~~ BECOME BON JOVI THROUGH THE ROCK BAND BUNDLE FOR XBOX 360 ~~

I wanna rock-n-roll all night, and SLEEP all day!!!

I think every child/teenager has had that dream of being a rock star, and would grab a microphone and air guitar and jam together whenever a great new record, tape or cd would come out. Our kids now have toys like iSing and ROCK BAND to morph into Axl Rose! We first saw this when it premiered earlier in the year, when it was on display at Walmart. My son always plays with the video game systems, even though he has most of them at home, because they always have the latest games. He took to Rock Band faster than he took to Guitar Hero III, and with good reason! The bundle not only has the trusty Fender Stratocaster guitar to jam on (and convert to bass) but also a microphone for lead singer, and a slim, portable drumset. This came in a bundle, which means the game and the equipment. They sell everything seperately as well, or if you need to replace one. They also have this for the Playstation 3, but they have been sold out for awhile, so we got one for the Xbox 360. It has a USB hub that you hook everything up to, or whatever you choose to use. My husband hooked this up for my son, and there were no complaints, and for my husband, that is good!

My son has always been into hard rock/metal, and has his own electric guitar. But this is awesome because it is not just the guitar, but all of the other instruments as well. He can play with his friends, and even hook up online, which we haven't allowed him to do yet (still looking into that, you never know who is out there!). He is a perfectionist, and expected to rock the house and not miss any notes the first time he played it, but it is forgiving in that the game is meant to be fun, and designed so that it is OK to start over!! My son loved when the "Crowd" cheered, and got upset when they booed. They cheer when you get the notes right, but the minute you miss a beat, it slows the rest of the band up, and you can get off tune, and off course, and the crowd BOOOOS!!! He normally sticks with the guitar, and lets others play bass or drums. He found the drums too hard to keep up with.

The premise is that like guitar hero that scrolls the notes along with the song for you to learn and keep up with, this has a 1 - 4 person player, with the choice of 1 or all instruments to rock the house. This is really an amazing alternative world for kids to give it their all. It is very challenging, and every kid (and adult) that has come into our home has been drawn to this! We have it set up in the media room, because frankly, I don't want it in my living room or den, and there isn't let over room in my son's room. The instruments are replicas, and aren't any larger than the average toy-size versions of such toys. You can switch the easy to hard modes of how you want to play. I would start with the easiest mode possible until you find your style.

There are many downloads that you can add to your Rock Band. You will never get bored or run out of songs and moves to conquer. You watch yourself as the band on the screen, and if you are singing, you get the words, guitar gets the notes, which are color coordinated for beginners who don't know how to tell the difference between cords. There are so many things to do you will never get bored, such as guitar solos, earning points that earn you "fame and fortune" on tour and many more.

There are different *modes* that you can go into to get the ball rolling for your band. The 'Tutorial Mode' will get you started, as you choose how you wanna rock! Are you a singer? Are you an Eddie Van Halen or an Alex Van Halen? The next mode is among the most important ~ the 'Practice mode' ~ before you hop up on stage as a rock monster, you are allowed to prep and get your tunes on. The 'Quickplay mode' is for freestyle and creative jamming sessions that you can incorporate with your fellow band members or to fly on the sly by yourself. The 'Solo Tour mode' ~ gives you a chance to let your wings take you where they may. After all, if John Lennon and Justin Timberlake can do it, so can you! And finally the Motley Crue mode of them all, the 'Band World Tour' mode that allows you to go from gig to gig, with volumes of fans reaching from a few to a few million depending on how good you all are! This is serious stuff!!!

Now, I will tell you what you have waited the whole review to hear. What songs are on this game?? Well, here are the beginning songs, all by the authentic artists,and there are more to come in the near future, per MTV games' promise:

* Metallica ~ Enter Sandman
* Bon Jovi ~ Wanted Dead or Alive
* Weezer ~ Say it ain't so
* David Bowie ~ Suffragette City
* Rush ~ Tom Sawyer
* Black Sabbath ~ Paranoid
* Foo Fighters ~ Learn To Fly
* The Who ~ Won't Get Fooled Again
* Nirvana ~ In Bloom

...and many more! My son plays and practices mostly with the Bon Jovi song, (Wanted Dead or Alive) from Young Guns, and I must say, and not just as his mom, he ROCKS!! I, however, play this 'just for fun' and try not to screw up anything he has going, LOL! I am better off being a stage mom or the pretend manager!! Overall, this is a blast and a half, and worth every penny! I can't wait until they have more songs to download for a richer experience. I have to say, I would love to see more Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Ratt, the classics!! Even more Ozzy, or more popular songs that put heavy metal on the music map! Fun for everyone!!