Accessories

Fun but way overpriced.
I have confirmed that this game is so totally not worth its retail price tag ($49.99 last time I was at Best Buy, I think it might be about $5.00 cheaper on Amazon). I guess I'll start with the negatives because those are easier to remember.

-There are only 30 songs total, as opposed to the previous games' 58 tracks. There are no unlockable tracks that you can buy in the store. You get the set 30 and that's it.
-Way too many obscure songs. I recognized most of the bands, but some of the songs they chose from certain bands are most definitely not their recognizable hits. Even some of the encores (which are supposed to be the super secret awesome songs that everybody knows and loves) were disappointing. Who the heck is Limozeen, anyway?
-While it's great that they got master tracks for The Warrior and I Wanna Rock (two of the better songs on the game), the master tracks on those songs fade out. Live bands don't fade out. It kind of killed my Rock Star mood when I discovered those two songs faded out. Surely they could have managed decent covers of those two songs with creative endings to compensate for the fade-out.
-Speaking of covers, I understand that the original version of Ballroom Blitz by Sweet did not come out in the 80s, but trying to throw in a cover of a crappy cover by freakin' Krokus was lame. They should have just picked a different song.
-The extras are limited. As I said, there are no extra songs to buy in the store. All the guitars you can buy in the store are the same as the guitars you can buy in GH3, as are all the skins for those guitars. The only other thing you can buy in the stores besides guitars and skins is an extra character, the Grim Ripper. There are no extra styles or outfits to buy for the characters. They have one 80s style, and that's it.
-While the playable characters were altered into 80s style clothing and hair, the stock band members were not. They all look the same as the previous GH games.
-The venues are not noticeably different. The only main change I noticed was that the venue that was the Vans Warped Tour in previous games changed to something called Rock for Safety, or something like that.
-The gameplay seems easier, which makes the lower levels somewhat boring. The only song I didn't 5-star on the first try was Seventeen by Winger on Medium, and that was more because I was distracted by something rather than the difficulty of the song. Perhaps Hard will still be difficult enough for me, but the way things have gone so far, I wouldn't be surprised if I actually try to play Expert.
-Lack of songs with female vocalists, which may just be a testament to the state of rock bands in the 80s (or ever). But still, if I'm remembering correctly there were only 3 songs out of the 30 that had female vocalists.

Now for the positives. Yeah, this list will probably be shorter, but the game is still good overall. It's just overpriced.

-It's still fun. It's Guitar Hero. It's addictive and fun, and there is really only one song I dislike enough to only play in order to advance through the levels--Krokus's cover of Ballroom Blitz. I don't mind the other songs at all and would be fine playing them multiple times if I needed to in order to get 5 stars.
-The 80s styles for the characters are pretty fun. I like the Grim Ripper's 3-D glasses. :op

Okay, yeah, definitely a short list. The game is definitely worth playing. It's just not worth buying for $50. I would suggest renting it or if you absolutely must own it, wait until you can find a really cheap used copy.

Rock the 80's
Very good game..I have only recently gotten into Guitar Hero, my wife is a huge fan of the series and she got me into playing them. This is by far my favorite of the 3 that I have played. (have not played GH3 yet)
Like all the GH series, its fairly easy to pick up if its your first try, and they have a very good selection of songs from the era.
If you like the GH series, you will love Encore. If you are new to the series, I would recommend starting off with GH1 and working your way up, because they get a little more difficult as you move up. But all in all.. a very fun game that I would recommend to people.

Buy this last, it's half a game by comparison
My brother in law happened to have this sitting around and let us have it. It's just like Guitar Hero 2 except it about half the game. It has less songs, and no extra songs you can buy. It has half the characters and the ones it does have are just new outfits on the guitar hero 2 characters. It has a bunch of good songs on it, but it's value should be about 1/2 of a full game since it took about as much work to make as an expansion pack. Think of it as an expansion pack for Guitar Hero 2.

One Word: LAZY
When this first came out, I almost bought it, but at the last second I changed my mind and rented it later. I'm glad I did.

This game is nothing but GH2 with 80's window dressing. I mean, the opening sequence is EXACTLY THE SAME, only the characters are now sporting 80's styles. As soon as I saw that, I got a bad feeling, and it only got worse from there. Everything--and I do mean EVERYTHING--is right out of GH2. I couldn't even make it through the first round before quitting in digust. This is nothing but pure laziness on the creators' part, just a desperate attempt to milk some more money out of this franchise.

Guitar Hero 80s
This game appears to be easy at first but I am failing songs on Hard and have just a few racked up for Extreme. It's got a great song selection if you are a fan of 80s music. It's a good game. Graphics and concepts much more simple but still very fun.