Guitar Hero World Tour (Complete Band Game) (Wii, 2008)

Parents need to know that this is a sequel in the mega-popular Guitar Hero series. Some of the lyrics might raise an eyebrow as being sexually suggestive. Also, some of the female musicians that aren't wearing much clothes onstage.

Families can talk about whether these music games have hit its stride or its peak? Are the changes in games like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series enough to justify the purchase or is it worth just downloading new songs each week?


GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR is the sequel to the best-selling video game of 2007 (Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock). This new version adds drums and vocals to last year's game that was all about playing on the guitar and bass, along with a tour bus-full of new modes and features. For the uninitiated, these music games let you play along to hit rock songs on a plastic guitar, a drum kit peripheral, or sing in a microphone, and you must hit the right note/drum at the correct time in order to rack up points. Perform well and the virtual crowd claps to the beat, but make too many flubs and you might just get booed offstage. When it comes to instruments, the Guitar Hero: World Tour drums has two raised cymbals along with the three main pads and bass drum pedal, resembling a real kit. The newly-designed wireless guitar looks and feels great, and offers extra buttons for improv play and special effects, if desired. The wired microphone provides clear sound for the singer in your group.

After you watch the first of many entertaining animated sequences, you can select from a number of single-player, co-op or head-to-head game modes. A new rock star creator lets you customize the look of your virtual musician before entering a lengthy Career mode that lets players swap instruments as they progress through the story (or choose to stick with one); the Band Career options allows you to join or host an online band with other players. Or why not compete in an online competition – four against four – to see how many points your band can collectively rack up against a rival super group? As with Guitar Hero III, players who dual guitars on the same TV can unleash "battle attacks" to trip up an opponent such as causing a string to break or flipping the left and right buttons.