Guitar Hero (electronic game)

Guitar Hero is a 2005 video game that popularized the rhythm game genre and spawned an entire series of games simulating the experience of playing rock instruments. Developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Guitar Hero required the use of a specialized controller that mimicked a real electric guitar and featured an array of buttons used to “play” the faux instrument.

Guitar Hero was enormously popular upon release, selling more than 25 million units and generating more than $2 billion in sales. The game’s success led not only to an array of sequel and spinoff titles, but also to a surge of interest in the rhythm game genre. This genre inspired the creation of many similar games, most notably the rival Rock Band franchise. Later incarnations of Guitar Hero also broadened the gameplay experience to include additional hardware such as drums, microphones, and other musical equipment. Although the rhythm game genre’s popularity eventually diminished, Guitar Hero remains one of the most memorable and influential video games of its time.

Background

The widespread popularity of Guitar Hero was due largely to its unusual style of gameplay and the unique challenge it created for players. Unlike most video games, Guitar Hero did not make use of traditional handheld controllers. Instead, the game incorporated a special electric guitar-shaped controller that could be manipulated in a manner similar to a real guitar. The Guitar Hero controller had five buttons on the guitar’s neck, with each button placed at each of the first five frets. Buttons were also specifically color-coded to correspond with on-screen prompts during gameplay. Since there were no strings, players strummed by flicking a plastic flipper found on the body of the guitar. The guitar also featured a whammy bar that could be used to alter the pitch of sustained notes.

During gameplay, a scrolling fret board with colored notes appeared on screen. The color of each note corresponded to one of the colored buttons on the guitar controller. As each note reached the bottom of the scrolling fret board, the player had to “play” it on the guitar by strumming on the flipper and pressing the corresponding fret button. Depending on the song being played, this might require playing multiple notes at once or quickly playing a series of different notes. Extended notes, which were indicated on the screen by a long line trailing behind the note, required the player to hold the specified fret button for a longer period of time. In addition, special star-shaped notes allowed the player to fill up his or her star-power meter when played correctly. Once the star-power meter was at least halfway full, the player could activate star power by simply tilting the guitar upwards. Doing so doubled the game’s scoring multiplier. Missing notes drained the star meter and could eventually end the game.

Guitar Hero featured two distinct play modes: career mode and free-play. In career mode, the player essentially worked his or her way up from the bottom to become a bona fide rock star. Playing in career mode was often particularly beneficial for beginners because it allowed the player to easily transition through each of the game’s five difficulty settings. In free-play mode, players could simply play the tracks of their choice at will.

Overview

The history of Guitar Hero actually predates the game itself. In fact, the basic concept of Guitar Hero was inspired by Guitar Freaks, a 1998 Japanese arcade game that utilized a guitar-shaped controller and featured essentially the same method of gameplay. The unique experience of playing Guitar Freaks eventually led software developers to take an interest in creating a home console version of the game. At the helm of this ambitious project were the game development company Harmonix Music Systems and the publisher RedOctane. Their efforts ultimately resulted in the release of Guitar Hero in 2005.

Thanks to its unique gameplay and guitar-shaped controller, Guitar Hero was an immediate hit. Sales of the game topped $1 billion within a week of its release. In addition to its gameplay, part of Guitar Hero’s success was also attributable to its impressive track listing. The game featured a total of forty-seven playable songs, including thirty main tracks that were cover versions of popular rock songs like Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” and Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out.” The remaining tracks were original master recordings from selected indie bands.

The runaway success of the original Guitar Hero quickly spawned an entire franchise of sequels and spinoffs. The first of these was 2006’s Guitar Hero 2. Featuring improved graphics and packaged with two new guitar controllers, Guitar Hero 2 was just as popular as its predecessor and quickly became the year’s bestselling game. Guitar Hero 2 also featured a whole new set list that included covers of classic tracks like Gun N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” as well as several master tracks by the original artists. The following year saw the release of Guitar Hero: Encore: Rock the 80s, an expansion of Guitar Hero 2 that specifically featured 80s-themed tracks like “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls.

The next major release in the Guitar Hero series was 2007’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. In addition to further improved graphics and gameplay, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock came with another new controller designed to look like a black Gibson Les Paul guitar. The game’s soundtrack included such popular hits as The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black,” Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” and Heart’s “Barracuda.”

Perhaps the most significant advance in the history of the Guitar Hero series came with the release of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008. In addition to featuring expanded gameplay and yet another new guitar controller, Guitar Hero World Tour also introduced drum and microphone controllers to allow players to simulate the entire rock n’ roll experience. This move was made to counter the rival Rock Band franchise, which had already introduced such extra peripherals by that time. The game’s soundtrack featured such songs as Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn,” and the Allman Brothers Band’s “Ramblin’ Man.”

Additional titles in the main Guitar Hero series included Guitar Hero 5 (2009), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (2010), and Guitar Hero Live (2015). Other titles included band-centric entries such as Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008), additional expansion games such as Band Hero (2009), portable games like Guitar Hero: On Tour (2008), an arcade game called Guitar Hero Arcade (2009), and a turntable-based spinoff series known as DJ Hero.

Bibliography

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