The last game in the Guitar Hero series to be developed by Harmonix before they move onto the frankly better-looking Rock Band game, Rocks the 80s is more of an expansion than a fully fleshed-out game. Which is a bit of a pity, to say the least. When we heard that this was going to be Harmonix's last GH game, I think we all expected the company (or at least the Guitar Hero name) to go out with a bit more of a bang. But instead, it almost feels like most of the staff had already moved onto developing Rock Band, and had left perhaps five of their members behind in the cob-webbed offices to work on this game. It's still a good game, but being spoiled brats that we are, we expected a lot more from Harmonix.

I said "encore", not "the same thing you just played!"

   When you pick up GH80s, you'll notice straight away that the opening movie is exactly the same as in GH2, only the characters are in different colored clothes and the music is different. But hey, it's only the opening. As long as it is appropriately 80s themed it should be okay, you might think. And sure enough, get past the opening movie and you'll see a brand new screen for the game. Great. Only go past that screen and into the game proper, and you'll find that they've kept the same loading screens, scribbles and menus from GH2. Even I could have put in a scribble of, say, some guy with 80s clothing on the set list, and at least it would look different.

   All the venues are the same ones that were in GH2 as well, but at least they're decorated a bit differently. The characters in the game are also now 80s themed, which is cool, only for some strange reason you only have a choice of 6 characters, which is a lot less than in GH2. Huh? Are we to assume those other guys weren't yet born 20 years ago? Or did somebody get eaten on that trip back in the time machine? But one of the biggest things that annoyed me about this game is how Harmonix even kept the very same winnable guitars as GH2. So if you complete the game on Hard or Expert, which is no small task, you can look forward to...yes! the same exact guitar you've already earned in GH2! How long would it have taken to design a new guitar? Ten minutes, 1 diet coke, and a couple of cheeseburgers? Pathetic.

Don't expect extra star power in this game just because you have super long hair.

Fun fact: some people think "I'm Turning Japanese" is actually about masturbation. I don't see it, myself.

   Compared to GH and GH2, the songs are a lot easier in this game, so if you have any previous guitar hero-ing experience then only the last few songs in the final tier should present a challenge, even on Expert difficulty. Case in point, I was able to get around 98% of the notes and 5-star all of the earlier songs on Expert on my first try. One shouldn't be able to get those kinds of scores on the first try of a song on the highest difficulty level, not in a proper game, by any measure.

   On the other hand, I had some issues of the opposite nature with the final song in the game, "Play with me" by Extreme. Never heard of it? Neither had I. It's a pretty nifty song though, and I would like it a lot more if I able to beat it on Expert. As someone who has been able to beat every song on Expert in GH2 in Career Mode (screw you, Jordan!), and judging by how easy the game was up to this point, I had assumed I would be able to beat the last song on Expert mode as well. But no. I couldn't. The song is actually not that difficult at the start, but then it's as if Harmonix has decided to take their final revenge and a ridiculous number of notes comes flying in your face. It would be fine if they had at least given you some sort of break in between the parts where you have to strum like a madman, but they don't. It's like "Jordan" in GH2: there comes a point where a song ceases to be challenging and then just gets ridiculous to the point where you can't have fun playing it. But I'm not bitter. Not one bit. I bought that sawed off shotgun just for its aesthetic value.

Back to the basics

   Before I irrevocably ruin your impression of the game, I need to stress that GH:80s is actually still pretty fun for what it is: an expansion for GH2, which, let's remember, is still arguably one of the greatest and most innovating pieces of video gaming in our time. Song-wise, "I wanna rock", "Round and Round", "Electric Eye" and "Lonely is the Night" are examples of why you'll want this game if you can overlook its flaws. My favorite song, oddly enough, turned out to be "Ballroom Blitz", a song with corny lyrics, but which was nevertheless fun to play.

   All in all, GH80s is probably worth picking up (at a reduced price, if you can find it) for die-hard fans of Guitar Hero; just don't go into it expecting too much and you should have a great time. And if you prefer to wait and get a little more value for your money, GH3 is just around the corner.

       ... Travis Whipps