Summary
Guitar Herodefined the rhythm game genre since its first release in the mid 2000s. The game itself was fun, entertaining, and even competitive. Being able to play the guitar track along with many famous songs made this game an instant hit. The game’s controller was uniquely shaped into a guitar, immediately capturing everyone’s interest and making you feel like a rock star.
Depending on how well you played the song, you are given a score at the end. That is if you managed not to get booed off the stage for messing up too many times, of course, giving the game its classic arcade feel. There were many main installments and expansions to the Guitar Hero game series, but not all of them were smash hits.
Updated July 12, 2025, by Daniel Martinez:Guitar Hero is undoubtedly one of the biggest games and influences that defined the rhythm game genre. What other game at the time would allow you to jam out like a rock star with a guitar-shaped controller and rock out some of the biggest hits? While it may have seemed like the hype around the game died down, there was still a huge fanbase hoping to see it make a comeback, and thanks toFortnite’s latest gamemode, Fortnite Festival, you will be able to relive the glory of rocking out like you did on both Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
13Guitar Hero: Van Halen
Running With The Devil
Guitar Hero: Van Halen was one of the three expansion games that focused on the career of one of the biggest rock bands in history. While it might’ve been the least favored among the band-focused games, it still made us ‘Jump’ to the songs on there.
There were 25 of Van Halen’s songs that you could play, including some of their biggest hits, like ‘Eruption” and ‘You Really Got Me’. You could also play along to nineteen other songs by various artists, such as Billy Idol, Tenacious D, and The Offspring.
12Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s
Twisted Sister Said It Best With ‘I Wanna Rock’
If you love ’80s rock music, then you are in luck because another game that launched in the Guitar Hero series was Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. Even though it was officially the third installment in the series, it was treated more like an expansion pack for its smaller setlist.
That didn’t stop the game from featuring some of the biggest songs from the ’80s. You could shred out hit songs on your guitar controller from bands like Iron Maiden, A Flock of Seagulls, Ratt, Poison, Twisted Sister, and more.
11Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades
Some Of The Best Songs Across The Decades
While Guitar Hero was big on consoles like PlayStation and Xbox, theNintendo DSalso got its own series of Guitar Hero, known as On Tour. The second installment, On Tour Decades, featured five songs from each decade starting from the ’70s.
To play the game on the Nintendo DS, you had to use a guitar grip attachment to play along with the songs. There were plenty of hit songs to play along to from bands such as Journey, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Queen, just to name a few.
10Guitar Hero: Smash Hits
Smash Hits With A Full Band
Guitar Hero: Smash Hits brought together the best songs from the first five games in the series. All of these beloved songs would be played in some of the world’s most famous venues and Wonders.
What also helped make this game so much fun was the inclusion of adding a full band,such as singingand drums. This wasn’t the first Guitar Hero game to introduce the full band lineup, but being able to play the greatest hits of the series so far made it even more fun.
9Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
You Don’t Want To Miss A Thing With This Game
Aerosmith was one of the biggest bands in the ’70s and has been turning out hits to the present day. While this is one of three band-titled games, it is the second-best received, beating Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
There are 29 different Aerosmith songs to play from, and the game follows the band’s rough chronological rise to success with its songs. There are an additional 12 songs from bands that either inspired Aerosmith or played with them. While this was a well-received game, many fans believed that GH not including some of the band’s bigger hits added to the lackluster reception of the game.
8Guitar Hero: Live
Rock Out In Front Of An Audience
Guitar Hero: Live is the seventh installment in the main game series and was supposed to be a reboot. It did well, but it wasn’t the reboot the fans orActivisionhoped for. Despite that, it is still a solid game with a few new things.
The game brought out a new guitar controller with a sixth button and two modes. Many modern bands were featured in the game, and the second game mode, known as GHTV, allowed fans to play songs to music or live video from that artist. Unfortunately, since the game’s launch in 2015, no other Guitar Hero games continued in the reboot.
7Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock
Defeat The Beast
The sixth installment in the main game series is Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. This game brought a whole new story mode specifically for this game, where you recruit eight characters to defeat the antagonist, “The Beast.”
This game tried to stand apart from other Guitar Hero installments by adding a variety of artists, which totaled 93 songs for the game. Also at the time,Rock Bandwas another similar rhythm game that was a big competitor for the series.
6Guitar Hero: Metallica
A Heavy Metal Masterpiece
One of the three installments in the GH series that followed a band’s career was Guitar Hero: Metallica. This wasn’t just another GH game, but one that both fans and critics loved and agreed is one of the best in the series.
There are many hit songs from both Metallica and other featured bands that really showcased their career to that point. 28 of Metallica’s songs were featured, and fans couldplay all instrumentson the game. Motion capture of the band added into the game also helped the experience of playing as Metallica as well.
5Guitar Hero: World Tour
The Guitar Hero Game That Took The Whole Band On Tour
Guitar Hero: World Tour, also known as Guitar Hero 4, is the fourth installment in the main game series. It is also the first game to introduce vocals and percussion, offering a microphone, drum kit, and guitar controller.
The addition of the new instruments helped add to the game, and it tried to compete with Rock Band. New modes, such as Band Career Mode,a music studio, and extensive character customization, were included. The game also featured an 86-song soundtrack, and most of the songs were ones that were wanted but not included in Guitar Hero 3.
4Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock
Introduced The Hardest Song In Guitar Hero History
Guitar Hero 3 is one of the top games in the series due to its soundtrack and gameplay, which the previous two installments are known for. The game offered the ability to play lead or rhythm guitar and bass on the songs.
In addition to having a great set list, the game also gave fans a guitar battle from both Slash of Guns N’ Roses and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, who could also be playable characters. The game also had bundles for its launch, which introduced a new controller modeled after a black Les Paul guitar. GH3 also included one of the hardest songs to play in the series: Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce
