Do you remember going to a family members big birthday down at the nearby social club only for your ears to be met by the dodgy tunes reverberating from DJ Dave's decks. Times have moved on since then and you'll often find a DJ utilising the latest in laptop technology to scratch his way to the top. Some could argue that a DJ doesn't have to work as hard for example as a guitarist to produce a sound however if you've ever seen the likes of Basshunter or David Guetta mixing up the beats live on stage you would surely realise the effort and time that is needed to conjure up a tune that gets people on the dance floor. DJ Star puts you in control of your own set of decks so you can make the world move their feet to the sound of your beat. It's plain to see the popularity of such games like Guitar Hero and Singstar, maybe it's time for aspiring DJ's to step up.

DJ Star allows you to mix, scratch and fade your way to fame and fortune as you pack out the dance floor with banging tunes. You start off standing in a queue waiting to get into a club only to see a respected DJ jump ahead you and walk in; you don't want to wait any longer so you decide to head home. On the way you come across a basic set of decks on sale for a cheap price and think that maybe it's about time you tried being a household disc jockey! This is the beginnings of a journey that takes you from the confines of your own home to the major clubs of in Berlin and Miami for example until you become the most sought after DJ in the world.

As you begin DJ Star you are met with some classic club tunes that really get you into the mood for some mixing. The options menu enables you to choose from the following modes, the usual 'Career' mode, 'Creation' which where you can create your own tracks from scratch (get it!), The 'Free' mode which allows you DJ freely and the 'Challenge' mode whereby you can play all the mini games you've unlocked. You're also able to wirelessly transfer the tracks you've created to a friend and vice versa. Just in case you are an expert clubber or aspiring musical journalist, yes it is true that most of the tracks are reproduced by the John Stage Band and not by the original artists themselves but that shouldn't be held against it.

Starting off with the 'Career' option you are presented with a set of basic decks that allows you to mix some tunes together. As an aspiring DJ you only have a few tunes you can play with, using the stylus you can mix songs together fading them in and out so to keep up the atmosphere. Being a DJ is relatively easy; being a good DJ that gets people moving requires a lot of practice though. The first level has you mixing the vinyl at your own party which is where you get noticed. To complete the various levels you just need to have a certain amount of people dancing for a certain amount of time. As you complete each level you earn extra add-ons to your turntable such as Base & Treble controls and drop in effects which help improve you as a DJ. Along with these add-ons you also unlock extra clothes for your Avatar and additional songs to mix with. As you progress from unknown wannabe to international superstar the variety of mini-games you can play increases. 'Scratch' is where you need to follow the movements laid down and reproduce them using your stylus; it's a very short task that doesn't really push your DJ skills. 'Goodies' has you showering your fans with gifts, using the stylus you need to launch gifts into the crowd however the execution of such an action is very hit and miss especially when throwing a gift sideways or trying to decipher what your fans actually want as the icons are hard to see on a packed dance floor. 'Avoid' simply has you avoiding tomatoes being thrown at you which is quite fun and easy to play. 'Catch' requires you to collect all the gifts thrown to you by your adoring fans; again it's a simple yet fun game that mixes up the pace of DJ Star. In 'Dance' you need to motivate your dancers by following their steps in this rhythmic mini-game, it's a fairly straightforward memory task. There is also 'Autographs' where you are required to re-trace the names of your fans as quickly as possible. You can access these games at any time although you can't pick or choose them as they follow a certain order; it makes DJ Star a challenging beast as you need to perfect each game as because you haven't got the option to pick your favourites. Completing these mini games successfully enhances the atmosphere on the dance floor thus increasing how many people are dancing, failing to deliver in these tasks will result in a poor atmosphere, something you and your public do not want to happen!

You may have thought that the list of mini games and applications on your turntable ends there, luckily for you and DJ Star you also have to participate in some activities which again mixes up what this game has to offer. 'Lights' requires you to tap the flashing lights with your stylus whilst 'Micro' is a personal favourite as you need to sing into the microphone at the volume level shown on screen, it even caters for the introverted out there because you can choose to play this game using the stylus instead of the microphone. The variety on offer in DJ Star makes it a very fun game to play, although having so many mini-games can lead to you forgetting how much time your current track has left to play, remember no music equals no dancers!

The 'Creation' mode is self explanatory and anyone who has ever come across one of them music creation packages will recognise what is on offer here. There are several samples to use which can be introduced into your favourite tracks which can then be transferred to a friends DS, although this is the only online functionality available. To its detriment DJ Star can not be played amongst friends which is a huge shame considering the potential of a fun and competitive DJ dance off amongst mates. However, you can hook your DS up to a sound system and play your newly created tracks in your living room for your friends and family to shake to!

Graphically besides the entertaining cut-scenes there isn't a huge amount going on, as the screen pans out all you can see of your clubbers are simple silhouettes whilst when it zooms in onto one dancer it's pretty much the same dance moves on show. The turntable itself doesn't change much and once you have unlocked all the extra add-ons it can look a little cluttered, reducing the size of the discs could have made things a little clearer. As mentioned earlier the mini games that involve your fans throwing items at you can become quite complicated due to the low light effects. Due to the fact you have to jump between mixing songs and mini games, it may have been a good idea to have set out a playlist which automatically replaces one disc with the next because there are periods where the song that was playing stops and your still in the middle of a mini game. But besides these minor problems, DJ Star has mass appeal, it's short yet involving premise has enough to keep you scratching and mixing long after the career mode has ended whilst the quality of the songs on the DS is something the developer should be commended for.

If you're a clubber or even have a mild interest in mixing some tunes then this is surely worth a few hours of your time. True it may not be the longest game you'll ever come across but it does make you feel like a DJ which is what the developers were aiming for. If your fingers got tired of playing Guitar Hero then stick on your headphones and give DJ Star a scratch as it's an addictive look into the world of superstar DJ.

Reviewed by Christopher McNally for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).