Band Hero
Band Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second spin-off of the Guitar Hero series, following DJ Hero. The game was released on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is structurally similar to Guitar Hero 5, and supports full band play including the drop-in/drop-out and in-song instrument and difficulty change menus, and additional multiplayer modes as Guitar Hero 5. The console versions use instrument-shaped game controllers, while the DS version uses either the "Guitar Grip" introduced with the Guitar Hero: On Tour series or a new Drum Skin that comes with the game. Like previous games, who feature virtual avatars of musical artists, Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, and the band No Doubt are presented in the game.
Band Hero received mixed reviews from journalists. Some considered the game to be an appropriately flavored version of Guitar Hero 5 for the "Top 40" pop rock hits, while others felt the game was strictly aimed at teenagers or children. They also contested the cost of the full game, featuring only 65 songs compared with 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5, and considered if the content would have been better in downloadable form. A day after the game's release, the band No Doubt sued Activision, citing similar misuse of their avatars to the Kurt Cobain avatar in Guitar Hero 5.
Gameplay
Main version
The game is functionally similar to the features of Guitar Hero 5, including bands composed of any combination of four instruments, drop-in/drop-out play, in-song menus to change difficulty and instrument, and additional multiplayer modes compared to Guitar Hero 5's "Rockfest". Band Hero also retains the Band Moment and the Band Revival feature from Guitar Hero 5. The PlayStation 2 version retains the same game engine from Guitar Hero: World Tour, which features the same HUD style as Guitar Hero: Metallica. Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, and the band No Doubt are playable avatars in the game. Artists performed motion capture for their in-game avatars.Band Hero also introduced an updated revision of the drum kit that shipped with Guitar Hero World Tour. Many changes were made to address weight and size concerns that made assembly difficult, and the stand's crossbar was moved to the bottom to improve leg room and allow the bass pedal to be supported by it. The cymbals were changed to a circular shape from the previous triangular design, and the sensitivity of the drums themselves were adjusted. An in-game sensitivity adjustment feature is also supported. In the United States, the new controller was, for a limited time, exclusive to the game and instrument bundles of Band Hero on Wii. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the controller were released at a later date; Band Hero bundles for these platforms in the U.S. included the World Tour drum controller.
DS version
Band Hero for the Nintendo DS features the ability to play the same instruments as the console-based versions. Though the game is compatible with the DS, DS Lite, DSi, and 3DS, only players on the DS Lite will receive the "full band" experience due to the nature of the hardware extensions for the unit.Guitar and bass parts are played with the same "Guitar Grip" previously created for the Guitar Hero: On Tour series, though this unit will not work on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS due to lack of a GBA slot. The gameplay for guitar and bass is considered to be the fourth iteration of the Guitar Hero On Tour design by developers Vicarious Visions, and have further improvements to meet with different strumming styles.
A new "drum skin" that fits over the bottom half of the DS unit provides four "pads" for drumming that map to the unit's directional pad and face buttons; this design was selected over use of the touch screen due to the inability of the touch screen to recognize near-simultaneous taps, a factor that would have interfered with the drumming experience. The drum skin is limited to the Nintendo DS Lite due to the skin's form factor. The decision to design towards the DS Lite rather than the newer DSi was due to the much larger volume of DS Lite units that had been sold relative to the DSi.
The DS microphone is used for vocal parts. The DS has 30 of the songs from console versions. The game also supports up to four player multiplayer in a similar manner as Guitar Hero 5 using the DS's local wireless connections, allowing any combination of instruments.
Development
A television advertisement, featuring Taylor Swift, Pete Wentz, Travis Barker, and Rivers Cuomo, was created for the game by director Brett Ratner in the same manner as previous ads for other recent Guitar Hero games, initially paying tribute to the scene in Risky Business with Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to the song "Old Time Rock and Roll". Though it appears as if all four performed together, Wentz stated that Swift performed her parts separately using a green screen to impose her into the footage of the other musicians.A three-song demo was made available on Xbox Live on October 15, 2009, and included "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven, "Picture to Burn" by Taylor Swift and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. The demo was solely the Party Mode, with the three songs playable in random order.
Soundtrack
Console soundtrack
Band Hero for consoles features 65 songs from "mainstream acts". The game also allowed Guitar Hero World Tour’s downloadable content to be used within Band Hero, as well as Guitar Hero 5. In addition, some on-disc songs from Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Smash Hits were importable into Band Hero, with music licensing limiting those that can be transferred, prior to the 2014 shutdown of DLC and exports. Furthermore, 69 of the 85 on-disc songs from Guitar Hero 5 can be imported into Band Hero; similarly, 61 of the 65 songs from Band Hero can be exported for use in Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. All DLC works with Band Hero, along with all earlier on-disc songs marked as exportable, unlike Lego Rock Band which only allows DLC and exports marked as "family friendly".| Year | Song Title | Artist | Venue | Genre | Order | Exportable |
| 2005 | "A Million Ways" | OK Go | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Pop Rock | 4 | |
| 1970 | "ABC" | The Jackson 5 | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | R & B | 14 | |
| 1971 | "American Pie" | Don McLean | 11. Hyperspace | Classic Rock | 65 | |
| 1996 | "Angels of the Silences" | Counting Crows | 07. Everpop Awards | Pop Rock | 43 | |
| 2009 | "Back Again" | Parachute | 09. Paris | Pop Rock | 58 | |
| 1981 | "Bad Reputation" | Joan Jett | 03. Club La Noza | Rock | 21 | |
| 2004 | "Beautiful Soul" | Jesse McCartney | 07. Everpop Awards | Pop | 44 | |
| 2007 | "Believe" | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | Rock | 9 | ||
| 1990 | "Black Cat" | Janet Jackson | 05. Harajuku | Rock | 34 | |
| 2005 | "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" | KT Tunstall | 09. Paris | Rock | 56 | |
| 2003 | "Bring Me to Life" | Evanescence | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Industrial | 5 | |
| 2005 | "Dirty Little Secret" | 03. Club La Noza | Pop Punk | 15 | ||
| 1982 | "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" | Culture Club | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | New Wave | 2 | |
| 1995 | "Don't Speak" | No Doubt | 07. Everpop Awards | Pop Rock | 47 | |
| 1988 | "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" | Poison | 05. Harajuku | Rock | 29 | |
| 2008 | "Fascination" | Alphabeat | 07. Everpop Awards | Pop | 45 | |
| 2008 | "Gasoline" | 10. Amp Orbiter | Rock | 61 | ||
| 2003 | "Hands Down" | Dashboard Confessional | 08. Red River Canyon | Pop Rock | 50 | |
| 2007 | "Hang Me Up to Dry" | Cold War Kids | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Modern Rock | 1 | |
| 1967 | "Happy Together" | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Rock | 3 | ||
| 1969 | "Honky Tonk Women" | 04. Summer Park Festival | Southern Rock | 27 | ||
| 1968 | "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" | Marvin Gaye | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | R & B | 13 | |
| 1979 | "I Want You to Want Me" | Cheap Trick | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Rock | 40 | |
| 1996 | "If You Could Only See" | Tonic | 03. Club La Noza | Pop Rock | 18 | |
| 1983 | "In a Big Country" | Big Country | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Rock | 38 | |
| 1995 | "Just a Girl" | No Doubt | 09. Paris | Pop Rock | 59 | |
| 2000 | "Kids" | Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue | 09. Paris | Dance | 57 | |
| 1974 | "Kung Fu Fighting" | Carl Douglas | 08. Red River Canyon | Disco | 51 | |
| 2008 | "L.E.S. Artistes" | Santigold | 03. Club La Noza | Pop Rock | 16 | |
| 1983 | "Let's Dance" | David Bowie | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Pop Rock | 6 | |
| 2009 | "Lifeline" | Papa Roach | 09. Paris | Pop Rock | 60 | |
| 2007 | "Like Whoa" | Aly & AJ | 08. Red River Canyon | Pop | 52 | |
| 2006 | "Lips of an Angel" | Hinder | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | Pop Rock | 10 | |
| 1983 | "Love Is a Battlefield" | Pat Benatar | 05. Harajuku | Pop | 31 | |
| 2008 | "Love Story" | Taylor Swift | 04. Summer Park Festival | Pop | 26 | |
| 1983 | "Mr. Roboto" | Styx | 04. Summer Park Festival | Prog Rock | 28 | |
| 2006 | "Naïve" | 10. Amp Orbiter | Pop Rock | 62 | ||
| 2003 | "Ocean Avenue" | Yellowcard | 05. Harajuku | Pop Punk | 30 | |
| 1964 | "Oh, Pretty Woman" | Roy Orbison | 01. Mall Of Fame Tour | Rock | 7 | |
| 1981 | "Our Lips Are Sealed" | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | Pop | 12 | ||
| 2007 | "Paralyzer" | Finger Eleven | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Hard Rock | 39 | |
| 2006 | "Picture to Burn" | Taylor Swift | 08. Red River Canyon | Country | 53 | |
| 2007 | "Pictures of You" | 04. Summer Park Festival | Pop Rock | 23 | ||
| 2006 | "Put Your Records On" | Corinne Bailey Rae | 05. Harajuku | R & B | 32 | |
| 1982 | "Rio" | Duran Duran | 08. Red River Canyon | Pop Rock | 55 | |
| 2002 | "Rock Star" | N.E.R.D. | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | Hip Hop | 11 | |
| 1995 | "Santa Monica" | Everclear | 03. Club La Noza | Pop Rock | 19 | |
| 2004 | "She Will Be Loved" | Maroon 5 | 05. Harajuku | Pop Rock | 33 | |
| 2003 | "So Yesterday" | Hilary Duff | 02. Smoke & Water Festival | Pop | 8 | |
| 1999 | "Steal My Kisses" | Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals | 04. Summer Park Festival | Alternative | 25 | |
| 2005 | "Sugar, We're Goin Down" | Fall Out Boy | 05. Harajuku | Pop Punk | 35 | |
| 1999 | "Take a Picture" | Filter | 07. Everpop Awards | Rock | 46 | |
| 2008 | "Take Back the City" | Snow Patrol | 04. Summer Park Festival | Rock | 24 | |
| 2006 | "Take What You Take" | Lily Allen | 03. Club La Noza | Pop Rock | 20 | |
| 2006 | "The Adventure" | Angels & Airwaves | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Rock | 42 | |
| 1997 | "The Impression That I Get" | 10. Amp Orbiter | Ska Punk | 64 | ||
| 2001 | "Turn Off the Light" | Nelly Furtado | 07. Everpop Awards | Pop | 48 | |
| 1985 | "Walking on Sunshine" | Katrina and the Waves | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Pop Rock | 41 | |
| 1996 | "Wannabe" | Spice Girls | 03. Club La Noza | Pop | 17 | |
| 2008 | "Warwick Avenue" | Duffy | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Pop | 37 | |
| 2002 | "When I'm Gone" | 3 Doors Down | 06. La Luz De Madrid | Rock | 36 | |
| 1980 | "Whip It" | Devo | 04. Summer Park Festival | New Wave | 22 | |
| 1978 | "" | Village People | 07. Everpop Awards | Disco | 49 | |
| 2008 | "You Belong with Me" | Taylor Swift | 08. Red River Canyon | Country | 54 | |
| 2004 | "You Had Me" | Joss Stone | 10. Amp Orbiter | Funk | 63 |