Guitar Hero II

Guitar Hero II expanded and polished the concept with which the first game launched the phenomenon of guitar rhythm games, and became the entry that definitively catapulted the genre into the mainstream. Players once again hold a plastic guitar with colored buttons and try to hit notes scrolling down the fretboard in time with the music, and the second installment added a more elaborate Star Power system for temporarily multiplying score, improved visuals with more pronounced effects during great performances, and, for the first time, a cooperative two-player mode where one player handles the melody and the other the bass line or rhythm guitar.

The note charts themselves were noticeably more precise and true to actual guitar playing compared to the first game, with greater emphasis on chords, transitions across several frets, and so-called hammer-ons and pull-offs that allowed fast passages to be played without a pick. The drawn-out training in the form of a career progressing through ever-larger clubs and arenas gave the player a sense of real band growth, and the money earned could be spent on new guitars, outfits, and bonus songs. The setlist, made up of both rock classics and more modern hits, ranked among the game's strongest features, spanning several decades of rock history, complemented by bonus cover versions recorded specifically for the game.

The difficulty curve was carefully tuned from accessible beginner levels all the way up to extremely demanding expert difficulties requiring virtuoso control of the peripheral. The game's commercial success, boosted precisely by the bundling with a plastic guitar, proved the enormous market potential of music peripheral games and directly paved the way for the following mega-hit Guitar Hero III as well as the competing Rock Band series. Guitar Hero II is still remembered as the peak of the original era of guitar rhythm games on PlayStation 2. The bonus band Harmonix Allstars and a number of hidden songs further gave the game long-term replay value.