Customer Reviews

Wii Rock Band 2 Special Edition

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I managed to get my hands on Rock Band 2 a bit early, and spent the entirety of the evening playing. What a drastic improvement over Rock Band 1 on the Wii! This is identical to the Xbox 360/ PS3 versions of the game, and I was even more impressed than I anticipated. I was having a blast before I even had a chance to play a single note: The character creator tool was a welcome bonus! You create a band and members, and then you hit the road. It was a really satisfying experience! This is really the first time that a Wii game has been truly competitive with other Next-Gen console games.

The World Tour mode is now available locally or online, and there are also challenges and battle-of-the-bands. There was a "Wii pre-release" battle available for the select few who managed to snag the game early, and I was able to compete head to head with other bands (there were only 3 other bands online since the game was not yet available @ most stores).
There are sure to be plenty of lengthy reviews, so I will just note some of my observations:

*Band Members - once you create your band-mates using the Character Creator, when you play a gig, there they are! I knew this feature was present, but I had no idea how exciting it would be the first time my character (who happens to look JUST LIKE ME!) appeared on stage! It was really satisfying! This feature was really well done. My first order of business was to create characters for my wife and all our friends. Whenever they come over and play from now on, they can use their characters. Also, these characters can be moved around, dropped etc. Also, whenever you select a character to play a gig with your band, they get a "cut", earning that character money which can be used to buy clothes, accessories, instruments, etc. Of course, my wife blew all her money on some designer jeans, some pink driving gloves, and some shoes before she even played one gig! Typical... =)

*Online - Some of the online features haven't been enabled yet, but I was able to play in the online battle of the bands. I was playing during a weather storm, and my internet connection was suffering. I had a hard time checking my email from my computer in fact! But, much to my surprise, the game chugged along, and I didn't see any problems with the online interface. The whole game is played "connected", so you don't have to keep logging on and off if you switch between local and online play. The interface was really polished and well done, unlike other Wii games that seem to tack on the online portion after the fact. A+++.

*Updated instruments - The new guitar and drum look and feel really good. The drums are sturdier, and also the pads are quieter. Other than that, not much of a change here, but I had no complaints about the previous generation of instruments.

*Music - This game seems to have a much more varied mix of music. Much like when I began playing RB1, I only knew a handful of the songs that I initially was able to play. A few of the songs that I initially played were somewhat familiar, but some were way off the radar for me. Still, what I have heard so far is great! As you may already know, there is a Music Store built in the game where you can use Wii points on your system to buy new songs, so there will be no shortage of great music to be played! I was also surprised to see that details about the band and even album art appear on the song selection screen. The interface is really clean and polished; it really doesn't feel like a "game" at all. There is really no end to this games replay value. There are already close to 500 songs available in the DLC catalog (and all of this will come to the Wii shortly), and new songs are added weekly. Guitar Hero: World Tour can't even begin to compete in this area!!!

Do yourself a favor and go buy this game. I loved RB1 on the Wii, and really didn't think I was missing out on much... as it turns out, the additional features in RB2 are really astounding! The solid gameplay of Rock Band 1 is there... the great music game is completely intact. RB2 adds the "Band" experience: Touring, Band-mate selection, losing fans if you quit a "set" prematurely, battle of the bands, never-ending amounts of fresh content to play, expansive leaderboards and band data, even the ability to order posters and figurines of your band!!! Rock Band 2 for the Wii delivers!!

Rhythm type games never interested me much, until now. I played guitar hero way back and was left unimpressed so I never thought much of checking the progress in this genre. For Christmas, I received Rock Band 2 for the Wii as a gift and immediately loved it.

Overall, all the instruments are easy to play and are fun. The freestyle, training, and solo mode allow to progress at your own pace. (Currently, I'm terrible but am improving). Challenge and band tour mode prove more difficult as your progress.

As mentioned previously, I don't have experience with RB1, GH, or GHWT so I cannot compare but I'm totally thrilled at how much fun my entire family is having playing this TOGETHER.

The only possible downsides I can see are:
1) At the time of this review, the Rock Band store for the wii is not up yet - so I cannot download the free songs or buy any new ones. According to Harmonix, it will be up soon.
2) The memory on the Wii is limited so downloading a lot of songs can be a problem so buy an SD card if you plan to purchase new songs. I wish I knew how much each song and it's data took up on my SD card. I can't test yet since the wii RB store isn't open yet.
3) It's pretty costly, but at least the quality of the instruments feels good.

I highly recommend Rock Band 2, it's a blast.

Edit after playing for 2 weeks:
I'm still playing every day and loving it.

For those interested about the instruments and playing:
Drums - To me, the drum set looks a little kid-like but it's durable and I haven't had any problems. The included drum & fill trainers help you get the beats down so you can move to the harder levels. I love that you can move the bpm up and down to further test yourself. I find the drums are the hardest of the 3 to play as you need to learn limb independence, but they are also the most fun IMHO. In my family "band", I'm the drummer 90% of the time.

Guitar/Bass - Nice looking guitar. Plays great. Easiest of the 3 to learn. Look into learning different strum techniques and moving your hand up and down the neck of the guitar on harder difficulty levels.

Vocals - Well, I'm not a singer but after spending a couple days learning how to match my pitch/tone with the indicator, I can generally do OK. I think I've become a slightly better singer too, because I'm better able to slowly shift between the tones.

Ahhh the sweet sound of nothing!!! Finally, a "band" game where the instruments Don't make more sound than the songs do (at apt. dwelling reasonably volumed levels). These guitars are nearly silent when being played. And the drums are 50% quieter. In addition, the between song cut scenes aren't amped up sooo ridiculiously loud (like another "band" games' are) that you are always reaching for the volume control. The new instruments are upgraded very nicely. The guitars even have a photocell & mic built in to sync up with your TV when you calibrate. They look nicer with a 2-tone wood neck/head and the whammy bar is better at not sagging down. And did I mention they were soooo quiet? This actually creates a small problem of not sometimes knowing if you pushed the button or not. The new drum set is improved nicely too. The pedal has a metal plate added and the crossbar is more tighter fitting for less noise. The pads sound simular to RB1 drums with the silencer pads added, so that cuts the noise down as well. I have bought the add-on cymbals (2 set) and they aren't so quiet, but when you have them plugged in, you can still hit the regular pad also (so you can have 2 yellows or 2 greens) that you can have a choice of which to hit, so worth $20 extra. They are now wireless (3 batteries and a dongle) and are black/silver instead of white. It seems a mic is a mic is a mic, but cant they make it wireless? You can be on the internet in a subway for pete's sake!!! So now for the actual game itself: 4 out of 5. The "TOUR" (which you must do to open all songs) is maddeningly repetitive. I have played some songs 6 or 7 times because they are part of the "gig" you are playing. This is the only flaw I can find in this game. I just want to play each song once to open, and quickplay my life away! Of course song selection is personal, so no complaints here. There will be DLC, so that shouldnt be an issue with anyone. (it is not active as of this review) The game also keeps lists of 100s of scores so you can go look to see how you stack up with other wifi players. After 3 days of playing, I am very happy with 90% of this game. And I cant wait till Xmas to have a 4 man band (WIIBARON) rock out in peace and reletive QUIET! BEST BAND GAME YET . 3/13/09 UPDATE: After 3 months of ROCKIN', I am happy to say that I am 90% thrilled with the game/experience/fun that is RB2. (or GH:WT) The drum hardware had issues, but I cannibalized RB1 set and all's well. Guitars are still awesomely quiet, and durable too. It was very hard for me to get game/instuments synched-up, but once I finally got it bliss was achieved. Being able to download is better than sliced bread and I have 20 songs so far. Eventually, they say the entire 500+ catalogue will be available so I better stock up on Wii points and SD cards! This game (&gh:wt) are the most fun (by yourself or with friends) ever invented. And only 6 months (9/9) till The Beatles version cometh! Can't Wait.....

Guitar Hero requires a Wii remote for each instrument, Rock Band 2 only requires one remote to make on screen selections for the microphone. The Guitar and Drums are wireless. They communicate with dongles that plug into the USB ports on the back of the main Wii unit, and work perfectly to make on screen selections. So once you're in the game you don't need a remote at all if you're not using the mic. This is a significant difference that I'm surprised is rarely mentioned in the various comparisons of the two competing systems.
After reading online reviews trying to decide between Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour, I was convinced that I wanted to go with RB 2 mainly because of all the problems with drums in GHWT and the reported ease of playing RB2 at parties without having to unlock new songs. I wanted the Wii version because that is what we have hooked up to the living room TV. I read complaints about Guitar Hero requiring a Wii remote for each instrument and made the assumption that RB2 also required extra remotes. I was considering whether it was worth the extra expense just to get the Wii version. I went for the Wii RB2 anyway, and was pleasantly surprised with the quality of instruments and no need for remotes.
Other reviewers have provided excellent feedback on the game and it's pro's and con's so I won't go into it. Game play has been a blast. Songs are great. The whole family has enjoyed playing together. I get all the features on Wii as the other systems, it's on my main TV, and I didn't have to shell out extra cash for the remotes.

After unpacking and putting together Rock Band 2 Special Edition Bundle, we soon realized that Wii has 2 USB ports and the bundle requires 3. To avoid my kids being disappointed, I had to make a mad dash to the local Radio Shack to purchase a USB hub in order to hook up the guitar, drums and microphone.

Since this bundle is specifically designed for Wii, I'm surprised and disappointed that a USB hub was not included as part of the package.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you should be familiar with Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

That said, I've been reluctant to spend the money in the past given the high ticket price of the item and also because of some of the playability complaints that I have heard in the past about the Wii.

Recently, however, we came across Rock Band in Best Buy and found that my 5-year old daughter loved hitting the drum pads so I decided to go ahead and take the plunge.

INSTRUMENTS. First and foremost, if there had been any complaints about instrument responsiveness on the original Wii Rock Band, they are not present here! Rock Band 2's instruments are responsive and have a good solid feel.

SONGS. While Rock Band 2 comes with an impressive 81 song list, there are more than 500 additional titles that are downloadable ONLINE (available shortly!). This is a huge plus for me as I was originally concerned about the longevity of a game with a fixed number of song titles. Back when we pre-ordered the game, we had already looked at the song titles available for download and circled the ones that we wanted in advance.

FUN PLAY. Character customization, as was previously mentioned in another review, is awesome. I swear that my daughter has just as much fun with this feature as she does with the actual game itself. It's fun to have the family tour together as a band. We're pretty awful to start with, but it's growing on us quickly and we're getting better as we go along. The vocal tracking seems to be pretty spot on and is very forgiving just so long as you consistently vary your pitch (however bad it may be to start with) with the actual vocal track.

ONLINE. We haven't had a chance to try this out yet, but we know that the Wii's performance with online gaming (i.e. Mario Kart) is definitely up-to-snuff. I can't wait until some of our friends who live 40 miles away get their own so we can duke it out.

Another big plus is expandibility. The Special Edition package comes with a microphone, drum set, and one guitar, but there's room for more. Add a guitar? Check. Add triple cymbals via Mad Catz? Check. You don't need it, but you can definitely get enthusiastic about this game if you don't go solo and want to add people to the fun.

Overall, the game package is well worth it and is definitely family oriented. How does it compare to Guitar Hero World Tour? On that, I can't comment on but considering that both of the original games (not World Tour) were made by the same company, I don't think either camp has much to complain about - to each their own.

Anyway, I highly recommend this game and try not wincing at the sticker price. It's definite fun for all. Rock on!!

I love this game! I got it in March as a present and play almost every day. The transition from Easy to Medium took a few weeks, and I still haven't gone to Hard yet. I like the difficulty modes because every time you move up a level it's like all the songs are new again. It's an awesome party game. The only complaint I have with the game is more about the Wii than the game; there isn't much memory on the Wii for downloaded songs. I purchased an SD card, which helped. The Wii can be upgraded to accept an 8 GB SD card, but Rock Band will only accept a 2 GB SD card. So be sure to get the 2. Hopefully a patch or upgrade will be made available for Rock Band so I can get even more songs, even though I've downloaded about 40 songs and still haven't run out of room.

All of the playing modes are great. I love going "On Tour" and competing in the battle of the bands that are available. My friends and I actually formed a band and we have weekly "band practice" together. My kid love to play too, even my 3 year old loves it when she gets to sing ("Eye of the Tiger" is by far the favorite). You can also play an instrument and sing at the same time, which takes some practice but is really fun to do (note that on percussion singing notes, you can make a noise into the mic instead of hitting it). Also, the guitar has high fret buttons and low fret buttons; the high fret buttons are smaller and easier for little kids to play, since the neck of the guitar is longer so most kids struggle with the low fret buttons. This is true for the Fender Stratocaster that comes with the game, I don't know about other guitars available. We bought a second Fender so 4 people can play at once (singer, guitar, bass, and drums). The "no fail" mode makes it easy and fun for new players to learn without ruining everyone else's game play, and makes it fun even for little kids to play without feeling sad they get kicked off stage.

I recently purchased Guitar Hero: World Tour because I liked Rock Band so much and I thought I thought the games would be similar. They are NOT. I did like the fact I didn't need extra batteries for the Guitar Hero instruments and the slider feature on the guitar, but that's all that I liked better. The graphics, game play, avatar creator, and tutorials for Rock Band are much better. After only 72 hours of ownership (not game play) all my Guitar Hero instruments were failing in one way or another, so I returned the game to Amazon with no problem. I only wish some of the songs on Guitar Hero were available for Rock Band, since I really wanted to play them (but not on Guitar Hero).

Overall, this game is a great family game that adults will enjoy immensely as well. After 3 months of daily play I am still not sick of it and have lots left to do. The download feature keeps the song library fresh (if you get an SD card), the graphics are really cool, and the rock store for the avatars provides endless laughs and entertainment. I highly recommend this game.

This game is a must have for every wii fan. It brings every single aspect about the game in the PS3 and 360, showing us how powerful the wii can be. It is the only 3rd party game that fully uses the wii hardware. It is done great, not like most wii games with rushed graphics and features. You will notice few difference between the 360 and the Wii versions of the game. The instruments are HUGELY improved, no more useless drums and guitar, Harmonix finally got over Activision, the guitars for both games are almost equal but Rock Band 2 Drums are far superior, specially if you buy the cymbals.

What to buy: Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band 2

GHWT:

Pros: Already has DLC
Mii Freestyle Exclusive for wii
A slightly better Guitar Peripheral

Cons: Only 2 wiis can connect (no full band experience online only offline)
No compability with rock band instruments.
Only about 1 fourth of available DLC is available for Wii
IGN Review (8.8)

Rock Band 2:

Pros: Equal to other consoles (PS3 and 360)
Better customization
Will have all DLC that other consoles have
4 Wiis CAN connect, so YES Full band experience online
IGN Review (9.0 out of 10.0)
Compatibility with all GH Wii instruments (GHWT and GH3 and GHA)
Better Drums
Drum Trainer that will help you with real drums
Can link acount to the the ROCK BAND webpage so you can take full advantage of the rock band experience

Cons:
No DLC until around January 9 2009

Judge for urselves

I have more fun with this game than any other game I have ever owned, however the game is riddled with problems.

1) after only two hours of play I started seeing problems with the microphone not registering tambourine/cowbell hits.

2) about thirty minutes later the whole games audio started cutting out as if someone was muting the TV.

3) After about two days of play I've now noticed that the drums are constantly losing sync and not registering hits for a couple seconds at a time. (I can see the Blue Lights go out and come back on out of my peripheral vision.)

Problems 1 and 2 above somehow turned out to be related... I did some experimenting and found out that whenever the microphone was enabled the audio would mute for a few seconds at a time in the song. I purchased a new logitech mouse and found that to completely fix problems 1 and 2.

I am still experiencing problem 3.. It is very annoying.. Especially when you have a good run going on and working on a perfect then the stupid thing loses sync and causes about 6 or 7 misses in a row. I have also noticed this with the guitar as well, but not as bad.

Also if you leave the game idle for more than a couple minutes (potty break, or have to answer the phone) all instruments will completely lose sync and the only way to get it back is to hit the sync button on the remote receivers and shut off all instruments and turn them back on.

Aside from all of the Glitches the game is great fun... I just wish it wasn't so buggy... I feel bad for giving such a fun game a mediocre rating.

Finally purchased this game for the Wii when it was a deal of the day. Although the family enjoys various games on the Wii this is the first one that we all play and enjoy together. Finding extra songs is pretty nice as well. My wife asked if there were any country songs on it and my son responded, "It's ROCK band mom, not country band!" A couple minutes of searching led me to the Country Track Pack. So my son has to suffer through that here and there. Overall we all enjoy both games. My main gripe and I am sure that other parents may have it as well is that some of the songs are kind of sucky for a family play time. I know that a wide range of tastes are represented with the game but it would be nice to be able to have some songs on a don't play list. I am not even looking for a parental control type thing (but depending on how young your kids are that might be nice too). I am looking for us being able to deselect certain songs that no one in my family really wants to sing - even if they just don't want to sing some songs with mom and dad.

Pro - it is a game that is fun for a lot of people to play together. Fun to watch people playing when they get good.

Con - Would like some control over songs we just don't like. To get to higher levels takes more practice than certain family members are willing to invest without getting overly frustrated.