Guitar Hero

1UP

Truth be told, 1UP recently held a group "review" session that lasted late into the night. After a few beers, some leaps off the couch, about 8 renditions of Boston, countless moments of faux-rockstar posturing, and actually stomping so hard that we broke the disc during the thundering finale of "Take Me Out," everyone seemed to agree on a score for Guitar Hero... But our scale only goes up to 10.

Cheat Code Central

I'm beyond impressed with this game. It retains a lot of guitar technique and doesn't cater to the attention-span challenged, dance-game crowd.

Stuff

If you don't have a big, stupid, sh.t-eating grin on your face when you do this, then we can't be friends anymore.

Deeko

Seriously, many games are good, but this game is near perfect in almost every way. I've gotten blisters and had my thumb start bleeding WHILE I PLAYED. That's a testament to how good this game really is. If you don't buy it, you will regret it for the rest of your LIFE. I mean that.

Game Chronicles

The single best addiction you can play on the PS2 this year... perhaps ever. [Actual score = 11 (or 110), a la "Sinal Tap", but our scale only goes up to 100, so if you need that extra little push over the cliff, just get the game.]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

An epic rock masterpiece that may be the most purely fun game out there.

Computer Games Magazine

Guitar Hero is accessible to anyone that has a classic rock station programmed into his or her car stereo. [Mar 2006, p.93]

G4 TV

This game makes you feel like a rock star. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Its difficulty ramps up perfectly, the song selection couldn't be better, and the gameplay is fun and addictive.

Times Online

It’s a simple idea, but the best ones always are.

Pelit (Finland)

One of the most entertaining games ever. The guitar-like controller and the music selection are excellent, and the four difficulty levels offer fresh challenges each time you go up a notch. Mosh time! [May 2006]

Sydney Morning Herald

A two-player mode is included, and few games are more fun with a crowd. It's pricey, but a euphoric experience.

Gaming Target

One solid game, and definitely one of, if not, the best music game this year. Mixing heavy metal riffs with the coolest American made controller yet, Guitar Hero is much deservedly rising to a cult status already.

Worth Playing

Let's be perfectly frank here; games this good come out very rarely, and when they do it feels like a gift. Guitar Hero is the gift of a great game and the gift of music. It is the gift of rocking your walls clean off your house.

eToychest

Its principal accomplishment is the fact that it allows complete guitar idiots to play legendary rock classics without a lick of practice and come away looking like a real pro. At the same time, it packs enough depth—with higher difficulties that require an insane amount of speed and precision—that very skillful players will be able to impress in their own right.

Gaming Horizon

There is no other way to describe Guitar Hero other than it’s a fantastic game that’s a blast to play.

XGP Gaming

Replicating the playing of an actual guitar was no easy task, but Harmonix pulled it off with flying colors.

BonusStage

And it goes like this... if you have a PS2 and even a passing interest in music, you need Guitar Hero- it’s that simple.

Gamers' Temple

I can sum it all up in one sentence: If you’re a gamer and a fan of rock music, then you owe it to yourself to play this game.

IC-Games

The tracks themselves are not performed by the genuine artists but they are so good as to be near as damnit.

GamingTrend

This game is cranked to a volume of 11.

Play UK

Everything we hoped it would be, giving bedroom air guitarists a chance to live out their rock 'n' roll fantasies. [Apr 2006, p.100]

PSX Extreme

Guitar Hero is everything a game should be -it’s innovative, it’s tons of fun, has tons of replay value, and it’s accessible to both new and experienced gamers.

GameZone

If you love rock ‘n roll, then Guitar Hero will light up your face with the goofiest grin you are likely to have had in some time. This is a challenging game, no doubt, but it is – simply stated – a blast!

IGN

Guitar Hero is pure bliss, on a stick even. It's got a fantastic soundtrack that's blended incredibly well into the game, a great peripheral in the SG guitar controller and well, that's really what it's all about. The game is just fun. Pure, unadulterated fun.

Gaming Age

The amazing thing is how great the covers are. Except for a couple of noticeably different sounds from the Incubus and Queen songs, they all sound just like the real tracks. With songs ranging from David Bowie to White Zombie, it’s really a credit to the performers to be able to not only recreate the music, but the voices as well.

GameShark

If you were thinking about getting into playing a guitar, this would be an awesome game to start off with. Kids and adults will enjoy this game together, so it is extremely family orientated.

Game Revolution

I've already spent more time with Guitar Hero than just about anything this season, and it's as entertaining as it was the first day. Harmonix has created a game that’s addictive, tougher than John Wayne's sinew and, to be frank, simply rocks.

Console Gameworld

Everyone should try this game at least once. If you’re not smiling by the end of playing your first tune there’s something wrong with you.

Official Playstation 2 Magazine UK

An absolute classic. Simple to play but hugely rewarding, challenging and entertaining like nothing else on PS2. You need this game. [Apr 2006, p.110]

PALGN

One of the purest forms of fun in gaming today. Unless your music tastes lay elsewhere this is something that should be in every PS2 owner’s collection.

PSW Magazine UK

This is exactly what video games are all about: putting us into the shoes of people with abilities we only wished we had. Guitar Hero offers the chance to become exactly that, kidding you into believing that you could jam with Hendrix if only you put your mind to it. And if he wasn't dead.

NTSC-uk

The game plays brilliantly, the controller is sturdy and durable, the songs are facemeltingly great.

GameBrink

For those who crave the notoriety of the modern day rocker, but lack the true skills required, this is the closest you’re ever going to come. A game that comes highly recommended. Rock-on.

ZTGameDomain

An immaculate piece of software (and hardware) that should at least be experienced by everyone, especially people who love playing guitar.

PSM2 Magazine UK

Harmonix say they want to give you - ordinary, untalented punter - the experience of playing music, and they've succeeded majestically. Terrific. [May 2006, p.50]

3DAvenue

It’s hard to explain in words why the peripheral works so well and why you actually feel like you’re the next Dire Straits.

GamerNode

In a year of gaming filled with sequels and formulaic games, Guitar Hero raises the bar on innovation.

AceGamez

Rival consoles aside, Guitar Hero made me realise that it's gameplay over graphics - it made me feel like I was actually playing a game and not some crappy 'kill everything that moves' shooter.

VideoGamer

If there was ever a game that needed you to experience it first hand, this is it. Screenshots or word of mouth can never fully convey what Red Octane has done here.

Adrenaline Vault

Smart in its game design, a brilliant melding of software and hardware, this is a game which achieves what all games shoot for, but so few manage, to transport you somewhere better, if only for a few moments.

TotalPlayStation

It should also be said that the recording that went into the tracks is fantastic. Harmonix did an amazing job of pumping the sound from just a stereo signal in a way that absolutely fills the room with rock.

netjak

The folks at Harmonix have taken an idea, refined it, churned it, ground it, and forged it into a force of pure rock that few men could stand against. Maybe Dio, and quite possibly Yngwie or Clapton. But few men indeed.

Play Magazine

Mastering multiple note, holding notes, and nailing that crazy spaghetti takes (much) practice, but the quality axe is good to go. [Dec 2005, p.66]

Gamer's Hell

With simple yet addictive gameplay, a unique input device, above-average visuals for the genre, and a carefully crafted aural component, Guitar Hero’s hefty MSRP is the only obstacle in recommending this game straight out.

Eurogamer

It's a king among peripheral games, using most people's underlying fascination with the hidden art of axe-wielding as a foil for delivering one of the best beatmatching games I've seen.

GamePro

Besides the enormous song library, you get an incredibly fun controller that helps make you feel like you're really rocking the Casbah to a sold-out audience.

GameSpy

Wailing on the guitar, I might add, is immensely satisfying.

Yahoo! Games

Guitar Hero effortlessly tops the charts in terms of music/rhythm games -- and not just because the controller, gameplay, and song list are all flawless. It shoots to number one with a bullet because you actually feel and look cool playing it.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

When it really comes down to it, what this game's about is no-frills rocking. And no-frills rocking is what it does very well. [Nov 2005, p.98]

GameSpot

With its extremely smart approach to difficulty, its great guitar controller, and its killer song selection, Guitar Hero might just be the best rhythm game ever made.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

I am frankly astonished by how much playing this game feels like playing the guitar for real.

PSM Magazine

We can't imagine a better party game. If you can afford this, buy it, and rock on! [Holiday 2005, p.86]

The New York Times

The illusion that you are playing in a band is slightly marred by the very un-rock 'n' roll clicking sound of the strumming mechanism, but as your fingers hammer out complex rhythms you feel as close to being Eric Clapton as you are ever likely to.

Game Over Online

Damn, this is an incredibly addictive game, if for no other reason that an extremely accessible and well made peripheral and a memorable song list that just about everyone into rock and roll likes.

Game Informer

I desperately hope that this game garners enough attention to afford some sequels, if for no other reason that I'd like to see the team experiment with other genres. [Dec 2005, p.171]

GamerFeed

With a boisterous song selection that's truly worthwhile, a two-player mode with limitless appeal to jam out, and addictive gameplay, it's quite simply the best rhythm/music game since the original "Dance Dance Revolution."

Gamer 2.0

Probably the best rhythm game of this generation and one of the best in the genre since PaRappa the Rapper came out. It doesn’t have the originality in its music that other games have had, but its control style and overall effect is far beyond what most people were expecting.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

Although it's unlikely to usurp SingStar's title of ultimate party game, and is very unlikely to actually help you on your way to learning how to play a real guitar, Guitar Hero is a gaming experience that will take you to a place you’ll have never been to before.

Games Master UK

Once you lose your rock star inhibitions it's great fun. But it gets very hard very quickly. [May 2006, p.72]

GameCritics

The game is what it is, and nothing I could say in this review will effectively capture the sensation of holding the guitar controller straight up in the air and slamming through an insane series of notes on reflex, not really understanding how I did it - and not really caring.

AtomicGamer

Harmonix has another excellent game on their hands with Guitar Hero, but the reliance on an uncomfortable controller not only raises the game's price but it also is just sometimes too much effort to even want to play.

Total Video Games

Manages to entertain initially but begins to dwindle after a few weeks have passed and the tracks perfected. It's an experience that should be seen and needs to be played by all, but one that is hard to recommend as absolutely essential given the novelty nature of the game as a whole.

Games Radar (in-house)

Funny, instantly accessible, tightly programmed, and undeniably enjoyable, Guitar Hero earns several encores. Grab your lighter and get ready to rock.

Edge Magazine

You’ll discover whether you’re a screamer or a yeller, a wide-striding groover or a bolt-upright pogo-er. This is a game that you can play sitting down, but you won’t. Not once. [Christmas 2005, p.104]

Detroit Free Press

I can see me playing this game again and again, because it's not just about nailing each song once, but really thrashing through the chords.