If you are wondering why Guitar Hero 5 has been mentioned so many times, it is only because Band Hero really isn’t any different of a game at its core. It certainly has a pop-inspired coat of paint and the cutscenes are much in the style of a Flash-animated Saturday morning cartoon that fits the motif, but when you get down to brass tacks the gameplay itself isn’t much different. On one hand this means that a younger audience or simply a series newcomer will get the same quality of gameplay only in a package catered to be more accessible towards someone who was born in or close to the 21st century, but on the other if Guitar Hero 5 is already in your stable of rhythm games it is certainly hard to see it as much more than an overpriced track pack.

What makes the game so kid-friendly? Part of it comes in the form of being able to lock out downloaded / imported songs from other titles in the series, leaving you with just the Band Hero songs as well as anything downloaded from GHTunes (and since those are sans vocals, it’s hard to see any of them being able to contain questionable content). The Band Hero song list contains a variety of currently popular artists such as Fall Out Boy, Taylor Swift, 3 Doors Down, N.E.R.D., and others albeit with some edits to lyrics here and there. These edits are certainly silly at times, such as in Sugar, We’re Going Down in which “in your jeans” is edited out. The songs are certainly sanitized to be made safer for younger ears, but sometimes in a seemingly overzealous manner.

If you are looking for a solid entry point into the rhythm game craze or have some youngsters running around that you don’t exactly want to expose to some of the more mature music in other rhythm games Band Hero is a solid choice. It’s selection of music is aimed squarely at the pop music enthusiast with an eye towards keeping things tame, and the game’s subtle tweaks means that even the youngest or least skilled budding musician can grab a guitar and play along without worry. However, for the older audience or those who are already avid Hero series enthusiasts it is hard to recommend Band Hero, as unless its track list really strikes your fancy there really isn’t enough to it that sets it apart from the games you likely already own.