We live in a time when there’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to rock music rhythm games. In this article I’m going to compare the big three Guitar Hero-type games: Guitar Hero II vs. Guitar Hero III vs. Rock Band.

Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero III

Rock Band

Each game will be given between 1 and 3 points for the following:

• Song Selection
• Playability/Controls
• Party Time/Fun Factor
• Animations/Characters
• Intangibles

Song Selection

The songs in each of the games runs the gamut from classic rock, to punk, to alternative. And as everyone seems to like certain songs and dislike others, this category is largely subjective. But I have to give the edge to Guitar Hero II. It’s track list is just excellent, and you can even download many of the famous songs that were in the original Guitar Hero game for the PS2. And not to say that Rock Band doesn’t have great songs; it does. It just does not have as many and therefore probably has fewer of your favorites.

Guitar Hero II: 3 points
Guitar Hero III: 2 points
Rock Band: 1 point

Playability/Controls

This is where Guitar Hero 2 and Rock Band really shine. Going strictly on the guitar part, Guitar Hero II is clean, responsive, and just plain fun. The notes seem to have clear placing in the song and that you actually feel you are playing it. And when you miss, you notice it in the song clearly. This adds to the feel that you’re really rocking. Rock Band is the same but with the added ability to play the drums and even sing. It is three games in one. The game is almost worth it just for the drums alone. As for Guitar hero III, well, there’s something missing. Playing songs feels kind of “muddy” or something. Like the notes are placed somewhat randomly from what you’re hearing in the song. It’s still fun to play, but it just doesn’t feel as “clean” as Guitar Hero II. And it seems to matter less if you mess up. This doesn’t mean it’s easier. It just sometimes seems that the song plays anyway, regardless if you screw up or not.

Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 1 point
Rock Band: 3 points

Party Time/Fun Factor

Rock Band, hands down, wins this category. First, you can play with four people instead of just two. Second, you can play the drums and even sing. It’s simply a more inclusive, wide range experience - a natural evolution of Guitar Hero. And at a party, non-players love to watch. It’s as entertaining watching someone sing really bad as it is hearing someone with actual talent sing well. As for the Guitar Heroes, it depends on your skill level. Entry level players tend to like Guitar Hero 2 better with its cleaner controls. But Guitar Hero 3 has battle mode which is a fun, but kind of gimmicky, 2 player game. I have to lean toward Guitar Hero 2 as it seems to be more fun for a wider range of people.

Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 2 points
Rock Band: 3 points

Animations/Characters

This one is again a matter of taste. Rock Band has a classier, more realistic look that I really like. It looks like you’re actually watching a concert or music video. The Guitar Hero series have a cartoony, tongue-in-cheek look. And the Guitar Heroes have more entertaining cut scenes and star power animations with Guitar Hero III taking it to the next level. It’s venues all have unique looks and effects. And it has actual real-life guitarists like Slash from Guns N Roses. Rock Band offers really great character personalization, however, it’s weird. Your character is tied to a single instrument and it’s confusing how to choose them when playing as a group. This is a minor issue as you can’t really pay attention to anything other than the notes. But it would be cool to be able to choose any of the characters at any time.

Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 3 points
Rock Band: 2 points

Intangibles

Rock Band just feels like the future of the series. If it had more songs, it would be the clear winner and obvious choice. Having the option to sing and drum, along with the standard guitar hero-type play is scads better than just playing the guitar. However, Guitar Hero 2 earns points for it’s clean feel, and excellent song list. Guitar Hero 3, while still fun, took things a bit too far and didn’t focus on the song engineering as much as it should have.

Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 1 point
Rock Band: 3 points

Overall

Overall, it depends what mood you’re in and what hardware you have. Xbox 360 owners can pretty much get anything they want. But Nintendo Wii and PS3 owners have slightly less options. But bottom-line, if you just want to play the guitar, alone, then one of the Guitar Hero games is probably the way to go, with the edge going to Guitar Hero II. But if you ever want to have a group of 3 or more people over, Rock Band is clearly the way to go. No video game experience can compete with having 4 players rocking hard and having it all come together. I see it inspiring a new generation of actual rock bands.