RickyJZ
2007
An incredible (if still flawed) expansion of the potential of Guitar Hero. Some quality of life features were missing (like change track scroll speed), and the overall difficulty was a little too easy, but Rock Band is still an iconic game with an iconic set-list. A staple party-game for the ages.
2008
A perfect sequel in every way. Bigger setlist, harder songs, more gameplay options, better character customization, an incredible career mode with more replayability than ever before, and ALL OF YOUR DLC SONGS FROM THE FIRST GAME CARRIED OVER. You could even import most of Rock Band 1's on-disc songs into Rock Band 2 for a modest $5 fee. An absolute triumph from the music game golden age, and one of the best games of the seventh console generation.
2010
While still a great game in its own right, Rock Band 3 regressed from Rock Band 2 in a few disappointing ways. The content of the career mode was severely trimmed down. I can't put my finger on it, but the visuals felt like they took a bit of a step back too. The background performances lost a bit of that cinematic quality that Rock Band 1 and 2 nailed. 2 really neat additions to this game are the keyboard instrument, and vocal harmonies (up to 3 singers where applicable, for a potential max of 7 players at once!)
2010
While one can argue that Green Day were not an iconic enough band to warrant an entire game being dedicated to their music (Unlike the likes of Metallica or of course the Beatles), it's hard to say that it didn't make for a fun Rock Band game. Particularly on drums, Green Day's song list makes for a surprising and fun challenge. Just like The Beatles: Rock Band, this game also features tons of unlockable extras of concert footage, concept art, and other behind the scenes stuff that is sure to be a treat for dedicated Green Day fans. One thing in particular that Green Day has going for it over The Beatles, is that you could actually import this game's tracklist into the main Rock Band song library; giving it strong value as a game to buy new, complete it once, import the songs, and then immediately trade it in. Still all around a very solid music game.
It's hard to put into words how much I truly adore this game. Before its announcement, the notion of The Beatles, of all bands, getting their own Rock Band game was a pipe-dream. The fact that it even happened is worth celebrating, but on top of that, it's an amazing game! While it is VERY easy, it is still very fun to play. The game is loaded with fun collectibles to unlock through completing the story mode and beating challenges (one of my favorites is an old Beatles Christmas record that you can actually listen to.) The game has a wonderful art style. While not realistic looking, Paul, John, George, and Ringo are all modeled to be instantly recognizable; with lots of personality in their facial expressions. Another part of the game's presentation that blew me away was the "dreamscape" songs. Because they stopped touring so early, the band never played a lot of their most legendary songs to a live audience. So for the entirety of the Sgt Pepper era though Abbey Road era songs (and a few others before and after that time), the background visuals show the band in the studio, before transitioning to imaginary "dreamscapes" that reflect the lyrics and tone of the song. Getting to actually see the Yellow Submarine while playing Yellow Submarine is a treat, and it helps this game stand out from every other Rock Band game to this day. I am forever grateful I got to experience this masterpiece of a music game on the day of release.
2005
A very fun proof of concept that paved the way for the Legendary Guitar Hero 2. It has a good tracklist, but some of the song covers that they created for it are subpar. The gameplay had a few kinks to iron out as well (most notably how restrictive hammer-ons and pull-offs were to execute.)
2006
While there can never truly be a perfect video game, I'd argue that Guitar Hero 2 comes pretty close. Every qualm I had about Guitar Hero 1 was fixed, while 2 sports a bigger and better tracklist. Every other Guitar Hero game rightfully gets compared to this one when it comes to how it feels to hit notes. The unlockable characters, guitars, and bonus songs all add a ton of replay value. The visuals of the playable venues are all unique and memorable. The characters are diverse and loaded with personality. The gamefeel is nearly flawless.
A bit of an odd side-game, released at an odd time. While the songlist is pretty good, and it retains Guitar Hero 2's amazing game-feel; this one can't help but feel like an expansion that they charged full price for.
2015
It was a glorified tech-demo that they charged the price of a full game for. The visuals are still impressive to this day, but the gameplay was basic at best, and frustrating at it's worst moments. The plot is loaded with hack writing and ends with a desperate sequel-bait. It's also pathetically short. There is no replay value whatsoever.
This is the first game that was not developed by Harmonix, and it showed. The game's art style took a dip in quality. This game supports the most forgiving note timing in the whole series, and to try to make up for this, the hardest songs are deliberately overcharted to make them harder. Resulting in a lot of visual note diarrhea, and charts that are a pain in the ass to read if you don't use at least Hyperspeed level 3. Now for the good, the tracklist is great. This was the tipping pint where the master tracks were used for a lot of the songs, and it improves the game's sound. The career mode was a lot of fun too. Having guitar duel boss battles against legendary musicians (and also the devil) is very memorable and cool (although the final duel feels incredibly luck based, depending on what attack power you get first). Being the first truly multiplatform Guitar Hero game is a plus.
Not too much to say about this game. If you like Aerosmith, you'll probably like this game. If you don't, you might end up becoming a fan from it. This one is on the easy side. It has some fun interviews with the band to unlock. The gameplay feels closer to Guitar Hero 2 than it does Guitar Hero 3.
It's Rock Band, but Guitar Hero. This game lets you creat custom characters, with a shocking number of options for its first attempt. The gameplay overall feels pretty good. There's a lot of fun and weird celebrity musicians you can unlock as playable characters, which is neat. It's a little easy, and the visuals are still a a little janky, but it's a good time.
I'll just get the obvious out of the way first. This game is a must if you're a Metallica fan. Now for the game itself, the tracklist is awesome, it's incredibly challenging and fun, and it even supports double bass on drums for the true madmen out there.
A decent band spin-off that released with strangely little fanfare. While it's still fun, it just doesn't have as much identity as Guitar Hero: Metallica did. Outside of Van Halen themselves, the tracklist is very unmemorable.
2009
This Guitar Hero has a lot of really neat ideas. 4 players can play any combination of instruments that they like. In the career mode, you can earn bonus stars in songs by completing unique challenges for each one. The art style was massively improved in this one too.