GENRE
	Music
	DEVELOPER
	Vicarious Visions
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	Yes
	BUY NOW AT

Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard scoring criteria.

The Guitar Hero franchise has gained the ire of gamers everywhere thanks to its never-ending stream of releases in quick succession. So when Activision announced that on top of its flagship game in the series, Guitar Hero 5 gamers would be seeing a Van Halen edition and a band-themed spinoff, even diehard fans of the series were apt to give a groan. Thankfully, Band Hero isn't just another metal-heavy shredfest. Using the Guitar Hero 5 engine, Vicarious Visions has built a game that even grandma will want to sing along with.

The major difference between this edition and Guitar Hero 5 is the song list. Instead of bands like Megadeth, Rammstein and Wofmother, Band Hero focuses on more mainstream acts like No Doubt, Taylor Swift and Hillary Duff. Not every song on the disc is a winner, with plenty of duds sprinkled in, but players will probably be able to find a few they they like on the disc, all of which are available from the moment the game boots up. The song list really makes the game feel like the "Now That's What I Call Music" of music games-- and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

To go with the casual-friendly song list, the visuals stick with a more clean-cut American Idol look. There are no dingy bars or frat parties in the game's venues this time, rather each and every venue looks like it could be the set for a music-based reality series. The rocker's looks have also been updated to reflect this, some of the mainstays with decidedly different costumes to fit into more genres than usual.

Another difference is with the difficulty of the game. Hard mode on guitar just isn't as punishing as Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or Guitar Hero World Tour. Other than a few songs that can be extremely frustrating, the difficulty curve of this game is a lot smoother, hearkening back to Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. While hardcore fans of the series will probably complain that Band Hero is that much easier than other games in the series, newcomers to the series will definitely enjoy the lowered difficulty, making Band Hero a much better party game than the recent entries in the Guitar Hero series.

Another reason this game is excellent for parties is the DS functionality in the game. Band Hero brings back Roadie Battle, which was one of the major reasons to recommend Guitar Hero 5, but in addition to that mode, the party play mode has added in DS support as well. Players can once again drop in and out from the title screen if there's a song going that really piques their interest, but a DS can also be connected up to the system allowing others to select the order of the songs that will be coming up. It's sort of like a jukebox feature.

For players who feel a little limited by the selection of songs on disc, Band Hero also supports a few of the features introduced in earlier Guitar Hero games such as the music studio and downloadable songs. Owners of Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero Smash Hits and Guitar Hero 5 can, for a small fee, import select songs from those games into Band Hero, possibly giving Band Hero the largest selection of songs in the entire franchise.

The game also features a robust online multiplayer mode. Like Guitar Hero 5, the game does away with friend codes, linking to other systems seamlessly using Wii system codes instead. Before starting any modes, it's easy to see if any of your Wii friends are online and playing. Unfortunately, we weren't able to test out the online play extensively, but it is refreshing to see a developer actually trying to give Wii owners a robust online experience instead of complaining about the limitations of the system.

Really, when it all comes down to it, the only major addition to the Guitar Hero formula in Band Hero is the addition of DS Party Play. But it maintains the status quo of the series very well cutting no features from earlier games. While hardcore Guitar Hero fans will probably complain about this one, Band Hero is another excellent addition to the series, one that makes party play a priority and delivers.

8.3/10