Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS comes with a glove-like guitar grip and a pick stylus.

AP / DIRK LAMMERS

Nintendo enthusiasts hit the musical jackpot last week with two new games to release their inner rock stars: Guitar Hero: On Tour ($49.99, Activision) for the Nintendo DS marked the popular series’ first venture onto a portable platform, while Rock Band ($169.99, MTV Games) finally reached the Wii.

Taking a game built around a full-sized guitar peripheral and adapting it for a handheld is no easy task, but Guitar Hero: On Tour aces this solo.

Substituting for the ax is a glove-like guitar grip that plugs into the DS’s seldom used GamePak slot. It features four colored buttons instead of the standard Guitar Hero five and includes a guitar pick stylus so players can strum the touch screen while notes scroll down the secondary screen.

The game’s 25 tracks include newer hits (“All The Small Things” by Blink-182) and older titles (“Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar).

Earphones are a must: the DS’s internal speakers don’t provide enough volume to truly rock out.

The game offers co-op and face-off modes, but duels provide the most fun with creative new battle attacks that take advantage of the touch screen. Hit your opponents with pyrotechnics to force them to blow into the mic and put out the flames. Annoying fans pop in demanding players give an autograph.

Wii owners have been clamoring for Rock Band ever since the title debuted on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in November.

The Wii edition lacks some of the online features of the other consoles, but developer Harmonix got the gameplay right.

The Rock Band package includes a drum kit and microphone, which plug into an included USB hub, and a wireless Fender Stratocaster guitar controller that transmits to a USB dongle. Add in an additional guitar controller as a bass ($59.99) and you’ve got a four-piece band playing 63 songs.