Guitar Hero: Smash Hits!

[Adam]

...Coming soon!

http://smashhits.guitarhero.com

There's a setlist up there.

 

[griffinmills]

There are some damn fine songs on those early titles. I really wish there was a way to make GH and RB cross compatible as I'm a bigger fan of RB gameplay to GH gameplay anymore.

I notice the teaser mentions some specific songs like Carry on Wayward Son, Freebird and Through the Fire and Flames so I wonder if it's pretty much rigged "voting?"

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

So it's just making the drums and singing available for old songs? I'll pass.


And I'm just the opposite Griffin, I like the gameplay of Guitar Hero way more than Rock Band.

 

[Adam]

This is a good thing for me personally.. I only have World Tour and Aerosmith from the series, I don't have any of the games they're picking the best songs from.

 

[Sabre]

I think i might get this just for the drums aspect. I have GHIII, Aerosmith and WT, so playing some of the GH and GHII classics will be great.

 

[daileyxplanet]

Sounds good. Glad that the 80's will come to the current gen, as PS2 only was kinda dumb.

 

[griffinmills]

So it's just making the drums and singing available for old songs? I'll pass.


And I'm just the opposite Griffin, I like the gameplay of Guitar Hero way more than Rock Band.

I should specify that I'm only knowledgeable in the Guitar aspect of either title. I can barely sing or drum on medium all the way through.
With World Tour assimilating the innovations in gameplay made by RB and RB2 it's basically a decent knock off game now but GH3 is just terribad IMO. I'll be sure to make myself look extra stupid by mentioning I own every title from GH1 and 80's on PS2 to Aerosmith and Metallica even, though I enjoyment of the series plummeted since Neversoft was handed the reigns. It's interesting to note that the gameplay of RB and RB2 is nigh identical, in guitar, to GH2 according to the uber fans at scorehero.com.

If the RB devs had a little better customer relation savy they would really be mopping the floor with GH by now but stupid things like their handling of defective instruments in RB and getting sued for the drum pedal issues in RB2 and their general inability to properly keep on top of leaks and proper wording of their own press releases, interviews and statements makes it difficult to rush to their defense in a "fanboy" fashion. Which is probably a good thing. ;D

I'm interested in what people prefer in GH vs. RB for gameplay if this thread wants to discuss it.

Graphically the highway on RB is extremely simple vs. the fancy custom fretboard highways in GH games. One thing that happens in GH that I know folks I play with complain about is the colors of the frets go away during star power, in RB you just get a blue overlay to the highway and the colors stay intact. I really enjoyed the GH2 animation and look of the characters but once I got experienced the custom characters and look of RB the GH2 stuff seems overdone and garish now. The only venue to catch my eye in a GH game since GH2 has been the Aircraft Carrier in WT while many of the venues in RB have me wishing for the canceled "demo mode" so I could see them in more detail without the game getting in the way. Finally, the cartoons FMV in GH3 was easily the best aspect of the game for me but they fell to the wayside nigh completely in WT. RB only has their intro FMVs which is not enough to really compete.

Audio in RB is amazing. Their in house mix team pulls off miracles on many songs. The Boston album sounds AMAZING for instance. The crowd singalongs and interaction is a hit for me. Getting the crowd into the song in RB during a song like Chop Suey actually enhances my gameplay experience. GH series doesn't even seem to bother. Tracks are pretty much left as-is and the crowd has been doing the same thing (clap clap clap to the beat during star activations and that's about it) since GH1. The full screen shake effect during the power chords in Metallica is pretty rad though... guess that's a graphic though but it's along with the audio so I'll give it a point.

Rockband is pretty much the solid gameplay innovation leader. Setting aside the fact that they did the obvious step of full band experience. They changed up the gameplay on starpower/overdrive by allowing continuous collection even while deployed, a small thing that made for huge difference in fun for me and the gang playing here, and swiped by WT. RB2 introduced the hammer on chords, another obvious innovation that was integrated into WT. RB changed up the gameplay on failing out of songs entirely, allowing you to save other members not just with the usual overdrive deployment but by actually resurrecting defeated players as well. When someone fails out in WT they take the whole dang band with them, so annoying! WT still clings to the, "unlock songs with the money you earn" chestnut which is just plain annoying trying to fork out 10 grand for the Tool set when your band is only making a couple hundred per song. Metallica made a good change to this though, in my opinion. RB2 has a multitude of ways to unlock songs from play-them-all-straight-through to the world tour career mode. They all need to have the, "quickplay has everything unlocked initially" option returned for parties and such though. RB also introduced the lower/tiny frets and WT now has the touch strip since they probably feared repercussions if they swiped that too! WT was first to market with cymbals on the drums though!

Of course there is the age old debate on timing difficulty and charting. I don't think Neversoft really understood (or decided to throw out what had been established) the GH2 gameplay when they went into making GH3. They started the really annoying trend of manual HOPO notes rather than using them in the GH2 manner where they were automatically converted based on whether the note was within a certain timing of the previous notes. Neversoft also has been repeatedly accused of "over-charting" songs to make them more difficult. One of the backlash effects of this was over-charting started making an appearance in some RB DLC, off the top of my head I recall Rio from Duran Duran has some ludicrous charting in the middle and some of the piano tracks were charted to guitar in the Boston album. Neversoft also widened the note window in GH3 to the cliched point of, "you could drive a truck through it." To be honest though, that sure makes it fun to just mash out crazy HOPO sections and such and get full credit! Finally, they introduced an innovation that nobody wanted, the power up battle mode boss battle crap in GH3. The battle mode was so poorly done that it was actually EASIER to win on higher difficulties than on lower ones!

I wont debate track listings. GH3 had a good track list in my opinion but WT had entire tiers of songs that I didn't even recognize a single song.... RB DLC is pretty damn gigantic now and their on disc track list had the decency to restrict the "wtf are these" tracks to the "bonus" area. It will be interesting to see if GH can get a good enough flow of DLC to catch up to RB in time to do them any good.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

I actually need that note window to be "big enough to drive a truck through it" in the Guitar Hero games. I play on expert and some parts are just fucking ridiculous and need to give you some space to hit the notes not exactly perfectly.

Rock Band's notes you have to be exact. Even though there are less notes and are easier to hit, I still like having some leeway like WT has.

Rock Band does have way more songs but most of those songs I had never even heard of.

 

[luke-o]

Looks good, missing some ones that I would have picked, but I'd imagine they will end up as DLC.

 

[Matt Young]

Songs announced from Guitar Hero II:

Avenged Sevenfold - "Beast And The Harlot"

Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"

Rush - "YYZ"

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"

Foo Fighters - "Monkey Wrench"

Iron Maiden - "The Trooper"

Nirvana - "Heart-Shaped Box"

Lamb of God - "Laid To Rest"

The Police - "Message In A Bottle"

Wolfmother - "Woman"

Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"

Stone Temple Pilots - "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart"

Warrant - "Cherry Pie"

Alice in Chains - "Them Bones"

Danzig - "Mother"

Jane's Addiction
- "Stop!"

Reverend Horton Heat - "Psychobilly Freakout"

The Sword - "Freya"

Mötley Crüe- "Shout At The Devil"

 

[Sabre]

Iron Maiden - Trooper = me buying it.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Best Buy has both Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on sale for $10 each. I went and bought both yesterday and am extra happy I did so.

 

[Sabre]

Such a shame Aerosmith isnt that good, it is missing so many of their iconic tracks.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

That may be, but for $10 I'm happy.


The only thing I don't like in GH: Aerosmith is the fretboard when an Aerosmith song comes on. It's hard to see the notes with all the monkey heads in the way.

 

[Matt Young]

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Best Buy has both Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on sale for $10 each. I went and bought both yesterday and am extra happy I did so.

Was that you who was asking where yo get GH:A for $10 at the old TSM?

I already had GHIII, but I bought Aerosmith.

 

[Adam]

You guys are so damn lucky. We don't get games that cheap here in England at all.

I want GH3 just so I can have it really, the cheapest I can find it in Derby is $47-50 (based on the exchange rate) second hand.

 

[Adam]

I did however pick up Aerosmith for £19.99. I'd guess about $35.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Best Buy has both Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on sale for $10 each. I went and bought both yesterday and am extra happy I did so.

Was that you who was asking where yo get GH:A for $10 at the old TSM?

I already had GHIII, but I bought Aerosmith.

Yeah.

 

[griffinmills]

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Best Buy has both Guitar Hero 3 and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith on sale for $10 each. I went and bought both yesterday and am extra happy I did so.

Was that you who was asking where yo get GH:A for $10 at the old TSM?

I already had GHIII, but I bought Aerosmith.

Hard to argue with $10, very nice.

As for the gameplay topic, I'm a big proponent of making the games easier/more-accessible so I appreciate your PoV there.

GH2 choices are a mixed bag for me....
Ones we didn't get:

Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy: I like it but guests always think it's going to be the Joan Jett song so... meh.
Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper: A song that really grew on me in GH2 would have liked to have it but not a deal breaker either way for me.
Can't You Hear Me Knockin' - Rolling Stones: Sheesh, it would be Rolling Stones which has to make somebody happy.
Carry Me Home - The Living End: Great fast fun song but not super well known so, meh.
Crazy On You - Heart: Seems like an easy thumbs up to me, too bad. Great vocals too!! ARGH.
Dead - My Chemical Romance: This and their 3 pack are surprisingly good little songs from MCR but maybe they were a flash in the pan?
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet: ARGH, personal super favorite, the song I met my wife and danced to at our wedding. Too biased to judge fairly.
Hangar 18 - Megadeth: Man this things is sweet fun on guitar with the endless solos and the drums are great and the lyrics fun.... argh.
Hush - Deep Purple: Love me some Deep Purple, a bit simple but I give it a slight argh.
Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies: One of my faves from even before GH2, awesome lyrics and guitar.... ARGH.
Jessica - Allman Brothers: I guess we were never going to get Jessica since it's instrumental but damn is it a great little tune. ARGH.
John the Fisherman - Primus: Primus is so woefully underrepresented on these games it's CRIMINAL. ARRGH.
Last Child - Aerosmith: Tough call, I want it in as a fun to play song from GH2 but also... they have a whole GH game to themselves. Meh?
Life Wasted - Pearl Jam: Oh MAN an easy YES vote I would think, sigh and argh.
Madhouse - Anthrax: Challenging guitar and drums fun lyrics, argh.
Misirlou - Dick Dale: Another one in the Jessica category I guess. Meh.
Possum Kingdom - Toadies: Such a great little song and not too difficult yet fun and well known, easy argh for me.
Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer: Lordy Mama light my fuse, double win as a wrestling fan doing Mean Gene impressions, ARGH.
Rock This Town - Stray Cats: Seems like easy win to me, great little song. Argh.
Salvation - Rancid: An opener track that's really easy, not that big a deal for me, not much there to miss. Meh.
Search and Destroy - Iggy Pop: This is a great f'n hidden gem in GH2 for me, fun lyrics challenging guitar... ARGH.
Surrender - Cheap Trick: Perfect easy fun rock band party music IMO, ARGH.
Sweet Child O' Mine - GnR: UH WTF how did this not win a spot, was it not up for voting? ARRGH.
Tattooed Love Boys - The Pretenders: I really enjoy it but I could see how it's not for everyone. argh.
Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight - Spinal Tap: Always a fan of different but good stuff getting in, argh!
War Pigs - Black Sabbath: On the fence, would likely be a cover like in RB? If so, meh, if not, slight argh... we already have it a few times before.
Who Was in My Room Last Night? - BUTThole Surfers: Such a fun song on guitar and "i'm flying" would be fun vocals... argh.
You Really Got Me - Van Halen: It's Van Halen and it's not that hard and it's frickin' fun little song. ARGH.

Stuff that I question a bit:
Avenged Sevenfold - "Beast And The Harlot" got in when other more well known stuff got shafted? I really like the song though so I'll keep my mouth shut I guess, I GUESS.
Rush - "YYZ" Okay wait does this mean we DO want instrumentals? Then give us Jessica, we already got album version of YYZ in RB DLC for Rush's Moving Pictures full album.
Foo Fighters - "Monkey Wrench" Another song we already got in RB DLC but again one of my faves... hrmm.
Lamb of God - "Laid To Rest" Okay the cover of this song was shit in GH2 but the vocals on the real one are quite a bit better but still they are death metal style growl-fests which are real yawners thus far in these games, otherwise another Avenged 7x style pick IMO.
The Police - "Message In A Bottle" Yet another "RB has this in DLC already."
Wolfmother - "Woman" Wolfmother song that's way too easy IMO to be repeated minus any real party popularity to boot.
Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son" RB2 on disc song, another personal fave, this thing is killing me with that tactic!
Warrant - "Cherry Pie" yyyyawn on guitar but at least a decent Rock Band Party Song.
Danzig - "Mother" HA HA Danzig is fun to make fun of, google videos is your friend here for this. Piss easy song too, bleh.
The Sword - "Freya" Another in the Lamb of God and A7x pile and BOY is this song repetitive at the end, PASS even though I like it.

I see this as having gone one of 3 ways.
1. People voted with their hearts rather than their heads wasting votes on stuff we already have in RB.
2. Basically #1 but with the motive being some kind of desire in GH fans for parity with RB hence the retreads.
3. GH devs are manipulating this a bit to make it easier on themselves and other nefarious paranoid delusions I harbor.

 

[luke-o]

I can't believe Primus are not on this game. That's insane.

 

[NoCalMike]

I prefer Guitar Hero's gameplay. The timing of the notes dropping on the scrolling board feels more natural, and when I am playing Guitar Hero it usually feels like I am playing the drums, as opposed to Rockband, sometimes the timing feels awkward.

I do think the audio mix is better in Rockband though, and Rockband definately has better DLC.

I understand why most people may prefer Rockband overall, but for me the most important part is the gameplay itself and IMO, GHWT is vastly superior in that department.

(I own GHWT and RB 2)

Oh and a question, was GH: Aerosmith a guitar only game, or did it utilize the drums & mic as well?

 

[Adam]

Just the guitar, Mike.

 

[Lei Tong]

I too prefer GH on a lot of fronts (sans vocals and and some gameplay quirks), but what I've generally preferred most has been their track selection. However, their picks for this game seem like they're trying far to hard to emulate RB, losing much of the uniqueness that they had going for them in that area.

 

[pochorenella]

Here's the full listing for GH Smash Hits:

Guitar Hero

Blue ?yster Cult - "Godzilla"
Boston - "More Than A Feeling"
Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water"
Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
Helmet - "Unsung (Live)"
Incubus - "Stellar"
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - "I Love Rock N' Roll"
Ozzy Osbourne - "Bark At The Moon"
Pantera - "Cowboys From Hell (Live)"
Queen - "Killer Queen"
Queens Of The Stone Age - "No One Knows"
The Donnas - "Take It Off"
The Exies - "Hey You"
White Zombie - "Thunder Kiss '65"

Guitar Hero II

Alice In Chains - "Them Bones"
Avenged Sevenfold - "Beast And The Harlot"
Danzig - "Mother"
Foo Fighters - "Monkey Wrench"
Iron Maiden - "The Trooper"
Jane's Addiction - "Stop!"
Kansas - "Carry On Wayward Son"
Lamb Of God - "Laid To Rest"
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"
M?tley Cr?e- "Shout At The Devil"
Nirvana - "Heart-Shaped Box"
Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"
Reverend Horton Heat - "Psychobilly Freakout"
Rush - "YYZ"
Stone Temple Pilots - "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart"
The Police - "Message In A Bottle"
The Sword - "Freya"
Warrant - "Cherry Pie"
Wolfmother - "Woman"

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

Anthrax - "Caught In A Mosh"
Extreme - "Play With Me"
Judas Priest - "Electric Eye"
Poison - "Nothin' But A Good Time"
Ratt - "Round and Round"
Twisted Sister - "I Wanna Rock"

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

AFI - "Miss Murder"
DragonForce - "Through The Fire And Flames"
Heart - "Barracuda"
Kiss - "Rock And Roll All Nite"
Living Colour - "Cult Of Personality"
Pat Benatar - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
Priestess - "Lay Down"
Slayer - "Raining Blood"

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

Aerosmith - "Back In The Saddle"

Personally, the listing I was most eagerly awaiting for was Rocks the 80's, and to say I'm kinda disappointed is an understatement. I really wanted master versions for a lot of those songs since I don't have that particular game (I own GHII, GHLOR, and GHWT) but I'm a children of 80's rock all the way. When I saw that GHII got an insane 19 songs out of 48 I new Rocks the 80's was screwed. I really wished for "No One Like You", "Balls to the Wall", "18 and Life", "Heat of the Moment" and "Radar Love". That last surprise entry from the Aerosmith game didn't help matters either.
I'm getting this anyway (when I find it at a decent cheaper price) but again, I'm kinda dissapointed with Rocks the 80's only getting 6 songs, even if most of them I really like.

 

[Adam]

Colour me sad for not having Jessica (Top Gear theme!) from GH2 on here. I can't even buy the damn thing for the PS3 as it wasn't released on that format.

God damn it.

 

[luke-o]

They didn't even take Dio from GH:80s. Major boo-urns.

 

[NoCalMike]

I'll still probably get it, but not at $60.00.....this will probably drop in price rather fast, especially at department stores. I think GH Aerosmith is already down to $20 or so in some places.

 

[Jaxxxson Mayhem]

Stuuuuuuuck on Freebird on GH 2. Once I get that done I'll have beaten the game on expert.