Family Fun Night

For my birthday, I begged my husband to buy me Guitar Hero 2. I'd played the first version at my brother's house and knew he was buying me a PS2 for my birthday. For those who may be scoffing, I'm a thirty-something woman with a thirteen-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter. This game has provided us with a game that appeals equally to all of us. Guitar Hero 2 is not just for the younger crowd.

Guitar Hero 2 has become a game that we will launch into a few nights a week after homework has been done and dishes have been washed. The game itself is pretty simple. You have a guitar shaped control with a row of five colorful buttons--Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange-- on the neck and then a strumming bar on the main portion of the guitar.

Watching the screen, you pay attention to the color or colors that need to be strummed. As those colors reach the correct area, you hold down the correct colors and strum. When done correctly, the crowd cheers and your points rise. If you mess up the timing, prepare to be booed and you get to hear an annoying "dink" sound signifying that you've blown that note.

The song list is decent and covers a lot of songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and present day. As you advance, new songs are unlocked. The full song list is:

Shout At The Devil - Motley Crue
Mother - Danzig
Surrender - Cheap Trick
Woman - Wolf Mother
Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You - Spinal Tap

Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
Strutter - Kiss
You Really Got Me - Van Halen's version
Message In A Bottle - Police
Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters
Them Bones - Alice In Chains
Search & Destroy - Iggy Pop
Tattooed Love Boys - Pretenders
War Pigs - Black Sabbath

Cherry Pie - Warrant
Who Was In My Room Last Night? Butthole Surfers
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones
Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses

Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine
John The Fisherman - Primus
Freya - The Sword
Bad Reputation - Thin Lizzy
Last Child - Aerosmith

Crazy On You - Heart
Trippin' On A Hole In This Paper Heart - Stone Temple Pilots
Rock This Town - Stray Cats
Jessica - Allman Brothers
Stop - Jane's Addiction

Madhouse - Anthrax
Carry Me Home - The Living End
Laid To Rest - Lamb of God
Psychobilly Freakout - The Reverend Horton Heat
YYZ - Rush

Beast & The Harlot - Avenged Sevenfold
Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
Misirlou - Dick Dale
Mangar 18 - Megadeth
Free Bird - Lynryd Skynyrd

There are a bunch of additional songs done by local bands who competed to be included on this game. The songs range in speed and tone, so expect to have hours of play time.

I certainly find that the songs I know best are the easiest to play. Psychobilly Freakout gets me every time, yet I had no problem beating Free Bird the first time out--though my hand did get tired!

My son, meanwhile, has beaten the game on Medium and Hard and is now working through expert while I'm still stuck on medium. This fascinates me as I can type 80 words a minute, but can't wrap my brain around a green - blue combo for the life of me. The more I lose, the more determined I am to defeat the game.

Anyone walking into our house is certain to get a chuckle out of my husband and I jamming together on a video game with the kids cheering us on. Turns Friday Game Night into a whole new ballgame! Toss out the board games and pick up a copy of Guitar Hero 2 soon!