Amazon.com: Playstation 2 Rock Band Special Edition: Video Games

202 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (202 customer reviews)

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213 of 221 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A parent/20+ year drummer's persective, December 26, 2007

By	J. Welle "8TamaZ" (over the hills and through the woods) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Seems I'm the first to review this on Amazon for the PS2 version. I read all the reviews for PS3, and there are minimal differences (character customization and online playing) that are absent for the PS2 version. I can't really say those are a big deal to me, and I was really skeptical about this product. I haven't played Guitar Hero, so I can't make a comparison of the two.

What I can say is this game is a BLAST to play. I read some reviews where people who are drummers (or are the girlfriends of drummers) are complaining about the quality of the drumset. Considering a high quality digital drumkit (Roland for example) is going to run you from $3,000 to $5,000, what do you expect for $170 (it ALSO includes a WIRELESS guitar controller plus the video game)? I am actually impressed with the kit, it seems durable so far (and I've laid in to the thing when getting in to a song), and I'm very surprised by the action of the drum pedal. It's not a TAMA or DW pro-pedal, but it's got great action "considering".

I would recommend buying a real pair of drumsticks (at a comfortable size for your playing). Not only are the included sticks smaller (kid sized), but they're very roughly finished and you're guaranteed to get nice and blistered real quick-like playing with the low grade sticks included. Personal recommendation for brand would be Vick Firth (or Promark) for sticks (just my opinion, there are others out there). Another "comfort" item (if you choose to put money in to this game) is a drum throne. You'll be in pain much less, and can play for longer.

As for the guitar, it feels great. I've always wanted to learn or play real guitar, and this doesn't replace the 6 string, but it does teach great coordination for your fretting (left) and strumming (right) hands. Playing along to the game on guitar is fun for me, because it's a different role than "beat keeper", and you feel like you're really jamming the tune.

Another advantage of the game... if you learn to play the drumkit on this ... the transition to a real kit will be minimal (much more comfortable for sure). Something to be cognizant of (for the drumkit) is the playing surfaces. They are hard, and playing for extended periods on this (especially for us 30+ year olds) can lead to some forearm/wrist pain. The reason being is when you strike a hard rubber pad with a stick, there's no "give" to the surface you're hitting. The game tutorial recommends holding the sticks loosely, and it's important you do this not only to have the speed to play the game, but also to keep the impact of your striking a hard surface from being sent back up the stick right in to your wrist/arms.

The other thing I like about this game is the collaborative playing. My 15 year old daughter (who mainly likes hip/hop) and I have a ball playing this. We hooked it up and were jamming for 3 hours. The only reason we stopped was from fatigue. We've always played video games, but most are "versus", and it's really cool to be jamming a tune with your kid. We haven't explored the vocal aspect of the game yet, but we'll get there. She loves the game and has been sitting with the controller going over the songs just to learn them (something cute about seeing your daughter jamming "Mississippi Queen" with you). If we have company, I can still see this being tons of fun.

For parents on the fence about buying their child a drumset... I see this as a perfect testing ground and reasonably priced. Most "kid sets" are absolute garbage, and if your daughter/son doesn't pursue it further, then you're stuck with a junk drumset you've paid $200-400 for, and you'll get half that amount (if it's in good shape) if you sell it. For what you get in this game... it's a great starter for drums, it'll teach them how coordinate all the limbs, and if they outgrow it and want a real kit, well ... you've still got a fun video game for the family to play. The fact you can play this with headphones is a big bonus, since real drum sets don't have volume buttons!

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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait...., December 30, 2007

By	S. Aldrich (Cypress, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

We originally ordered this from Amazon around Nov 2007, but Amazon cancelled the order canceled shortly afterwards because of product shortages. And yet local retailers continued to get them in very short supply. So we took to checking local retailers each morning to see if they had a new shipment for most of December until we finally got lucky.

We've had a blast with it thank goodness, since after waiting this long, my kids' expectations were VERY high. Three instruments come in the box: guitar, drums and microphone. The game comes with a USB splitter that allows you to connect up to 4 instruments at once into the USB port on the PS2. We *WERE* able to use the guitar we have for Guitar Hero (a Red Octane wireless version for PS2) with this game, giving us a band of lead guitar, bass, drums and microphone. I like that we can keep switching around and try the different instruments. It gives you a lot of different perspectives on the same song!

Guitar:
The guitar is excellent. We've been using a Red Octane PS2 wireless Guitar with the Guitar Hero 1-3 games, and while good, aren't as good as the one that came with Rock Band (RB). The new RB one has an extra set of buttons farther up the neck for solos and there are NOT ridges (fret bars) between the keys on this one as there were on the GH guitar. This makes it easier to slide fingers along the buttons with this guitar than it was with the GH guitar, making it easier for the fast sections.

The songs are orchestrated a little more easily, I normally play GH at a "hard" level and get 3-5 stars there... on Rock Band I was able to sight read and get most songs at 5 stars on my first try, so I think they are easier in general.

Drums:
My kids LOVE the drums, and they take some coordination to play. Since I'm not a drummer, it's hard to add a lot here. The height is very quick and easy to adjust which is nice when there are dramatic differences int eh height of the players. The sticks that come with the set are fairly low end wooden ones... we use better ones we already had from a music store with nylon tips that are more solid and feel better. The heads on the drums are very solid feeling and have some give. They don't bounce like real drum heads, but are close enough for us non drummers to get a feel for it. The overall set is a little rickety -- the vertical bars that hold up the heads look like they are just plastic pipe and they will rock back and forth a little. That doesn't really affect the play, but it doesn't have a solid feel unfortunately.

Microphone:
A mic comes in the box and it seems to also be nice and solid. We also have the mics from the SingStar series, and these are shorter than those. We haven't checked to see if they are interchangable yet. The ones with Rock Band have longer cords which is nice -- you can spread out a little more. Some songs also allow you to use the mic like a tambourine and the singer's part (between phrases) sometimes shows a rhythm the singer uses to tap out a tambourine part.

Bass:
A bass does *NOT* come with this game. However, like the GH series, you can select whether the guitar you hook up plays a guitar part or a bass part. So if you hook up the guitar that comes with Rock Band and then another guitar that you already have, you can have one person take the guitar part and the other take the bass. This is about the same in RB as in GH, and as noted the tracks in RB are easier in my opinion.

Overall, an excellent effort and I look forward to being able to get the inevitable add on song packs. Just like GH came out with an "Encore: the 80's" product, I would LOVE to see add on disks for RB. If anyone from the RB team is listening, I'd love to see "genre disks" in particular, like Country hits, Hip Hop hits, best of an era, etc.

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47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Despite a stripped-down feel, Rock Band is still spectacular, December 29, 2007

By	N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

We all knew that we'd be getting a stripped-down version of Rock Band for the PS2, but let it be said that despite it's last-gen flaws and missing options, Rock Band still manages to be a spectacular rhythm game. As one could guess, Rock Band is best enjoyed as a party game with others, as the instruments included in the Special Edition work wonderfully to their purpose. The 58 included songs here, including cuts from Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Jet, and the Ramones among others; are all implemented well, and the in-game screen is flawless as you perform these tunes. While nearly everything about the PS2 version of Rock Band is spot-on, there are moments where you will notice just how stripped-down this conversion is. Most notably is the fact that you will not be able to download new content, and an incredibly stripped-down Band World Tour mode is what really hurts the PS2 version of Rock Band, but this was expected to begin with, which doesn't make these lackings a surprise. What is surprising is how spot-on spectacular the PS2 version of Rock Band ends up being, as there are still a variety of options to explore and modes to play, whether it be alone or as a party game as intended. All in all, if Guitar Hero got you into rhythm gaming and a PS2 is your only option, Rock Band is an essential pickup.