Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the entry that carried the brand to the absolute peak of its popularity and became the symbol of the entire wave of music games with a plastic guitar. The principle stayed simple: colored notes stream down the screen, the player holds the matching fret on the neck, and strums the pick at the right moment. Long note streaks without a miss raise a score multiplier, and when the Star Power meter fills up and the player triggers it by tilting the guitar or pressing a button, points double and the crowd erupts with excitement.

The third entry raised the difficulty and, above all, added guitar battles against legendary rockers, pitting the player against a rival in a duel where each side can send the other disruptive effects like a broken string or scrambled controls. Alongside these the game offered a two-player co-op career and an extensive tracklist made up of rock and metal classics as well as more modern cuts, for the first time largely in original recordings instead of studio re-recordings. The visual style is deliberately over the top, with cartoonish musicians, smoke, and a light show underscoring the feeling of a huge concert. The series' closing track became famous as one of the hardest challenges music games ever offered.

The reception was enormous, and the game became one of the best-selling titles of its generation, kicking off a flood of sequels and spin-offs that eventually wore the genre out. Today Guitar Hero III is interesting both as a perfect snapshot of its era and as a surprisingly honest rhythm challenge; on higher difficulties it demands real coordination and stamina. Without a working guitar peripheral it loses most of its point, but with one it delivers exactly what it promised: the instant, loud, and infectious feeling of standing on a stage in front of a sold-out arena.