Shortly before Guitar Hero II came out last year, Kelly Sumner, CEO of publisher RedOctane, told the press that they were looking into releasing multiple genre spin-offs of their wildly-popular music game. Country, Metal, Arena Rock, Punk ... the possibilities could make any plastic guitar player salivate. Of course, this was before RedOctane and developer Harmonix went their separate ways, but at least one expansion became a reality. Break out the hair spray and cram yourself into some leather pants, because Guitar Hero is setting the wayback machine for the decade of Reaganomics, low budget music videos, and jean jackets: the 1980's.

Rocks The 80's brings 30 new tracks to your Playstation 2, wrapped up in the same top-notch Guitar Hero II gameplay you've been rocking out to since last year. Hair metal acts like Winger, left-of-dial rockers like Oingo Boingo, and one-hit wonders like The Vapors are all included in this retro setlist. Some tracks instantly lend themselves to Guitar Hero's masterful game mechanics. Judas Priest's Electric Eye, one of four original master tracks in the game, gives players a crunchy, chord-driven riff that is at once challenging and intuitive on the now-familiar plastic Gibson SG controller, and Iron Maiden's Wrathchild features soaring solos that are simply exhilarating.

The problem with Rocks The 80's is that its setlist is horribly uneven. When it's on, as with standout tracks like Ratt's Round And Round, The Scorpion's No One Like You, and A Flock Of Seagull's master track I Ran (So Far Away), the game carries all the magic of its predecessors, transforming the experience of shredding riffs and crunching power chords normally reserved for musical virtuosos into something almost anyone can accomplish. Out of 30 tracks, however, only a handful will beckon you to revisit them, and many of the songs included are so forgettable that you often won't remember how they go until the drummer starts pounding the skins.

Another issue is the difficulty of the game. Saying that Rocks The 80's is too easy isn't quite correct, and one should keep in mind that forum posters declaring that the game is for babies are more likely just really freakin' good at Guitar Hero. For the purposes of this review, the game's Career mode was completed on Hard, with many songs then revisited on Expert difficulty. Many of the early songs on Hard were passed with a 5-star rating on their first try, but it should be noted that the reviewer is addicted to Guitar Hero like Lindsay Lohan to attention, and that the difficulty, while still uneven, ramps up considerably toward the end of the setlist.

Extreme's Play With Me might just be the most difficult Guitar Hero song yet, with fret hand stretches that reach from Green to Orange and back at lightning speeds and an end solo more brutal than Hangar 18 or Bark At The Moon. That said, there are quite a few songs that aren't particularly exciting to play. If you fall asleep playing We Got The Beat or Synchronicity II, don't feel too bad – your audience is way ahead of you. (Talk about weird choices for a Guitar Hero game...--ed)

What will turn many away from the game is how little else has changed from Guitar Hero II. The term expansion pack has never been more apt, as the changes outside of the song list are few and far between. Gameplay is exactly as it was in the last game, with no changes to the interface, core game mechanics, or multiplayer modes. Only six of GHII's characters have returned, all sporting new looks to match the decade they're in. The best, hands down, is the return of the Grim Ripper, now wearing 3D glasses and a giant clock necklace, ala Public Enemy's Flava Flav. There are no bonus tracks to unlock, and the guitars and finishes available are almost identical to the existing games. The venues in Rocks The 80's are also recycled from the previous game, with only a few cosmetic changes to their decor.

With so few changes from existing games, one has to wonder why these tracks aren't being released as downloadable content for the Xbox 360. Rocks The 80's retails for $49.99 for the PS2, which is awfully high considering the content included. The option for 360 owners to download these songs, even in the dreaded 3-song bundle format, seems like an easy way to give gamers the chance to avoid some of the sleepers in the songlist, while bringing in extra revenue. Maybe there are plans for this in the future? Keep your fingers crossed.