Before the release of the first Guitar Hero game in 2005, Rhythm Games never managed to gain a foothold in North America. Sure, you’ll see the occasional Dance Dance Revolution setup in an arcade, but it was a genre that was seen as niche enough to expand properly in the West. Guitar Hero quickly changed that, allowing players to let their rock star fantasies live out without getting in the way of all that weird “practice” and “genius” nonsense. The series was highly successful, spawning several games over the next decade. Here’s every Guitar Hero title, built in release order.
Every Guitar Hero Game Ever Released
There have been several attempts to recreate the magic of Guitar Hero, including a DJ Hero spinoff. Although it follows a similar format, Rock Band is a completely unrelated series. The series continued through 2015’s Guitar Hero Live, expanding to multiple consoles and even mobile phones. Following the news that Activision was being bought by Xbox, future games remain a possibility.
Guitar Hero (2005)
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The first game in the Guitar Hero series was released in 2005 and offered a simple concept; Feel like a rock star. While the library of music was smaller than that of later entries, it was enough to connect a lot of people. Shortly after its release, a sequel was already announced and the rhythm game genre soon spread to the West.
Guitar Hero II (2006)
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The sequel to Guitar Hero, the game became the fifth best-selling game of the year. It improved almost every aspect of the original, including playing more than 60 songs and improved multiplayer and note-detection technology. This would become the standard against which subsequent games would be measured.
Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80’s (2007)
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The game is largely considered a spinoff rather than a full sequel. There are no gameplay or control changes from Guitar Hero II. Instead, the only noticeable difference here is, as the title implies, a focus on rock from the 1980s, specifically the hair-metal genre. The game is still fun and includes all the Venom, Whitesnake and Motley Fool crew you could ask for.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (2007)
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The title represents a division in the Guitar Hero series, as it is the first game to be developed by Neversoft following Activision’s purchase of the franchise for approximately $100 million. Guitar Hero III also makes the leap to PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, allowing players to enjoy improved graphics and sound while playing their favorite songs.
Guitar Hero Mobile (2007)
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For those who don’t remember mobile phones in 2007, let us emphasize that they weren’t built with gaming in mind, so it should come as no surprise that the Guitar Hero experience is being ported to phones. Its a wrong attempt. It simply lacks the physical feel of holding a guitar and instead becomes a button-tapping exercise.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (2008)
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The title marked the first time that Guitar Hero has chosen to focus solely on one band. Aerosmith has one of the most diverse and exciting catalogs in rock history, so it was a popular choice. Think you can keep up with Steve Perry during some of his toughest solos? Keep dreaming
Guitar Hero: World Tour (2008)
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Keen readers will note that this is the seventh entry in the Guitar Hero series and we are only three years away from its initial release. These games come out fast and furious at this point, with Activision taking them out with rapid fire. It was the first game in the series to feature drum and microphone peripherals, allowing you to get the band back together for one final gig.
Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009)
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Ever heard of that metal band from Stranger Things? They even got the Guitar Hero treatment in 2009, so you can play all of their hits. Enter Sandman, Fuel, and of course, Master of Puppets everyone gets their turn to shine.
Guitar Hero III Backstage Pass (2009)
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The second attempt to bring the Guitar Hero experience to the phone, it did a little better but still lacked the best features of the series. The set lists are short and the controls aren’t nearly as responsive as moving the guitar controller. However, it introduced roleplay elements for managing your band that would become standard for games going forward.
Guitar Hero 5 (2009)
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This game built on the four-person play experience of Guitar Hero: World Tour. In fact, it quickly became clear that this was the intended way to play the game. Although it was expensive, especially in 2009, having a drum kit, microphone and two guitars at the same time made it the best party game ever.
Band Hero (2009)
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As of 2009, the focus was entirely on the full band experience. They tried to shift the brand more towards that but with limited success. The soundtrack of this entry was geared more towards pop-rock than metal and classic rock, featured in earlier titles. It was also the first game in the Guitar Hero series to be released on the Nintendo DS console.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen (2009)
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This Guitar Hero entry gave us a more focused exploration of one of rock’s biggest all-time bands. All of Van Halen’s hits were here, plus a few other tracks from the Roth and Hager era only dedicated fans would recognize. Spandex and hairspray, unfortunately, were not included.
Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile (2010)
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This remarkably short-lived mobile add-on on Guitar Hero World Tour had a total of 15 songs, and more were later available for purchase. It did not perform well for obvious reasons and was quickly shut down by Activision as a result.
Guitar Hero (2010)
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It was another short-lived and largely forgotten mobile version of Guitar Hero that was exclusive to Apple devices. You can play on iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Although it was more successful in porting the game to mobile devices than earlier games, it was still one of the weaker entries in the series as it did not offer the physical experience of playing guitar in the same way.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (2010)
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As of 2010, Guitar Hero was not the only rock simulation game on the market. Increased competition and a heavily saturated market meant that it was the last game developed for the series for five years. The fact that there was little gameplay innovation between titles eventually spelled doom for Guitar Hero, though it would be another attempt to recapture its previous magic.
Guitar Hero Live (2015)
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In 2015, a new developer attempted to rekindle the world’s passion for Guitar Hero. Unfortunately, they were hampered by the fact that they didn’t have backwards compatibility with previous controllers, forcing players to purchase brand new kits. It also had a severely limited song list in the main game. It only had 40 songs to choose from bundled with the game, with the hope that players would buy more online. Turns out, they didn’t and this would be the final nail in Guitar Hero’s coffin.
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