Guitar Hero Critic Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

The single best addiction you can play on the PS2 this year... perhaps ever.

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

Guitar Hero is accessible to anyone that has a classic rock station programmed into his or her car stereo.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.