Guitar Hero II (Game & Guitar Controller Bundle) (PlayStation 2, 2006)

Some of the most fun I've had playing games in the last few years was going a couple of rounds of Guitar Hero with a few friends. It's a fantastic party game and if you've never played it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. This, much like SingStar and Dance Dance Revolution, is a title that's going to appeal highly to your "non-traditional" gamer crowd. I could, honestly, fawn over how much fun it is for hours, but there were a couple of things about the 360 version of this game that I wanted to bring up.

First, I know there are a ton of you out there that have a PS2 version of this already. If that's the case, I'm not sure there's enough added content out-of-the-box to warrant buying the game a second time. The only difference would be about ten added titles to the soundtrack. Now, mind you, they're all great songs; but is what amounts to a CD enough for you to plunk down another ninety bucks?

Unfortunately, two of the features I was really pulling for on the 360 version aren't making the final release. I was wildly excited over getting a wireless guitar, but there was some kind of licensing hang-up with Microsoft over the use of their wireless technology. Red Octane has said that they're hopeful they'll eventually release a wireless guitar, but they couldn't get past the red tape fast enough. I'm a bit bummed, but, to Red Octane's credit, the wired guitar they included is really cool looking.

Secondly, I'm also a bit disappointed that there isn't an online multi-player competition. I thought it would have been awesome to have head-to-head rock-offs. I don't know if this is something they could work in later, but Microsoft's online play is so well done and so much fun that I'm always a little let-down when developers don't take advantage of it. It wound up being the only issue I dinged the game a star for. If that was included, this may have been as close to perfect as I could have hoped for.

The graphics for this aren't staggeringly better then the PS2 version, but on the other hand, they don't really need to be either. It's considered a high-definition game, but honestly, you'll probably only notice a small difference. In a game like this, you're looking at the play-ability. As long as the graphics aren't a distraction, that should be enough. The game play here is as addictive as any you'll ever hope to find.

The Co-op play with the bass-guitar mode is a lot of fun and a cool feature. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what song downloads end up being available on xBox marketplace. Jury's still out until we see the content, but that's a pretty cool feature that'll keep this game fresh for a long time.

As I mentioned before, if you're an xBox lifer, who's never had the chance to check out this former PS2 exculsive, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. If you already have the PS2 version, however, you'll be just as content to rock out with that for now.