Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s
Break out your hairspray and your neon.
Tags: Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s Categories: PS2 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Aug 27th, 2007
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Music/Rhythm | No | ||
 |
If the Guitar Hero series has taught us anything, it’s that the encore should be special, slightly unexpected, and killer. Think “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Freebird” from Guitar Hero II, for example. It’s strange, then, that the latest entry in the series, an entry with “Encore” right in the title, is so underwhelming.
Make no mistake – GHE:Rt80s has all the by-now-classic gameplay you’ve come to expect and it still is a great feeling to rock out to songs you remember from “way back when.” …but that’s part of the problem: the setlist for this game is – for the lack of a better word – weird. If you were to ask ten different people for their choices for a Guitar Hero game based on the 80s, you might hear one of them mention one or two of the songs actually included in the game. You might hear some of the groups who are in the game, but even those mentioning Twisted Sister would be more likely to mention “We’re Not Gonna Take It” than “I Wanna Rock,” the one actually included.
It is a shame to define a game by what it ISN’T, rather than what it IS, but GHE:Rt80s feels slapped-together, something designed to prey on those willing to buy anything with the Guitar Hero label on it, rather than a project those working on it were excited about doing.
GHE:Rt80s is based on Guitar Hero II – the same levels, the same character models, the same guitars, only less of them all. There are only five characters available from the start, and only one more available for purchase. The familiar characters are given an 80s makeover, but are otherwise unchanged, and there are no additional outfits to be purchased. There are two fewer venues, and there is a thin 80s veneer over everything.
There are only 30 songs, with no further unlockable songs. The one “extra” is “Because, It’s Midnite” by Limozeen, the 80s band featured by Strong Bad, but even it is presented in the actual game as an encore, not an unlockable.
Again, GHE:Rt80s is still fun to play, and it’s great to have more songs to jam to, but it feels more like an expansion pack than an actual game… even though it still has an “actual game” price tag to it, the biggest addition to a game that could have been so much more.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Tried and true Guitar Hero formula + New songs |
7.3 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Full price for what feels like an add-on pack - Barebones presentation - Could have been so much more without much more effort |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| You'll play through the songs once and then go back to playing Guitar Hero II while waiting for Guitar Hero III to come out. | |
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Tags: Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s
Posted by Mark "MadMup" Zwolanek on Aug 27th, 2007 and is filed under PS2 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
