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Better songs, a shorter experience

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: March 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Here's my take on Guitar Hero: it's a great game. The song choice is varied enough to appeal to almost anyone. In fact, I would say, in terms of song selection, this game's better than the sequel. A word on that: the songs are covered, not the original performers. The learning curve is relatively gradual, although there's a substantial increase in difficulty between medium and hard mode. But within each level of difficulty, the game does a good job of slowly increasing the complexity of how you're moving your fingers across the fretboard. The game also appeals to a wide variety of ability levels. Easy and medium modes are great for the casual player. Hard and extreme provide the expected levels of difficulty to players who want more out of the game. The unlockable extras (unlocked with in-game cash) were well done, as none of them affect gameplay itself, but rather provide additional content to players who "put in the time." This way, the game isn't turning away the less-addicted just because they didn't feel like getting carpal tunnel just to make a little extra game cash.

There are two factors that detract from the gaming experience: hammer-ons/pull-offs and the brevity of the game. Hammer-ons/pull-offs were greatly improved in the sequel, but they weren't quite as polished as they could have been for this entry. As a result, they can be tricky to do properly, and it doesn't feel like it would on a real guitar. And the game's not necessarily short, there are just less songs in a career than the sequel. One other point worth mentioning: the absence of a practice mode is also a drawback.

This is a great title for anyone who ever wanted to play guitar with a rockin' band, but hasn't yet devoted the time to learning how to play. If you've ever turned your stereo up and rocked out, this game's for you. If you've had a rough week and you just need to dance it out... go buy Dance Dance Revolution.

In short, it's a great game. It's a wonder no one thought of this sooner. It would have earned 5 stars if I had reviewed it BEFORE playing the sequel.

Great - but Guitar Hero 2 outshines this one

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

We got Guitar Hero 2 for Christmas (before getting GH1). The multiplayer features on GH2 outcompete GH1 with the ability to play in cooperative mode and the feature of allowing different difficulty settings for each player. GH1 only has one multiplayer mode with each player having to agree on a difficulty level. That being said, the song selection for GH1 is fantastic! Some friends of mine like it even better than the song selection for GH2. In single player mode you can't tell much difference between gameplay for each game. If you're only going to buy one of the games buy GH2, but really, you should get them both!

Somewhat inferior to its sequel, but still well worth anyone's time

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: June 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Perhaps that tired old adage from the dusty hallways of grade-school is right after-all: people just don't change. Arrogantly dismissive of video games since I reached the "age of reason," I figured myself immune forevermore to the siren song of electronic addiction. How naive I realized my self-perception to be only moments after booting up this game in order to "help my nephew play it." My blood-relation's cries of dismay ignored, my retina only able to perceive the hypnotic allure of colorful notes gracing the television, I soon found myself deep within the clutches of that most dangerous of love/hate relationships: I had become the Playpsycho.

Enter "Guitar Hero," Activision's port onto the PS2 which allows the user to rock out on tracks old and new via a single-"stringed," guitar-shaped controller. There are several play-modes available. Career mode allows the player to create a band-name, choose an avatar, and select an instrument. As the player advances--via increasing difficulty-levels and "song-tiers" mastered--the type of musical arena your avatar plays in progresses from basement dive to concert halls U2 would drool to play in. The career option allows--in higher difficulty levels--the possibility of actually earning a bit of loot for all that axe damage. This money can be spent, a la role-playing lite, in the "Unlock Shop." New "skins," instruments, hidden tracks, and even a couple of interesting avatars can be purchased there. There is a "quick play" mode which allows for "unlocked" tracks to be played at will. Finally, the last mode allows another guitar god to enter the venue, although (in THIS game--hint, hint) multiplayer doesn't augment this already stellar game much.

The songs are almost exclusively covers, but don't let that dissuade you. I am a huge "Boston" fan, and was almost embarrassed to the point of speechlessness when informed that Brad Delp was not actually singing those lyrics. They are incredibly convincing covers, almost without exception. Other represented songs include "Frankenstein," "Iron Man," "Symphony of Destruction," "Sharp Dressed Man," and many others. Younger fans may not appreciate the dearth of newer musical representation, but more recent titles in the series (again, hint, hint) address this oversight handily.

Play is accomplished in a manner similar to "Dance, Dance Revolution": a giant fret-board graces the center of the screen, and colored notes progress towards the player. A powerful motivator to hit correct notes is that the game will not play the guitar portion of the song if you mess up. Another (in career mode) is that you will be booed off-stage if you don't prove your guitar proficiency. The background action--although you'll never have time to appreciate it--is incredibly detailed and even quite funny. Band members run around on stage, match their digital finger-positions with actual notes, and alter their facial expressions to match how well a player is performing. Similarly, the audience will also respond to your skill, or lack of it. The guitar-controller is incredibly intuitive: you essentially have a one-string, five-fretted instrument. Believe me, five frets is more than enough of a challenge. The guitar includes a "whammy bar" and an orientation sensor, allowing one to tilt the controller to use one's accumulated "star power," maximizing the score and allowing the avatar to cavort around stage in ever more fanciful ways. You will probably master "easy" and "medium" relatively quickly; however the "hard" and "expert" levels will suffice to challenge even accomplished guitar-masters ("real" guitar-players).

A great game to play with a bunch of friends--actually, you could quite easily make a family night memorable beyond belief with this excellent game. I dare you: play this title in front of your crotchety old mom and dad, and just see if they resist playing! Have fun.

This game is like crack!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Every time I saw this game in stores like Walmart or GameStop I thought what a stupid game. I picked it up an tried it without knowing what to do and was convinced it blew.

A friend got it and could not stop bragging about what a great game it was. I just laughed at him while he played and thought to myself he looks stupid but wow I love that song. He continued to play great song after great song. He told me to try it and despite my lack of coordination after being told how to play it was suprisingly fun.

I was told that the learning curve was pretty good and that if I played it for 12 hours straight I would get the hang of it.
We then proceded to play for at least 5 hours and I loved every minute of it.
I now own both versions of the game and 3 guitars.

One word of advise get a wireless guitar you will enjoy it more.

great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

not just for guitarists, this game will give you the feel of being a guitarist with none of the hours of practice. its like air-guitar without the air. my teenagers love it, my 8 year old daughter loves it, and I love it. the tunes are great and head-2-head is a blast to play. if you already have guitar hero 2, this is not a step down, just a batch of new songs to jam on.

Surprise Surprise!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: August 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a master guitarist (that is, with normal 6 string guitars) my first thoughts of this game were: "What a stupid game. That game is just for people who are too lazy to bother playing real guitar." So, when I went to a friend's house and played it just for some laughs, I was very pleasently surprised. I soon was able to master it in the 30 minutes we played, and for 2 and a half more hours we played. So, when I got home from my friend's house, I decided to purchase it. Because I had only played the second one, I purchased that one first, and was quickly addicted. After managing to beat the game on Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, looky what happened, Guitar Hero Encore had come out, and rumors of GH3 were swirling around the internet. At first I had planned to buy Guitar Hero Encore, but then I bought the first one after reading the reviews of both games.
And after beating hard on GH1 in one half hour, I transformed from not knowing any of the songs except 2 or 3 to loving GH1's set list more then GH2's. The songs are fantastic (a little easy though) and the characters are fun. It's also interesting to see how much each character transforms from each game to the next. GH1, the basic plain meat-and-potaters version of GH2, is an exceptionally fun game, and excessively addictive. A definite must-have for all those who want to be provided with hours of fun and excitement (like beating Bark at the Moon on Expert on your first try).
6/5

the original GH still rox!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I began my Guitar Hero career with the 2nd edition. Once I was sure I was going to be playing the game for a long time I purchased the first one.

Although the first edition lacks the depth the second one has (the ability to play as different roles, individual difficulty selection for quick games, being noticed when a song is played perfectly), the first edition packs a heavy punch with some killer tracks that the first edition just can't compare to.

Guitar Hero I even seems more challenging than it's sequel. Your fingers will learn to fly at an earlier stage of the game, and you will have no choice but to learn the pull-on and pull-off's before attempting the hard level.

Can I use the guitar from Guitar Hero II with this game, too?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I haven't bought either Guitar Hero I or II but was thinking of buying it for my two grandsons. My question is, can the guitar that comes with Guitar Hero II be used to play the music in Guitar Hero I. I didn't want to buy the bundle pack with the guitar if I could just buy the game for the Guitar Hero I. Call me a cheap skate, or just a frugal granny, but I would really like to know.

Great Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: April 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

We purchased GH1 because we love GH2 so much. Though you get a bit more functionality with GH2, this is still a great game. The music is terrific and the game is a bit more forgiving in the scoring that GH2. All in all, it was worth it simply to get a few more great songs.

Guitar Hero 1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game was a hit with everyone this past Christmas! With plenty of songs to choose from, it was fun for all ages. Kids and Parents, and even Grandpa got in on the action! Now when we hear "smoke on the water" come on the radio It means Grandpa is a GUITAR HERO!

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