Band Hero is the newest release in Red Octane’s Guitar Hero franchise, making it the sixth version of Guitar Hero available, not including the specialized Aerosmith and Metallica packs.

Band Hero has targeted a much larger and less specific audience and thus launched with a massive track list made entirely of pop music on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. This set has included some of the old greats, like the Jackson 5, as well as some of the hottest acts of this generation, like Taylor Swift. As with the guitar hero, the band hero allows the player to play single player or full band mode using any of the possible instruments. However, a new feature that was introduced with Guitar Hero 5 was the ability to play with a full band but allow the whole band to play the same instrument, such as the guitar. This feature has managed to get rid of those old GH3 arguments about who wants to play lead guitar.

The game has many new features such as a party mode drop; this is where the game loads the initial main menu and any number of players can drop in and out. This mode is great if you’re with friends, as it randomly selects the songs it plays and doesn’t stop unless a specific menu option is chosen.

The tracklist itself consists of a number of well-known songs from the last 2 decades, offering tracks from ‘Kung Foo Fighting’ to ‘Marvin Gaye’ and songs like ‘Papa Roach’, this game really packs a wide variety of pop. music unlike the rock/metal roots of the Guitar Hero franchise. The gameplay is very similar among the other Hero games. This game is very enjoyable and with a much larger song list, it really appeals to all markets. I would recommend this to any fan of the franchise, as well as anyone on the fence about music simulation games.

With no major differences between the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii versions of Band Hero, it’s an open tier for console buyers. The Band Hero Super Pack contains everything you’ll need; game and hardware.