Guitar Hero: Smash Hits Track List and Impressions

Last year, Guitar Hero World Tour expanded the seminal franchise to include vocals and drums in addition to guitars and bass. A slew of new songs for the full band have since been released, but what about the tracks from the axe-only days of Guitar Hero? For those hoping to revisit those tracks, Activision has released Guitar Hero: Smash Hits. This full-priced retail game is packed with 48 songs drawn from previous GH games. We recently spent some time rocking with the Xbox 360 retail release of Smash Hits. This blog entry will tell you what to expect from Smash Hits, and whether or not it's worth the asking price.

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Guitar Hero: Smash Hits sports the expected array of game modes, including Career (unlock songs and venues as you progress), Quickplay (select up to six songs at a time from the full tracklist), Head to Head (two players duel using their instrument of choice), Xbox Live (Band Quickplay, Band vs. Band, Head to Head, Downloadable Content), Music Studio, and assorted other options. It looks and plays pretty much exactly like Guitar Hero World Tour, with the exception of some graphical flourishes and new venues.

With no new features to speak of, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is essentially a track pack. So is it worth the price? Well, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are priced at $59.99: 48 songs for about $60 works out to $1.25 per song. This is a significantly lower price than you'll pay when purchasing downloadable tracks individually or in bundles, so in that sense it's a reasonably good value. However, there's no picking or choosing your favorites here. You get these songs, and these songs only:

Guitar Hero

"Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult
"More Than a Feeling" by Boston
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple
"Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand
"Unsung (Live)" by Helmet
"Stellar" by Incubus
"I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
"Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne
"Cowboys From Hell (Live)" by Pantera
"Killer Queen" by Queen
"No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age
"Take It Off" by The Donnas
"Hey You" by The Exies
"Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie

Guitar Hero II

"Them Bones" by Alice in Chains
"Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold
"Mother" by Danzig
"Monkey Wrench" by Foo Fighters
"The Trooper" by Iron Maiden
"Stop!" by Jane's Addiction
"Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
"Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God
"Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Shout at the Devil" by Motley Crue
"Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana
"Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine
"Psychobilly Freakout" by Reverend Horton Heat
"YYZ" by Rush
"Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" by Stone Temple Pilots
"Message in a Bottle" by The Police
"Freya" by The Sword
"Cherry Pie" by Warrant
"Woman" by Wolfmother

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s

"Caught in a Mosh" by Anthrax
"Play With Me" by Extreme
"Electric Eye" by Judas Priest
"Nothin' but a Good Time" by Poison
"Round and Round" by Ratt
"I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

"Miss Murder" by AFI
"Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce
"Barracuda" by Heart
"Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss
"Cult of Personality" by Living Colour
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
"Lay Down" by Priestess
"Raining Blood" by Slayer

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

"Back in the Saddle" by Aerosmith

So what do you think? There are certainly some classics in there, just as there are some not-so-classics. Though Smash Hits' appeal will vary from person to person, it's unlikely that anyone other than a true World Tour enthusiast will view this as a particularly good deal. Since the dawn of the full-band rhythm game, players have been able to pick and choose their own tracks from a large list of downloadable content. Shoppers accustomed to purchasing tracks individually or in small bundles will likely balk at the prospect of buying in bulk. Those who regularly consume large amounts of World Tour may appreciate the wholesale discount, but more casual rockers are advised to exercise patience. Smash Hits may never be broken out into more bite-size downloadable packages, but the price is sure to drop eventually, which will make this track pack much more appealing.

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