Guitar Hero
Platform: PlayStation 2
Publisher: Red Octane
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail
The biggest problem with most rhythm games is the music. Aside from the quirky tracks in Parappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy, the music in bemani games mostly suck. I know that musical taste is subjective and that I can never expect a video game company to cater to my less-than-mainstream musical tastes. But, as I've stated before, I think games like Dance Dance Revolution can (and apparently, are trying to) do better than generic J-pop and Eurobeat.
Guitar Hero is essentially an American translation of the Japanese arcade game GuitarFreaks. You play the game using a guitar-shaped controller with five colored fret buttons, a two-way pick switch and a whammy bar. The game itself is created by Harmonix, the developer of music games FreQuency and Amplitude -- both exceptional games plagued, in my opinion, by mostly crappy music. Harmonix doesn't make the same mistake with Guitar Hero where great songs are the exception, rather than the rule.
Classic rock staples "Smoke on the Water," "Ironman" and even Jimi Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" satisfy music fogies while newer schorchers and punk rock anthems like Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones provide some noise for those who want a little more attitude in their tracks. The song list is long and diverse enough to satisfy almost any rocker -- hitting thrash, nu-metal and even a little bit of indie rock. For this alone the creators of Guitar Hero deserve an arena full of lighters thrust high.
The game is also a real blast to play, thanks in part to "Star Power" a power-up that you trigger by tilting the guitar vertically, as if you intended to blast the heavens with the Godly power of your shredding. Anybody who's played a music game will be able to coast through the Guitar Hero's Easy mode without breaking a string. After that the difficulty amps up and begins to demand the technical prowess vital to succeed in Frequency and Amplitude.
A killer set list and a solid contoller would have been enough to make Guitar Hero really rock. But Harmonix went for broke, throwing a stylish look and a lick or two of humor onto the stage, creating more than just a solid music game. Through over-the-top character design, rock poster style menus and cheeky pro tips, Guitar Hero actually comments on music culture -- a feat no one has bother to attempt since Parappa kicked off the music game genre back in 1996. It's about damn time.
Recommended
Publisher: Red Octane
Review Type: Touchy
Version: Retail
The biggest problem with most rhythm games is the music. Aside from the quirky tracks in Parappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy, the music in bemani games mostly suck. I know that musical taste is subjective and that I can never expect a video game company to cater to my less-than-mainstream musical tastes. But, as I've stated before, I think games like Dance Dance Revolution can (and apparently, are trying to) do better than generic J-pop and Eurobeat.
Guitar Hero is essentially an American translation of the Japanese arcade game GuitarFreaks. You play the game using a guitar-shaped controller with five colored fret buttons, a two-way pick switch and a whammy bar. The game itself is created by Harmonix, the developer of music games FreQuency and Amplitude -- both exceptional games plagued, in my opinion, by mostly crappy music. Harmonix doesn't make the same mistake with Guitar Hero where great songs are the exception, rather than the rule.
Classic rock staples "Smoke on the Water," "Ironman" and even Jimi Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" satisfy music fogies while newer schorchers and punk rock anthems like Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones provide some noise for those who want a little more attitude in their tracks. The song list is long and diverse enough to satisfy almost any rocker -- hitting thrash, nu-metal and even a little bit of indie rock. For this alone the creators of Guitar Hero deserve an arena full of lighters thrust high.
The game is also a real blast to play, thanks in part to "Star Power" a power-up that you trigger by tilting the guitar vertically, as if you intended to blast the heavens with the Godly power of your shredding. Anybody who's played a music game will be able to coast through the Guitar Hero's Easy mode without breaking a string. After that the difficulty amps up and begins to demand the technical prowess vital to succeed in Frequency and Amplitude.
A killer set list and a solid contoller would have been enough to make Guitar Hero really rock. But Harmonix went for broke, throwing a stylish look and a lick or two of humor onto the stage, creating more than just a solid music game. Through over-the-top character design, rock poster style menus and cheeky pro tips, Guitar Hero actually comments on music culture -- a feat no one has bother to attempt since Parappa kicked off the music game genre back in 1996. It's about damn time.
Recommended
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