Whether or not you should purchase Activision's Guitar Hero: Smash Hits depends on A.) your appreciation of the series, and B.) if you feel like shelling out $50-$60 to play a collection of songs featured in previous games. Smash Hits' impressive soundtrack includes 48 master tracks from Aerosmith ("Back in the Saddle"), Boston ("More than a Feeling"), The Police ("Message in a Bottle") and Ozzy Osbourne ("Bark at the Moon"), among others. To spice them up, developer Beenox lets you and three other players team up to play lead guitar, bass, drums and vocals, and you can even battle other bands online.
That said, Smash Hits plays exactly like its predecessors, with multicolored notes streaming towards the bottom of screen and players frantically hitting fret buttons on plastic guitars/wailing on drums/screaming into the microphone to achieve high scores. A career mode lets you unlock new venues and songs on your way to superstardom, and the ability to download tracks created by other gamers somewhat enhances the appeal, but this Guitar Hero was clearly Activision's attempt at milking the franchise without offering players something fresh and original; you can't even download songs. If this is your first Guitar Hero experience, then indulge. If you've played these songs before, wait for new songs in the upcoming Guitar Hero 5.
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