By Oo Gin Lee and Sherwin Loh

TALK about an unlikely hero.

The creation of Guitar Hero was first inspired by the love that the Japanese had for music games.

Electronics entertainment company RedOctane was making guitar peripherals for Japanese game GuitarFreaks and approached developer Harmonix in 2005 to create something similar.

And the rest is rock "n" roll history. The game was an instant hit and has spawned numerous sequels, selling 1.5 million copies to date.

If this is your first time having at go at the game, it's not a big deal if you have no musical talent whatsoever.

Essentially, you have a miniature guitar controller with five coloured fret buttons and a strum bar.

On your TV screen, you will see coloured circles moving downwards as the song is played. Simply jab the corresponding fret coloured button with your left hand and hit the strum bar with your right to "strike" the note.

Doing this in succession, in sync with the beat, rakes in the points.

Things get complicated when you have to tap double frets, switch between coloured frets and sometimes, when the circles come in rapid fire, you have to move your fingers really fast.

Whoever claims they have great hand-eye coordination should give this game a shot.

The latest, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, is basically a stand-alone expansion to Guitar Hero III: Rock Of Legends (GH3), which was the best-selling game in North America last year.

So while you won't need GH3 to play the Aerosmith version, what is disappointing is that outfits, guitars and other extras obtained from it cannot be carried forward to this game.

The continued success of the franchise is a significant step forward for publishers Activision and RedOctane, as it signifies the popularity of a game that was initially shunned by the music labels.

When the first Guitar Hero was launched, none of the recording labels wanted to license music rights to what was seen as a silly guitar game.

Today, the game is instrumental in helping bands sell their music.

One week after GH3 was launched, all of the songs in the game saw a sales boost of 250 per cent throughout its traditional retail and online channels.

Now, not only do bands want their songs to be featured in GH3, they want to appear as avatars in the game and to "cut their own album" in the Guitar Hero world.

A former Guns N' Roses guitarist made such a special appearance in GH3 and Guitar Hero: Metallica, based on the iconic heavy metal band, is next on the set list.

In real life, musicians are taking to the game. One such player is the bass guitarist of local band Electrico, Desmond Goh (above, left), 32.

"I was expecting a simple game, but it can be quite an adrenaline rush."

The game can also look rather complicated said twin brother Edmund Goh (above, right), who is a casual guitar player but has yet to pick up the game simply because it looks rather difficult.

"The game requires you to be very coordinated to keep up with the beats. But when you're strumming a guitar, it should be more relaxing, compared to what I've seen of the game."

Rocking good time for Aerosmith fans -By Oo Gin Lee

Platforms tested: Xbox 360, Wii

Gin Lee's rating: 8/10

IF YOU'RE a big fan of Aerosmith, then Guitar Hero Aerosmith will be game-cum-music nirvana.

This is RedOctane's first Guitar Hero version which focuses on a specific band's music instead of playing a collection of rock songs from different artistes.

In this game, you follow the career of the band from their first gig at Nipmuc High School's gymnasium to their first breakthrough at Max's Kansas City, where they were talent spotted, to the high point of their career, where they performed during the half-time of the Superbowl.

Each location is a chapter of five songs, of which the first two are songs from other groups which usually has a link to Aerosmith during that period of time and the other three are Aerosmith's numbers. On top of the master list of 31 songs, you can also earn credits as you rock the hall with your dazzling performances and buy additional songs from the band as well as singles by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry from the virtual shop in the game.

Also available are video clips of interviews of the band on the key moments in their career - from their first gig to their first recording deal to the band's split and return several years later.

I was initially disappointed when I discovered that the only Aerosmith song I was familiar with - I Don't Want To Miss A Thing from the Armageddon movie soundtrack - was not on the list.

Not being an Aerosmith fan, I did not enjoy the music selection as much as the mix in Guitar Hero 3, as I prefer songs in which I can hear the lyrics, not just noise.

For ageing bands like Aerosmith, this is a great opportunity to sell more to their existing fans as well as reach out to new audiences, especially the younger ones.

In age, I belong to another era. But after spending hours on this game, I even began to like some of the songs. You know what they say, the music gets to you.

I tried both the Wii and the Xbox 360 versions. While both play the same, the difference is that with the Wii, you put your Wii-mote into a slot in the guitar and use the built-in Bluetooth in the Wii-mote to talk with the console.

The Xbox 360 guitar, however, has its own built-in wireless chip.

With the Wii, you will hear beeps from the Wii-mote's tiny speaker when you miss a note, which is great for two-player battles so that you can hear your own notes better.

But Xbox 360 offers substantially better graphics because of its high-definition shine.

Uh... same old song and dance -By Sherwin Loh

Platform tested: Xbox 360

Sherwin's rating: 7/10

IF YOU are looking for a reinvention of the game, with one of rock music's top bands lending their likeness and voices, one of Aerosmith's signature tunes says it all - Dream On.

Despite being centred on Aerosmith's career, with over 30 songs from the band's music history, including another dozen by the likes of Joan Jett and Cheap Trick, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith plays exactly the same as the previous Guitar Hero games.

There are the same characters, guitars and game modes.

If you are a fan of the iconic band, just think of this game as your own personal journey into the band's history and enjoy the tracks featured. Otherwise, you have to be a fan of the game itself, and simply want new songs to jam to.

While it is impressive to see the motion captured likeness of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the game does not immediately put you in Perry's shoes. For each venue, players have to run through two opening acts, before Aerosmith takes to the stage.

And once you start, well, the first two track lists weren't that impressive. In fact, I was more psyched to play Joan Jett's I Hate Myself For Loving You than any of Aerosmith's songs.

Maybe that's why the producers included interviews with band members, recalling their rise to stardom, as a way to thematically package the whole game.

It is only when I unlocked later venues that things started to roll, with tracks like Love In An Elevator and Livin' On The Edge doing the trick.

It was also then that I started to realise this game is quite easy compared to GH3, and slightly more challenging that GH2.

There is also the issue of choice of tracks. Think Aerosmith and radio friendly tracks such as Cryin, Jaded and I Don't Want To Miss A Thing playing in your head but, guess what? The more pop infused songs are nowhere to be found.

Overall, it makes the compilation questionable and lacking content as even with the mix of bands, only 41 songs appear in the game, which is much lower than the 73 available in GH3.

A lack of game downloads for more music means players have no encore either.

Those looking to pick up another guitar controller for their collection might have to wait longer too, as the unit is identical to GH3, save for an exclusive face plate that spells out Aerosmith.

Despite the complaints though, there isn't a lot to fault about the game. The formula is still hitting the right notes and short of downloading new songs from Xbox Live in the United States, this is the only way local gamers can have new songs to jam to.