Everyone's a Star With Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero II is the perfect PlayStation 2 game for a young teenager or preteen or, lets face it, fantasizing grownup, interested in making music, learning a little about playing a guitar and above all, wanting to "play" to an audience which cheers or boos, depending on how the user performs.

Guitar Hero II is a deliciously fun sequel to the first game, increasing the playlist from 30 to 55 and, best of all, adding multiplayer roles for rhythm, bass and lead guitarist , allowing for jam sessions. Like the original Guitar Hero, the songlist includes classic, alternative, and modern rock numbers, plus some hair metal and heavy metal numbers.

Like the engaging Dance, Dance Revolution games, players are able to perform with the interactive game running on the PlayStation box.
Guitar strokes are shown on the TV screen in varying colors. Users play a controller designed as a guitar, following the color-coded notes and riffs. Wrong notes or bad play are met with a loud "boing" sound that lets users know they've messed up. Both male and female guitarists can be seen performing in the background of the game.

Players can advance to higher levels of songs by doing well.

Note that this controller won't actually teach you how to play--the notes aren't in the right place on the controller. When we bought this game, some counter workers at the local Sam Ash store warned us that, if we wanted to learn guitar (we don't) this wouldn't be the way. It's just fun and to a certain extent, educational.

This game, while a lot of fun, is hard work, make no mistake. "Jessica" is tough and the players in our house flunk out about two-thirds of the way through.

What we've noticed about the game is that it has heightened our awareness of the more complex guitar strokes needed. We're not just listening to the lead singer of a song anymore but instead, listening for guitar rhythms.

If the game becomes too difficult, you can try a practice mode, which takes the song into a slower and slower mode, allowing the player to learn the song.

There are four levels, with the expert level being beyond the reach of beginners.

Song List: Kiss --Strutter
Nirvana --Heart-Shaped Box
Police --Message in a Bottle
Van Halen --You Really Got Me
Kansas --Carry on Wayward Son
Foo Fighters --Monkey Wrench
Alice in Chains --Them Bones
Iggy Pop and the Stooges --Search and Destroy
Pretenders --Tattooed Love Boys
Black Sabbath --War Pigs
Warrant --Cherry Pie
Butthole Surfers --Who Was in My Room Last Night?
Mathew Sweet --Girlfriend
Rolling Stones --Can't You Hear Me Knockin'
Guns N' Roses --Sweet Child O' Mine
Aerosmith --Last Child
Heart --Crazy on You
Stone Temple Pilots --Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Stray Cats --Rock This Town
Rage Against the Machine --Killing in the Name
Primus --John the Fisherman
Sword --Freya
Thin Lizzy --Bad Reputation
Allman Brothers --Jessica
Jane's Addiction --Stop
Anthrax --Madhouse
Living End --Carry Me Home
Lamb of God --Laid to Rest
Reverend Horton Heat --Psychobilly Freakout
Rush --YYZ
Avenged Sevenfold --Beast and the Harlot
Suicidal Tendencies --Institutionalized
Dick Dale --Misirlou
Megadeth --Hangar 18
Lynyrd Skynyrd --Free Bird

We bought the game and controller for $60; the game itself is selling for about $48 online.