Score
Gameplay:	7
Graphics:	7
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	7
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	7

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
July 21, 2009 by Jereme Puik

Activision just seems intent on pumping out game after game in the Guitar Hero franchise. It’s no surprise that Guitar Hero Smash Hits came from Neversoft. The game is a compilation of some of the best songs of the past; from Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 2, and Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80s and one song from Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. This creates quite a backlog to rummage through. However, Activision didn’t pick the songs themselves, and instead left it up to the fans of the game in many voting sessions choose which songs they would like to see in this “greatest hits” release. All songs are re-mastered in their digital glory and are compiled for you to experience. Is this worth a full retail price of $59.99? Let’s read on to find out.

Gameplay 

Not much has changed over the course of these last few Guitar Hero releases. In the case of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Neversoft continues to improve upon its formula refining and tweaking little details here and there to make the Guitar Hero experience that much more satisfying. The newest addition is the ability to play all these songs with the drums and microphone forming your own band. Everything you remember about playing those old songs should be thrown out of your mind, because everything here has been turned into master tracks with a new twist. The sliders from World Tour’s gameplay mechanic come into play here and you’ll be using them as you move up the difficulty scale. 

The songs like Free Bird, Killing in the Name from the old Harmonix days of Guitar Hero are transformed into either live versions or master tracks of the songs. Some of the songs are even re-noted so you’ll have to learn new combinations to even pass the song and it makes things just a bit harder. Because of the fan voting style that Activision decided to use this time around, some songs are unfortunately absent from the track list. The obvious one like Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce is here but ends up a bit easier this time around considering the touchpad sliders that are now present from World Tour. 

The game was developed by Beenox, a studio based out of Quebec Canada, licensed by Activision mostly known for its movie-licensed titles like Bee Movie, 007 Quantum of Solace. The game features pretty much all of the latest additions to the gameplay like drums and microphone capabilities. The career mode is a lot less restrictive and doesn’t force you to do too much. The songs are all available in Quickplay mode so you don’t have to worry about finishing career mode right away to choose a song from Quickplay. You have your online modes like head-to-head battles both offline and online. You can still form a band, up to 8 players, and jam against others in “Battle of the Bands”. Introduced in World Tour you can also access the Music Studio and create your own songs as well as the Expert+ mode taken from Guitar Hero: Metallica for those of you that are so daring to try it. 

Some might be disappointed by the fact that you can’t play a single downloadable track from your library from either World Tour or otherwise. It would have been nice to include this kind of back cataloging as it would have been even worth the value of the game. Now, don’t be discouraged, the game does play well and the button mechanics are refined for this experience. Beenox have hit everything just right bridging the Guitar Hero experience not too far from the past games. Guitar Hero 5 is set for release and is about 3 months or so away, so this should hold you over for the time being. The game contains a total track count of 48 tracks to choose from. What would have been a more ideal position was too release these as a form of downloadable content and it would have saved everyone from spending the 60 bucks on this expansion pack. 

Graphics and Sound

The Guitar Hero franchise isn’t known for pumping out ground breaking graphics, but constantly has its own style anyway. The game features the same 2d art throughout Career mode that we’ve seen throughout each game. It’s not that much different of a story and nothing that offers much for you to care about. The actually gameplay itself is much sharper then World Tour. Characters are more in line with the current song that your playing and the music adds up to the characters rocking on their respective instruments. For instance, anything going on with the drums is well represented and isn’t completely off.  With a 48 song set list, all the tracks are master recordings and when Activision couldn’t find recordings of the older songs they used live versions. 

Plasma Factor 

There isn’t much to say here that will make Guitar Hero: Smash Hits worth the full price value. You’ll have to think really hard if you plan on getting the latest Guitar Hero game. Don’t forget that Guitar Hero 5 is releasing in the fall, so unless you’re aching to rock out and form a band with your friends, it is highly recommended to wait until Guitar Hero 5’s release. Guitar Hero Smash Hits could have easily been released as a downloadable content pack. You could easily separate the songs into track packs and release them every week as Activision has been doing in the fashion of Harmonix’s Rock Band. Price them at an appealing price point and you have yourself some buyers. 

Conclusion 

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits does nothing to advance the franchise in any way. However, if you’re still buried in the past and are still playing Guitar Hero 3, you may want to look into this compilation as it’s an easy way to see all the “greatest hits” of the past games. Overall, Guitar Hero Smash Hits is a game that could have been left out and no one would have noticed. With more time given to the development of Guitar Hero 5, there are no new features that even give a preview to the newest Guitar Hero. Still, if you’re a fan of old games and are looking for some nostalgic rest in your mind, pick up Guitar Hero: Smash Hits as a rental and you’ll be glad you did. Priced at full $59.99 makes this a hard game to swallow.