'll head to places such as Venice and Mexico City, but there's a lot more to the tour than just getting up there and making teenage girls run out to buy merchandise. Rock Out the Show gives you the ability to completely customize your performance. You'll be able to design the stage with parts you've unlocked from your travels (put a fountain over there, make the moon blue, etc.) and send the creations via Game Sharing to friends, dress Hannah with a crazy amount of clothing options that even let you choose the outfit's primary and secondary colors, and modify your four band mates' outfits and looks.

Bringing this customization to gameplay are Rockstar Moments. These are crescendo sections of Hannah's performance that let the starlet soak in the limelight. When you sit down to design one, you'll set the performance mini-game you want to play, change the type of stage lighting, add special effects (think bubble machines, people), and more. When you're done, the event will pop up during your show.

Although my time with Hannah Montana: Rock Out the Show was brief, it seems like developer Page 44 is making an honest attempt to connect with the franchise's fan base. Aside from the customization, the game will also pack the ability to install Radio Disney to the PSP's cross media bar so kids can listen in whenever they have a WiFi connection as well as an in-game link that goes to a Web page that hosts game tips and was specifically built for the PSP. Plus, there will be four packs of free downloadable content -- Hannah clothes, band outfits, stage effects, and Rockstar Moment bits -- available as soon as the game ships this summer. Clearly, this game isn't geared for old men like me, but it seems to be on track to be something Hannah fans will dig.

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