Despite being from Harmonix themselves, this first Rock Band installment can’t help but come off as a bit of a diet Guitar Hero. The whole thing feels incredibly low budget in a way that the same year’s Guitar Hero 3 just doesn’t, there’s a distinct lack of the crazy events that make GH careers so memorable, the solo tour mode is incredibly lame and underwhelming in comparison. Some of the hit detection feels pretty off too, and that’s not helped by the noticeably more low quality instruments.
Yet despite that, it’s so obvious that they were onto something special with this game. The Guitar Hero games at this point had dabbled in multiplayer, but Rock Band takes the full dive into making it a core part of the experience. Guitar was already pretty well established, nothing much to change there (though the solo markers are fun), and vocals were a decently obvious addition considering some of the semi-popular PS2 karaoke game.
Drums are the area where they really nailed it here… the intense focus on tight timing made drums a very natural addition to a rhythm game, and I think the translation to a plastic kit was handled pretty well. The sensitivity on the original kits isn’t where it should be to reliably pull off some of those fast sixteenth note run (Run to the Hills is far and away the most difficult song in the game bc of this), but calibration settings are strong enough to get reliably good timing the majority of the time.
The setlist overall is very solid, albeit with a few oddball picks, but it’s really lacking those standout challenging songs. Nothing here should give you too much trouble on any instrument, the guitar stuff feels especially tame given what GH3 asks of you at points. Although maybe that’s a blessing in disguise thanks to RB1’s noticeably strict hit engine.
It’s definitely easier going back to this than the original Guitar Hero despite the cheapness of it all, and shifting the focus to multiplayer was absolutely the right call… that’s where Rock Band shines most. Drums were a genius addition that expanded the longevity of the game so much, and utilizing multiple instruments to complete the sound of a song while synchronizing overdrive points is a multiplayer high that almost no other game can touch for me.
I still really enjoy playing the original Rock Band, although it is unfortunately a pretty tough recommendation at this point. The plastic instruments required to play this have gotten obnoxiously expensive, which has made the game pretty inaccessible. But more important than that… it’s hard to justify spending too much time on this one when its successors are much better in every way.
Yet despite that, it’s so obvious that they were onto something special with this game. The Guitar Hero games at this point had dabbled in multiplayer, but Rock Band takes the full dive into making it a core part of the experience. Guitar was already pretty well established, nothing much to change there (though the solo markers are fun), and vocals were a decently obvious addition considering some of the semi-popular PS2 karaoke game.
Drums are the area where they really nailed it here… the intense focus on tight timing made drums a very natural addition to a rhythm game, and I think the translation to a plastic kit was handled pretty well. The sensitivity on the original kits isn’t where it should be to reliably pull off some of those fast sixteenth note run (Run to the Hills is far and away the most difficult song in the game bc of this), but calibration settings are strong enough to get reliably good timing the majority of the time.
The setlist overall is very solid, albeit with a few oddball picks, but it’s really lacking those standout challenging songs. Nothing here should give you too much trouble on any instrument, the guitar stuff feels especially tame given what GH3 asks of you at points. Although maybe that’s a blessing in disguise thanks to RB1’s noticeably strict hit engine.
It’s definitely easier going back to this than the original Guitar Hero despite the cheapness of it all, and shifting the focus to multiplayer was absolutely the right call… that’s where Rock Band shines most. Drums were a genius addition that expanded the longevity of the game so much, and utilizing multiple instruments to complete the sound of a song while synchronizing overdrive points is a multiplayer high that almost no other game can touch for me.
I still really enjoy playing the original Rock Band, although it is unfortunately a pretty tough recommendation at this point. The plastic instruments required to play this have gotten obnoxiously expensive, which has made the game pretty inaccessible. But more important than that… it’s hard to justify spending too much time on this one when its successors are much better in every way.