The original Guitar Hero gave gamers – even those with no musical background - the chance to wow the crowds as they performed onstage with an emergent rock band. This experience was enhanced through the use of a guitar-shaped controller – a robust, miniature version of Gibson's classic SG model which was one of the game's major selling points. With its fret buttons, strum bar and even a working whammy bar, the peripheral supplied the look and feel of a real guitar without having to actually know how to play one.

The Guitar Hero II package includes a cherry red SG guitar controller; however the game is entirely compatible with the original one and you can buy Guitar Hero II on its own if you prefer. For those wanting more room to strut their stuff a wireless guitar controller is now available. The Xbox 360 version will ship with a white X-plorer guitar – the kind you'd expect to see in the hands of a 'hair metal' lead guitarist. While we're still on the topic of guitars, Guitar Hero II features improved access to the 'lefty flip' option, which is good news for all you southpaw strummers out there. While it is possible to play both Guitar Hero games with standard PS2 DualShock controllers, we don't recommend it. Why deprive yourself of the extra challenge and fun of the purpose-built peripheral?

The diverse collection of guitarist stereotypes from Guitar Hero reprise their roles, and Guitar Hero II boasts some new faces, venues, tracks, unlockables and features that set it apart from its predecessor. For starters, there is now a selection of rhythm, lead & bass parts; if you're playing in multiplayer cooperative mode, one guitarist will play lead while the other plays rhythm or bass. The icing on the cake here is that each player can independently adjust the difficulty level to suit their individual skill level.

If you'd rather go head to head with an opponent than make beautiful music together, there are two Face-off options. The less competitive standard Face-off is the classic versus mode from Guitar Hero, where both players alternate play from the same note chart. Once again, each player can adjust the difficulty level to suit. Pro Face-off is slightly different; after unlocking it by first completing Career Mode (on any level); both guitarists play exactly the same note chart at exactly the same difficulty.

Another new and most welcome addition is the Practice mode, which allows you to choose any unlocked track and practice it – either in its entirety or by section. Even better, you can select your playing speed, from normal right down to a slow crawl to nail those really tricky riffs and solo passages.

The more advanced techniques, such as hammer-ons and pull-offs seem to be more forgiving, but we found the overall difficulty to be higher than that of the original Guitar Hero. A session in Practice mode certainly helps improve your skills; nevertheless some of the tracks are still incredibly complex, and executing them successfully requires good timing and coordination in equal measures.

Career Mode returns, with its journey of ever-increasing fame, fortune and challenge as your band travels from gig to gig - initially at grungy dives but onward an upward to fancier venues. The scenario from Guitar Hero also applies here: complete a certain amount of songs at each venue to progress. The addition of the Encore, which unlocks another song at the end of each set, makes for an extra level of excitement.

These next few screenshots are from the Xbox 360 version.

Money earned from your gigs can be spent at the shop, unlocking new tracks, guitarists, stage outfits and other goodies. Any purchased tracks are then available for play in all modes, including Quick Play, which is a simple matter of choosing your song and difficulty level, and (stage)diving right in.

Call us nitpickers, but we noticed the classic track "You Really Got Me" is attributed to Van Halen. Certainly, Van Halen's version is the one used on Guitar Hero II; however this is actually a cover of Ray Davies' (The Kinks) original 1964 hit single, and no mention is made of this during play. We would have liked to seen credit given where it was due – onscreen instead of tucked away at the back of the manual.

As you might expect from a next generation platform, the Xbox 360 version features better graphics and 10 additional exclusive tracks, but beneath the glossy exterior it's basically the same beast. One obvious advantage in choosing the Xbox 360 version lies with the downloadable new content from the Xbox Live Marketplace. You'll also be able to earn bragging rights by posting your best scores on the online leaderboard. And the X-plorer guitar isn't a bad draw card, either!

Very rarely do we see a sequel that outshines its predecessor in almost every way. RedOctane have managed to do just this with Guitar Hero II by refining their successful formula; retaining all of the crowd pleasing features while adding enough new content to keep fans of the original hungry for more. It's a fantastic party game where all closet rock gods and goddesses can really let their hair down. Thoroughly recommended.

Main Tracklist:

Danzig--"Mother"
Cheap Trick--"Surrender"
Motley Crue--"Shout at the Devil"
Wolfmother--"Woman"
Encore: Spinal Tap--"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"
Kiss--"Strutter"
Nirvana--"Heart-Shaped Box"
Police--"Message in a Bottle"
Van Halen--"You Really Got Me"
Encore: Kansas--"Carry on Wayward Son"
Alice in Chains--"Them Bones"
Foo Fighters--"Monkey Wrench"
Iggy Pop and the Stooges--"Search and Destroy"
Pretenders--"Tattooed Love Boys"
Encore: Black Sabbath--"War Pigs"
Butthole Surfers--"Who Was in My Room Last Night"
Mathew Sweet--"Girlfriend"
Rolling Stones--"Can't You Hear Me Knockin'"
Warrant--"Cherry Pie"
Encore: Guns N' Roses--Sweet Child O' Mine
Primus--"John the Fisherman"
Rage Against the Machine--"Killing in the Name Of"
Sword--"Freya"
Thin Lizzy--"Bad Reputation"
Encore: Aerosmtih--Last Child
Allman Brothers--"Jessica"
Heart--"Crazy on You"
Stone Temple Pilots--"Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart"
Stray Cats--"Rock This Town"
Encore: Jane's Addiction--"Stop"
Anthrax--"Madhouse"
Lamb of God--"Laid to Rest"
Living End--"Carry Me Home"
Reverend Horton Heat--"Psychobilly Freakout"
Encore: Rush--"YYZ"
Avenged Sevenfold--"Beast and the Harlot"
Dick Dale--"Misirlou"
Megadeth--"Hangar 18"
Suicidal Tendencies--"Institutionalized"
Encore: Lynyrd Skynyrd--"Free Bird"