Band Hero is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second spin-off of the Guitar Hero series, following DJ Hero (2009). The game was released on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles. The game is structurally similar to Guitar Hero 5 (2009), and supports full band play (lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals) including the drop-in/drop-out and in-song instrument and difficulty change menus, and additional multiplayer modes as Guitar Hero 5. The console versions use instrument-shaped game controllers, while the DS version uses either the "Guitar Grip" introduced with the Guitar Hero: On Tour series or a new Drum Skin that comes with the game. Like previous games, who feature virtual avatars of musical artists, Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, and the band No Doubt are presented in the game.
Band Hero received mixed reviews from journalists. Some considered the game to be an appropriately flavored version of Guitar Hero 5 for the "Top 40" pop rock hits, while others felt the game was strictly aimed at teenagers or children. They also contested the cost of the full game, featuring only 65 songs compared with 85 songs in Guitar Hero 5, and considered if the content would have been better in downloadable form. A day after the game's release, the band No Doubt sued Activision, citing similar misuse of their avatars to the Kurt Cobain avatar in Guitar Hero 5.
Gameplay
Main version
The game is functionally similar to the features of Guitar Hero 5, including bands composed of any combination of four instruments, drop-in/drop-out play, in-song menus to change difficulty and instrument, and additional multiplayer modes compared to Guitar Hero 5'''s "Rockfest". Band Hero also retains the Band Moment and the Band Revival feature from Guitar Hero 5. The PlayStation 2 version retains the same game engine from Guitar Hero: World Tour, which features the same HUD style as Guitar Hero: Metallica. Taylor Swift, Adam Levine (of Maroon 5), and the band No Doubt are playable avatars in the game. Artists performed motion capture for their in-game avatars.Band Hero also introduced an updated revision of the drum kit that shipped with Guitar Hero World Tour. Many changes were made to address weight and size concerns that made assembly difficult, and the stand's crossbar was moved to the bottom to improve leg room and allow the bass pedal to be supported by it. The cymbals were changed to a circular shape from the previous triangular design, and the sensitivity of the drums themselves were adjusted. An in-game sensitivity adjustment feature is also supported. In the United States, the new controller was, for a limited time, exclusive to the game and instrument bundles of Band Hero on Wii. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the controller were released at a later date; Band Hero bundles for these platforms in the U.S. included the World Tour drum controller.
DS versionBand Hero for the Nintendo DS features the ability to play the same instruments as the console-based versions. Though the game is compatible with the DS, DS Lite, DSi (vocals only), and 3DS (vocals only), only players on the DS Lite will receive the "full band" experience due to the nature of the hardware extensions for the unit.
Guitar and bass parts are played with the same "Guitar Grip" previously created for the Guitar Hero: On Tour series, though this unit will not work on the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS due to lack of a GBA slot. The gameplay for guitar and bass is considered to be the fourth iteration of the Guitar Hero On Tour design by developers Vicarious Visions, and have further improvements to meet with different strumming styles.
A new "drum skin" that fits over the bottom half of the DS unit provides four "pads" for drumming that map to the unit's directional pad and face buttons; this design was selected over use of the touch screen due to the inability of the touch screen to recognize near-simultaneous taps, a factor that would have interfered with the drumming experience. The drum skin is limited to the Nintendo DS Lite due to the skin's form factor. The decision to design towards the DS Lite rather than the newer DSi was due to the much larger volume of DS Lite units that had been sold relative to the DSi.
The DS microphone is used for vocal parts. The DS has 30 of the songs from console versions. The game also supports up to four player multiplayer in a similar manner as Guitar Hero 5 using the DS's local wireless connections, allowing any combination of instruments.
Development A television advertisement, featuring Taylor Swift, Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Travis Barker (Blink-182), and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), was created for the game by director Brett Ratner in the same manner as previous ads for other recent Guitar Hero games, initially paying tribute to the scene in Risky Business with Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear to the song "Old Time Rock and Roll". Though it appears as if all four performed together, Wentz stated that Swift performed her parts separately using a green screen to impose her into the footage of the other musicians.
A three-song demo was made available on Xbox Live on October 15, 2009, and included "Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven, "Picture to Burn" by Taylor Swift and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. The demo was solely the Party Mode, with the three songs playable in random order.
Soundtrack
Console soundtrackBand Hero for consoles features 65 songs from "mainstream acts". The game also allowed Guitar Hero World Tour’s downloadable content to be used within Band Hero, as well as Guitar Hero 5. In addition, some on-disc songs from Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero Smash Hits were importable into Band Hero, with music licensing limiting those that can be transferred, prior to the 2014 shutdown of DLC and exports. Furthermore, 69 of the 85 on-disc songs from Guitar Hero 5 can be imported into Band Hero; similarly, 61 of the 65 songs from Band Hero can be exported for use in Guitar Hero 5 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. All DLC works with Band Hero, along with all earlier on-disc songs marked as exportable, unlike Lego Rock Band which only allows DLC and exports marked as "family friendly".
Year Song Title Artist Venue Genre Order Exportable 2005 "A Million Ways" OK Go 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Pop Rock 4 1970 "ABC" Jackson 5The Jackson 5 02. Smoke & Water Festival R & B 14 1971 "American Pie" Don McLean 11. Hyperspace Classic Rock 65 1996 "Angels of the Silences" Counting Crows 07. Everpop Awards Pop Rock 43 2009 "Back Again" Parachute 09. Paris Pop Rock 58 1981 "Bad Reputation" Joan Jett 03. Club La Noza Rock 21 2004 "Beautiful Soul" Jesse McCartney 07. Everpop Awards Pop 44 2007 "Believe" 02. Smoke & Water Festival Rock 9 1990 "Black Cat" Janet Jackson 05. Harajuku Rock 34 2005 "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" KT Tunstall 09. Paris Rock 56 2003 "Bring Me to Life" Evanescence 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Industrial 5 2005 "Dirty Little Secret" 03. Club La Noza Pop Punk 15 1982 "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" Culture Club 01. Mall Of Fame Tour New Wave 2 1995 "Don't Speak" No Doubt 07. Everpop Awards Pop Rock 47 1988 "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" Poison 05. Harajuku Rock 29 2008 "Fascination" Alphabeat 07. Everpop Awards Pop 45 2008 "Gasoline" 10. Amp Orbiter Rock 61 2003 "Hands Down" Dashboard Confessional 08. Red River Canyon Pop Rock 50 2007 "Hang Me Up to Dry" Cold War Kids 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Modern Rock 1 1967 "Happy Together" 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Rock 3 1969 "Honky Tonk Women" 04. Summer Park Festival Southern Rock 27 1968 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Marvin Gaye 02. Smoke & Water Festival R & B 13 1979 "I Want You to Want Me" (Live) Cheap Trick 06. La Luz De Madrid Rock 40 1996 "If You Could Only See" Tonic 03. Club La Noza Pop Rock 18 1983 "In a Big Country" Big Country 06. La Luz De Madrid Rock 38 1995 "Just a Girl" No Doubt 09. Paris Pop Rock 59 2000 "Kids" Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue 09. Paris Dance 57 1974 "Kung Fu Fighting" Carl Douglas 08. Red River Canyon Disco 51 2008 "L.E.S. Artistes" Santigold 03. Club La Noza Pop Rock 16 1983 "Let's Dance" David Bowie 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Pop Rock 6 2009 "Lifeline" Papa Roach 09. Paris Pop Rock 60 2007 "Like Whoa" Aly & AJ 08. Red River Canyon Pop 52 2006 "Lips of an Angel" Hinder 02. Smoke & Water Festival Pop Rock 10 1983 "Love Is a Battlefield" Pat Benatar 05. Harajuku Pop 31 2008 "Love Story" (Pop Mix) Taylor Swift 04. Summer Park Festival Pop 26 1983 "Mr. Roboto" Styx 04. Summer Park Festival Prog Rock 28 2006 "Naïve" 10. Amp Orbiter Pop Rock 62 2003 "Ocean Avenue" Yellowcard 05. Harajuku Pop Punk 30 1964 "Oh, Pretty Woman" Roy Orbison 01. Mall Of Fame Tour Rock 7 1981 "Our Lips Are Sealed" 02. Smoke & Water Festival Pop 12 2007 "Paralyzer" Finger Eleven 06. La Luz De Madrid Hard Rock 39 2006 "Picture to Burn" Taylor Swift 08. Red River Canyon Country 53 2007 "Pictures of You" 04. Summer Park Festival Pop Rock 23 2006 "Put Your Records On" Corinne Bailey Rae 05. Harajuku R & B 32 1982 "Rio" Duran Duran 08. Red River Canyon Pop Rock 55 2002 "Rock Star" N.E.R.D. 02. Smoke & Water Festival Hip Hop 11 1995 "Santa Monica" Everclear 03. Club La Noza Pop Rock 19 2004 "She Will Be Loved" Maroon 5 05. Harajuku Pop Rock 33 2003 "So Yesterday" Hilary Duff 02. Smoke & Water Festival Pop 8 1999 "Steal My Kisses" Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals 04. Summer Park Festival Alternative 25 2005 "Sugar, We're Goin Down" Fall Out Boy 05. Harajuku Pop Punk 35 1999 "Take a Picture" Filter 07. Everpop Awards Rock 46 2008 "Take Back the City" Snow Patrol 04. Summer Park Festival Rock 24 2006 "Take What You Take" Lily Allen 03. Club La Noza Pop Rock 20 2006 "The Adventure" Angels & Airwaves 06. La Luz De Madrid Rock 42 1997 "The Impression That I Get" 10. Amp Orbiter Ska Punk 64 2001 "Turn Off the Light" Nelly Furtado 07. Everpop Awards Pop 48 1985 "Walking on Sunshine" Katrina and the Waves 06. La Luz De Madrid Pop Rock 41 1996 "Wannabe" Spice Girls 03. Club La Noza Pop 17 2008 "Warwick Avenue" Duffy 06. La Luz De Madrid Pop 37 2002 "When I'm Gone" 3 Doors Down 06. La Luz De Madrid Rock 36 1980 "Whip It" Devo 04. Summer Park Festival New Wave 22 1978 "" Village People 07. Everpop Awards Disco 49 2008 "You Belong with Me" Taylor Swift 08. Red River Canyon Country 54 2004 "You Had Me" Joss Stone 10. Amp Orbiter Funk 63
Nintendo DS soundtrack The Nintendo DS version of Band Hero features thirty songs (per regional version from a forty-five song combined setlist) of the same genre as the console-based soundtrack. Although they feature some of the same artists from the console version, the tracks themselves are mainly different, with a limited overlap of three songs being part of the main setlists of both versions, seven available as downloadable content, and six exportable from their use in prior console games.