THE REVIEW: "Guitar Hero: World Tour" vs. "Rock Band 2"

Gameplay: Number of players for each: 4. Instruments for each include drums, guitar, bass and microphone.

Guitar: "Guitar Hero: World Tour" has the better guitar. The "Rock Band 2" guitar got an upgrade over the very bad attempt for the first release, but it isn't nearly as good as the "GHWT" offering. The new touchpad on the "GHWT" guitar puts it way over the top.

Drums: "GHWT" adds cymbals, which is a nice touch, because it seems like maybe you have some semblance of a real drum kit. The "GHWT" kit is also quieter, which means you can hear the game rather than the ping of your plastic drums. But the "Rock Band 2" drum kit feels sturdier. Perhaps it's because "Rock Band" had a second chance to get it right and "GHWT" is taking its first shot at drums.

Vocals: "GHWT" isn't much different than with "Rock Band 2". It's nice to be able to improvise in "GHWT" but "Rock Band" has stayed mostly unchanged, if not made easier.

Winner: "Rock Band." Their interface got it right the first time and they were smart enough to recognize that.

Number of songs:

"Rock Band 2": 84 songs that range in quality from "Who is that?" to "Great song!" But you can import 55 songs from the first "Rock Band" and your downloaded songs.

"Guitar Hero: World Tour": 86 songs that range from good to great. Epic track: "Hotel California."

Winner: "Guitar Hero." They have a far better quality of songs.

Extra features:

"Rock Band 2" features both "World Tour" and "Battle of the Bands." "Rock Band 2" inspires you to call your friends and family over to rock and sound and act foolish. "Guitar Hero: World Tour" seems to lend itself to isolation much like the earlier versions of the series. "GHWT" has a difficult multiplayer and didn't learn from "Rock Band's" first mistake — if one person fails, the whole group fails. "Rock Band 2" fixes that with the new "No Fail Mode." "GHWT" does have a new innovative feature where you can create custom tracks. This is a fantastic addition and once they work it out completely "Rock Band" will have some really stiff competition.

Winner: "Rock Band 2."

Graphics