Rock Band was the opening of a full-blown concert tour.  Four players living the rock and roll dream via color-coded buttons and plastic guitars, drums, and microphone.  Rock Band 2 is comparable to the final show of that tour. It’s not drastically different from its already brilliant predecessor, but everything is tighter and runs more smoothly.  The following is a Rock Band 2 review for the Nintendo Wii.

 

Gameplay is almost the same massively addictive shredfest you remember. Colored icons scroll down the screen in time with the music, you click buttons in time with the gems, somebody sings, and the crowd goes WILD!  Rock out with Rock Band 2!

 

 

Yes, we said “almost.” There are several very welcome tweaks like the ability to switch instruments and even entire band members mid-career.  Rock Band 2 has a “no-fail” mode, and custom setlists. Bassists can have a full career now, and there’s an online-enabled battle of the bands that should prove marvelously addictive.

 

There’s a drum trainer that will teach you the basics of actual drumming should you wish to exchange this virtual band with a real one someday. All good stuff, though it’s more the culmination of a wonderful formula rather than a totally new one.

 

Rock Band 2 has new wireless drums as well as a dozen barely perceptible improvements ranging from a slightly quieter sound to a kick pedal that stays put when you lift the kit. They are functionally the same.  At least until the optional attachable cymbals (and possibly the rumored double-kick functionality) show up early next year.

 

The new guitar is better looking and has has marginally clickier buttons.  It also comes standard with a screwdriver-free battery compartment and a fantastic auto-calibrate sensor. You can even use the drums and guitar from the first Rock Band and forego the new gear entirely .  

 

Rock Band 2 has a song list which is comically mammoth right out of the box. There are more than 80 tunes included on the game disk, and you can download 20 more. 

 

As a negative you are unable to rip the songs from the original Rock Band onto your Nintendo Wii memory card like you can with the 360 version.  The Wii's lack of a hard drive means there's nowhere to put them.

 

The Wii version of Rock Band 2 has its own online store, complete with downloadable songs. Plus, you will be able to access downloaded songs straight from the game even though they're located on a memory card instead of in the Wii's measly built-in memory. this may sound like a given, but Wii owners should know it's not.

 

As of now, we can't say how big the files are.  Because the Nintendo Wii is forced to store things on a memory card instead of a proper hard drive, you'll probably run into some limits on how many songs will fit on your card. In addition the 360/PS3 versions claim there will be 500 songs avaialble via disc or download by year's end, while the Nintendo Wii version of Rock Band 2 has a box that promises only 150.  Simply put, don't expect to build the same library that PS3 or 360 owners can. 

 

Our praise goes to the developer for doing the best it could with the hardware at hand. The Nintendo Wii does not have the same capabilities as the PS3 or 360. The graphics are also not quite as sharp.  Things here are at times soft which may lead to you having trouble reading the streaking lyrics on some TVs.

 

Other than these shortcomings that the Nintendo Wii's technical limitations force upon the game, the only thing to complain about with Rock Band 2 is that it polishes rather than reinvents. Do not misunderstand, we appreciate the backwards compatibility of the instruments, and the gameplay additions and tweaks to make the player’s experience better. With no real innovations this feels more like an 80-song expansion pack than an all-out sequel.

 

Those things being said, we are thrilled that Harmonix didn’t try to fix things that weren’t broken.  There is no need to add in silly things just to add bullet points on the box as many felt the original Rock Band was nearly perfect already. And even if we know the setlist by heart, we still find ourselves running to Rock Band 2 every week living the lives of rock stars!

 

To purchase a discount of Rock Band 2 please visit the store at ActionGameStore.com!