"Terminology" and "Generations" also redirects here.
For each major release of the Guitar Hero series, new game modes and gameplay elements are included in the newly released title as they carry over previously added features or tweak previous features, with the exception of the rebooted Guitar Hero Live.
Two 256×192 px (4:3) screens at standard position without the Guitar Grip. With the Guitar Grip inserted before boot, the screens are rotated at -90° (192×256 px, 3:4) each
Under "Abilities" for Guitar, if in green, then additional Star Power/Hero Power can be acquired while using Star Power/Hero Power. If in orange, then additional Star Power cannot be acquired while using Star Power so time your Star Power activations wisely or you'll miss Star Power phrases that are disabled while Star Power is active.
Under "HOPOs?", any game listed in orange means that HOPO notes only appear near other notes less than an eighth note (song dependent) distance. If in green, then the game supports Forced HOPO/strum notes and are easier to tap.
Under "Controllers", any game supporting standard gaming controllers ("gamepads") for Guitar and Bass will be green, keyboards and cellular keypads will be orange, otherwise the game on Guitar/Bass only supports guitar controllers (on console/PC), Guitar Grip (on Nintendo DS), or touchscreen for mobile devices without physical controls.
^a Not every song in Guitar Hero Arcade supports Beginner difficulty. Songs that don't support Beginner instead use the Easy difficulty despite a message saying you can strum without holding frets.
^b Open long notes are coded in Guitar Hero Live but remained unused for the in-game setlist and GHTV songs. However, they are available and playable in GHTV Reloadedcustom songs.
c. 1234567891011 "Low-quality" versions of Guitar Hero Mobile games games have less graphics than the "high-quality" versions, may lack a Medium difficulty, and may lack other features including in-game achievements, unlockable instruments, and online features.
Expert difficulty in the Guitar Hero Mobile series does not feature every audible note, making it more like "Hard" difficulty on three lanes.
The first Guitar Hero video game developed by Harmonix that was inspired by Konami's GuitarFreaks set the foundations for the Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero introduced, that will be carried over in every console Guitar Hero video game onward:
Game modes
Career, the story mode of the Guitar Hero franchise.
Quick Play, where players can freely play all of their unlocked songs.
Basic notes: Also known as "strum notes", these are gem notes with a black ring around the top of the gem. To play strum notes, hold the corresponding fret button(s) and strum up or down as it crosses the fret line. Tip: You may also hold frets left of a single note to still play a single note as long as its fret is also held.
Chord: Two strum notes that come down together in the same row are known as "chords". Hold both frets down and no other button to strum them.
Hammer-ons and Pull-offs (HOPOs): An advanced technique that allows players to tap nearby single gem notes without a black ring on top (occurs at a note length distance of 1/12th or less).
Unique for the first Guitar Hero game's HOPO mechanic that was removed in Guitar Hero II onward was that in Guitar Hero, previous note(s) must be held before hammering on to a HOPO note on the right for the hammer-on technique to register on a HOPO note. Due to this, and due to the fact that the hitbox for hammering notes is small in the classic games, players usually strum most HOPO notes during fast guitar solos.
Long notes: Also known as "sustains", these are gem notes with a lengthy tail. To completely play a long note, hold the corresponding fret button(s) and strum up or down as it crosses the fret line, then keep the fret(s) held until the end of the tail passes the target line. The player's score continuously increases as long as the frets are held on a sustained note/chord.
Scoring: A single note is worth 50 points. Chords are worth the number of notes attached to them (2 notes in a chord = 100 points, 3 notes in a chord = 150 points). 3-note chords are the biggest chords to be seen until Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Multiplier: For every 10 notes hit consecutively (also known as a "note streak of 10") without breaking a combo, the player's multiplier increases by one level, up to x4 after 40 notes hit consecutively ("40 note streak").
Star Power: Occasionally, a group of gem notes will be shaped stars, slowly spinning around. This group of star gems is referred to as "Star Power phrases". Successfully completing a Star Power phrase without breaking a combo will add 25% energy to the player's Star Power Meter. At 50% Star Power, the player can activate the Star Power ability which doubles the player's multiplier (up to a maximum x8) until the meter is drained of energy.
Star rating: At the end of the song, the player is graded on their high score on a scale of x out of 5 stars, but the number of stars that the player could obtain is logically between 3 to 5 stars based on their high score.
Whammying: The whammy bar, also known as a tremolo bar, is a bar on the head of a guitar that, when pushed, reduces the pitch/frequency of the strummed guitar. On a Guitar Hero controller, pressing down on the whammy bar (or using the left analog stick of a DualShock 2) after strumming a long note will widen the tail and reduce the guitar audio's pitch. When performed on a starred long note during a Star Power phrase, the player's Star Power Meter continually fills up. Note: It is a common misconception that whammying accelerates the increase of the player's score; it's only used to acquire more Star Power energy.
In the classic Guitar Hero games, the whammy bar only functions after hitting a long note. Pressing the whammy bar before a long note will prevent the note from being whammyied. Whether this is intentional or an accidental issue, it was fixed by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
Rock Meter: A performance system. Each time you successfully hit a note, the needle of the Rock Meter gauge slowly moves toward the right green zone, indicating that you are performing well and the crowd will be cheering. However, making mistakes such as missing notes or mishitting notes will greatly move the needle of Rock Meter gauge towards the left red, danger zone, indicating that you are performing badly and the crowd will be booing you off stage, ending the song on a failure with no scores saved.
Other features
Cheat Codes: Tapping certain combinations of buttons on the main menu may activate a cheat or modifier during gameplay.
Easy uses only the first three GRY frets and has the least number of notes available. Chords are rare.
Medium uses the first four GRYB frets and has more notes than Easy but less notes than Hard. Chords are slightly more common.
Hard difficulty uses all five GRYBO frets and has more notes than Medium, but less notes than Expert. Chords are more common.
Expert difficult uses all five frets and has every audible notes/chords charted (with few exceptions for gameplay balancing such as "Bark at the Moon").
Lefty Flip: Flips the GRYBO frets/notes to OBYRG to assist left-handed/southpaw users playing with a guitar controller that has the neck of the guitar facing right.
Unlockables: Earn money performing well in Career to purchase characters, guitars, songs, videos, and more from the Unlock Shop.
Borrowing the graphics style of Guitar Hero and everything else it had (minus the strict HOPO mechanic), Guitar Hero II has made several new improvements and new game features, most of which are also carried to the next release, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, the last Guitar Hero game Harmonix developed before Harmonix developed the Rock Band franchise, which borrows elements from the Guitar Hero series.
Cooperative: Two players play together on Guitar and Bass, or Lead and Rhythm on certain songs. See "New playable tracks" in "Gameplay elements" for more information on these new playable tracks.
Pro Face-Off: Two players play against each other on Guitar throughout an entire song.
Practice: Placed in the "Training" menu option alongside Tutorials, this game mode allows a player to play songs without a Rock Meter (players cannot fail songs in Practice) as well as playing certain section(s) of a song and at a slower speed to help practice certain section(s) of a song.
Gameplay elements
New playable tracks: Bass, Lead, and Rhythm, depending on the selection of song. These can only be played in Cooperative or Practice.
Refined Hammer-ons and Pull-offs (HOPOs) system: Previous note(s) no longer needs to be held to pull off hammer-ons and pull-offs. HOPOS are a bit easier to play now but the hitbox to tap HOPOs without strumming is still just as low as the first game, but more playable.
3-note chords: The first Guitar Hero games' songs only had 2-note chords. 3-note chords started in Guitar Hero II. Hold the three corresponding fret buttons and strum to play them.
Other features
Video calibration: Some televisions or monitors may have a video delay that would normally make Guitar Hero unplayable. This feature the video delay to accurately play the game visually.
Neversoft's first Guitar Hero video game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock made some huge improvements in the game engine to make the game much easier and smoother to play than its predecessors, and added several new features. All of its new improvements, in combination with its soundtrack, made Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock the most popular and most played Guitar Hero video game to date.
Guitar Battle: A game mode where the player battles against another player (in multiplayer) or against the A.I. in a boss battle in Career. In place of Star Power phrases, there are Battle Power-Up phrases where players can earn random power-ups to use against their opponent to defeat their opponent. If both players survive by the end of a Guitar Battle, they replay the song in a Sudden Death where the Battle Power-Ups are replaced with Sudden Death ability that will continuously drains the opponent's Rock Meter until they lose.
Improved hitboxes for all note types and a smoother gaming experience.
Whammying improvement: The whammy bar can now be pressed/held before sustained notes. In the previous games, pressing/holding a whammy bar before a sustained note prevented the sustained note from being whammied until the axis was at neutral position.
Other features
Cheats menu: Instead of on the main menu, cheats have their own menu where the player can input button combinations to unlock them and are toggleable.
Audio calibration: In addition to video calibration, audio delay can now be calibrated as well to allow the player to set a more accurate delay for their inputs to register on certain televisions and monitors with delay issues. This feature, however, is not available in the PlayStation 2 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock or Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, but video calibration is still available.
The Guitar Hero: On Tour series is a series of Guitar Hero games on a Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite make use of a peripheral called the Guitar Grip, which features four colored GRYB fret buttons to play Guitar Hero (and Band Hero) on a Nintendo DS. Guitar Hero features and elements from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock are carried over to these portable-ized titles while Band Hero for Nintendo DS carries also carry gameplay elements from the newer Guitar Hero games including the instruments and character customization.
New Guitar Duel abilities: Renamed from Guitar Battle for this series of Guitar Hero games, Guitar Duels in the On Tour series have new abilities, some that utilizes the Nintendo DS's design like the "Screen Flip" power-up (based on "Lefty Flip") and the Nintendo DS's microphone like "Pyrotechnics", and writing on the touchscreen like "Signature".
HOPOs in a row?: Few songs in Guitar Hero: On Tour would feature HOPO notes consecutively on the same fret. Whether this is intentional or not as a bug, re-tapping the same note without strumming while in a combo may trigger it.
Competing with the rival video game series Rock Band developed by Harmonix, the original developer of Guitar Hero, Neversoft took Guitar Hero to the next step with the fourth main Guitar Hero title Guitar Hero World Tour into band gameplay similar to Rock Band, introducing 5-lane Drums and Vocals. On top of that, with the custom songs craze for indie PC rhythm games inspired by Guitar Hero that occurred with in 2006–2008 like Frets on Fire, Freetar, and Guitar Zero, Guitar Hero World Tour introduced its own custom song system in the form of GHTunes, created through the in-game Music Studio editors.
Rock Star Creator: Create and customize your own musicians and their instruments. You can also create a band logo.
(Online) multiplayer support between 2–4 players
A change in Battle Mode: Battle mode (Guitar Battle in previous game) now has a "Do-or-Die" instead of "Sudden Death" when players survive a song. In "Do-or-Die", instead of the Death Drain battle power-up draining players' Rock Meter, the song gets faster, repeats, and gets faster until one player is left standing.
Mii Freestyle: Exclusive in the Wii version is Mii Freestyle, a game mode where the player can use their Miis as their characters as they improvise songs via the guitar and drum controllers or using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.
Gameplay elements
New playable instrument tracks and Band gameplay. Band is an updated cooperative game mode where up to 4 players of any instrument can play together, aiming for a high score together. Each instrument also have their own Career including Band, each having their own order of setlist based on their instrument's/overall band difficulty.
Drums: 5-lane Drums gameplay using the official Guitar Hero World Tour drumkit. Guitar Guitar Hero World Tour supports not only its own 5-lane Drums gameplay with its proprietary drumkit, but also supports 4-lane Drums when using a Rock Band drumkit.
Guitar & Bass: These instruments can no longer be played on a gamepad; a guitar controller is required. Furthermore, playable Lead and Rhythm tracks are not available in these band-styled Guitar Hero games.
Extended sustains: Extended sustains are long notes that has its tail passing by notes right of it. While the player is holding the sustained fret, they can still strum and tap other notes during an extended sustain without the sustain breaking, as long as the player is in a combo, otherwise the sustain breaks as well.
Slider notes: Slider notes appear as transparent gem notes that act as HOPO notes except they can be tapped at any time even if a combo breaks. They can optionally be strummed too. Additionally, the Guitar Hero World Tour Wireless Guitar Controller has a slider bar on the middle of neck that can be touched to play slider notes.
Open notes: Exclusive to Bass are open notes, which are purple bars, serving as the lowest note for Bass. Open notes are played by simply strumming them without holding any frets. Open notes will not register if a fret is held.
Band: Replacing Co-op is Band, where up to four players of any instrument can play together, aiming for a high score together.
Other features and changes
Beginner difficulty: Below Easy difficulty is now Beginner difficulty. Beginner difficulty transforms all Easy difficulty's notes into rainbow bars. These rainbow bars can be played while holding or not holding any fret. As long as rainbow bars are strummed regardless of any frets are held or not, they'll register.
Changes for Guitar Battles: If both players survive a Guitar Battle, instead of "Sudden Death" and the Death Drain power-up that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith had, both players go into a "Do-or-Die" where the song repeats itself but gets faster and faster and some battle power-ups' effects last longer.
Acquire Star Power while in Star Power: Star Power phrases now exists while the player is in Star Power. In the previous title when Star Power is activated, upcoming Star Power phrases would be disabled until the Star Power meter is empty.
Countdown: Previously, unpausing the game puts the player back into gameplay right away, which can put players off-guard to miss incoming notes. As of Guitar Hero World Tour, unpausing the game now adds a short timer to give player(s) time to react to incoming notes when the game completely unpauses. This feature can be toggled on/off in the options menu and is "on" by default.
Expert+ difficulty on Drums: Guitar Hero: Metallica introduced another difficulty level, exclusive to Drums: Expert+ (written as "Expert +" in it), which utilizes double bass drum kicks. When there is a stream of bass drum notes in a song (1/16th note distance or less consecutively), Expert difficulty ignores every other bass drum kick while Expert+ includes them. This difficulty is not available for Music Studiocustom songs and so Expert will still utilize all bass drum kick notes for Music Studio custom songs.
Other features
Trophies support for the PlayStation 3 version: While Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and Guitar Hero World Tour had Xbox Live achievements support on Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 versions were never updated to include Trophy support when the Trophy system was implemented in PlayStation Network. Every Guitar Hero video game from Guitar Hero: Metallica onward supports PlayStation Network's Trophy system.
Changes for Guitar Battles: Exclusively in this game to reference Metallica's song names, "Amp Overload" battle power-up is renamed to "Ride the Lightning", "Broken String" is renamed to "Damage Inc.", "Whammy Bar" is renamed to "Trapped Under Ice" and it freezes the opponent's fret line but like with "Whammy Bar", the whammy bar is used to break the ice. Guitar Hero: Metallica also introduced a new battle-up called "Fade to Black" (also a song name reference), which black outs the opposing player's screen for a short period of time. "Fade to Black" battle power-up would then renamed to "Blackout" in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits and Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Guitar Hero 5 is the start of the final generation of the 2000s Guitar Hero titles, which includes new gameplay features and updated game modes. The console version of Band Hero and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock also include these features.
GHStudio: GHStudio is an the Music Studio that includes two updated editing tools: GHJam (previously "Recording Studio") and GHMix 2.0 (previously "GHMix"). Changes will be listed below. These updated song editors are also featured in Band Hero and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. New editing features include new instrumental effects, Star Power support (including adding Star Power phrases per measure), interchangeable instruments (Lead/Rhythm for Guitar, Bass/Keyboard for Bass) per measure, extended sustains via copy/pasting the long note behind other notes, and more.
Party Play: During a song, new players can join together in a band or drop out even in the middle of a song, and switch instruments or difficulty levels while playing.
RockFest: Updated (online) multiplayer featuring several multiplayer game modes that 2–8 players can play together:
Do-or-Die: In this multiplayer game mode, when a player misses a note, they receive a strike. After three strikes, the player is eliminated during a section of the song and returns for the next section/checkpoint. Using Star Power removes strikes from the player and make them invincible during the duration of Star Power. After passing by certain checkpoints/sections, surviving players receiving a point (separate from scores). The player with the most points wins.
Elimination: In this multiplayer game mode, at certain checkpoints during a song, the player with the lowest score at that point instantly loses; eliminated from the song, and cannot participate for the rest of the song. The player with the highest score by the end is the winner.
Momentum: In this multiplayer game mode, players cannot select their own difficulty level and difficulty level is automatically scaled based on their performance. Players start off on Medium difficulty and the player performs well, their difficulty increases towards Expert, and if they are making mistakes, their difficulty decreases towards Beginner difficulty.
Perfectionist: In this multiplayer game mode, players try playing as perfectly as possible. At the end of each section, player(s) with the best accuracy in that section receives a point. The player with the most points by the end of the song wins.
Pro Face-Off: Like with the previous games' Pro Face-Off mode, the player with the highest score by the end of the song wins.
Streakers: Players earn points (unrelated to score) for holding note streaks. The higher the multiplier, the more points the player will earn. The player with the most points by the end of the song wins.
Extended sustains: For the first time on Nintendo DS since introduced in Guitar Hero World Tour, hold notes can now pass other notes.
New adjustment: Extended sustains can now be performed from right to left as well, referred to as "reverse extended sustains" by fans.
Stage Stunts: Using the touchscreen, play some quick minigames during songs to earn extra points. Stage stunts include:
Stage Dive: Time your jump correctly by tapping the screen when the moving needle is in the middle of the vertical meter to dive off the stage and be caught into the crowd. Timing your jump when the needle is not in the center hit zone will cause your character to land flat in the pit and ends in failure.
Crowd Surf: Use the touchscreen to carefully drag your character over the crowd onto the stage. Try not to fall off the crowd or the stunt ends in failure.
Swag Giveaway: Use the touchscreen to flick and throw merchandise ("swag") at three crowd members reaching out for swag. Stunt ends in failure when timer runs out.
Smash Stuff: Use the touchscreen to smash a guitar over a guitar amp over and over until it breaks. Stunt ends in failure if the amp isn't completely broken before timer ends.
High Fives: Use the touchscreen to give high fives to the audience that have their hands raised. Try not to miss any raised hands or the stunt ends in failure.
Save a Roadie: Use the touchscreen to keep pulling a roadie up from the pit. Stunt ends in failure when timer runs out before the roadie is saved.
Other features
Awards: Replacing Career in this Nintendo DS title are in-game awards (similar to achievements) that gives you various rewards.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock was the final Guitar Hero game released during the original run of the series with the GRYBO fret layout. As such, it would have the most game modes and the every gameplay element from the previous games minus Lead and Rhythm tracks. Additionally, new features and modes were added in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, making it the most-contented Guitar Hero video game.
Game modes
Momentum+: RockFest has one new multiplayer game mode called Momentum+, a variation of the Momentum game mode. Changes between difficulties are faster.
Quickplay+: New Star Challenges are available in this updated Quickplay mode including Power Challenges that makes use of certain Quest mode abilities.
Roadie Play: A group of Wii-exclusive Roadie game modes. In addition to Roadie Battle from Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero, within Roadie Play are also:
Roadie Quickplay+: Roadies assist rockers in challenges in Quickplay+.
Roadie Setlist Manager: Allows players to create a setlist and Roadie Fun Facts can be viewed in Party Play.
Quest: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock's Career mode. Instead of playing through venues, quest mode is more story driven. The Demi-God of Rock was kidnapped and it's up to the game's characters to use their abilities to save him and defeat "The Beast". The player plays through each characters tiers, using those character's unique abilities during their songs.
Ghost notes for Drums: Transparent gem notes available in Drums on Expert+ that give the player extra points when tapped lightly.
Sustainedopen notes for Bass: Open notes on bass can now have a wide purple tail, treated as any other sustained note, continually giving the player points as long as a fret is not held and can be whammied for more Star Power during Star Power phrases.
Warrior Mode abilities that can be used in Quest and Power Challenges and are upgradeable during Quest:
"Speed Freak": Johnny Napalm's ability that keeps the minimum multiplier at X2 (X3 with "Speed Freak+"). Keeping the multiplier at least X3 gives additional Power Stars.
"Star Power Generator": Echo Tesla's ability that gives the player 5% Star Power energy (or 10% with "Star Power Generator+") every 10 note streak. Keeping a note streak gives additional Power Stars.
"Crowd Hyper": Judy Nails's ability that starts the player's Rock Meter in the middle green area. Overflowing the Rock Meter will earn the player additional Power Stars.
"Star Power Amplifier": Austin Tejas's ability that makes Star Power energy acquired from completing Star Power phrases from 25% to 50% (100% with "Star Power Amplifier+").
"Star Power Nova": Pandora's ability that changes the multiplier for Star Power from X2 to X3 (X6 with "Super Power Nova+").
"Multiplier Extender": Lars Ümlaüt's ability that changes the max multiplier from X4 to X5 (X6 with "Multiplier Extender+").
"Streak Guardian": Casey Lynch's ability that protects the player from mistakes with a rechargeable shield (2 rechargeable shields with "Streak Guardian+"). Keeping a note streak gives additional Power Stars.
"Resurrector": Axel Steel's ability that revives up to 2 times (5 times with "Resurrector+") if they were to fail a song and restores their Rock Meter to Yellow.
"All-Powerful": Every upgraded Warrior power combined.
Power Stars instead of the 5-star ranking system during Quest. Up to 40 power stars are obtainable in each song in Quest when "All-Powerful" is unlocked.
Other features
In-game achievement system in the Wii version as "awards" (located in My Stuff) with 14 new awards that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 achievements/trophies don't have based on Roadie Play.
Rewind: Instead of a countdown timer when unpausing the game, unpausing the game rewinds the player(s) by a second (including the song and their highway scrolling; no passed/hit notes are re-added) to allow players to have a better time reacting to incoming notes. An improvement over the former countdown feature. This cannot be toggled off.
Guitar Hero Live, released 5 years after Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, is the seventh main entry of the Guitar Hero series but at the same, also a reboot of the franchise with a new six-button guitar controller and a new B1B2B3 button layout (two rows of three frets).
Game modes
Touch Mode: Exclusive on the iOS version is "Touch Mode", which plays similar to the iOSGuitar Hero of being a 4-lane rhythm game playable on a mobile device with touchscreen controls.
GHTV: Short for "Guitar Hero TV", this is an online music streaming game mode that can stream hundreds of playable songs over the Internet with music video backgrounds playing over them. Unfortunately, this game mode's online service shutdown at the end of December 1, 2018, making over 500-released GHTV songs inaccessible.
Live: Play through careers or Quickplay offline on the on-disc setlist with realistic backgrounds. There is no Rock Meter but the crowd's reaction determines how well the player is performing and the player can fail if they get booed for too long.
Returning gameplay elements
Playable Guitar (but with the B1B2B3 layout or 4-lanes in iOS's "Touch Mode") and Vocals tracks. No playable Bass, Drums, etc.
Open notes on Guitar: Open notes in this game are commonly used for not only the lowest note, but also commonly used for percussive mutes. However, no pull-off open notes and open sustains (but is supported through customs).
Long notes and extended sustains
Reverse extended sustains: Returning from Band Hero on Nintendo DS, extended sustains can now be performed from right to left as well.
Star Power but referred to as Hero Power during Live mode and "Double Multiplier" Hero Power in GHTV. For more information about Hero Powers, see "GHTV gameplay elements" below.
Scoring (saved in Live mode), note streaks, multiplier (up to x4 base multiplier in Live mode, or up to x7 base multiplier in GHTV fully upgraded), and (in Live mode) star rating.
Guitar Upgrades: Permanently upgrade your gameplay features. Each upgrade can be leveled up to Level 4.
Hero Sections: Adds more Hero Power regions. At Level 1, only two Hero Power regions will appear in a song. By Level 3, up to 4 Hero Power phrases available. At Level 4, all Hero Power regions are available.
Base Score: Increases the score for each note. At level 1, a single note is worth 50 score points. At level 2, a single note is worth 57 (1.14 times). At level 4, a single note is worth 72 points while a 2-note chord is worth 145 points (1.445 times rounded).
Max Multiplier: Increases maximum multiplier by 1 per level. At Level 1, the maximum multiplier is X4 (X8 with Double Multiplier/Score Chaser). At Level 4, the maximum multiplier is X7 (X14 with Double Multiplier/Score Chaser). This Guitar Upgrade is similar to Multiplier Extender from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
Multiplier Speed: Multiplier increases faster by reducing a number of notes to advance to the next multiplier. At Level 1, every 10 consecutive notes increases the multiplier. At Level 4, every 7 consecutive notes increases the multiplier. This is similar to Speed Freak from Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
Hero Powers: Instead of Star Power, there is Hero Power. There is no Hero Power Meter, but rather Hero Power units that the player can collect by completing Hero Power regions and only cost 1 unit to temporarily use that unit of Hero Power. Live mode has the "Double Multiplier" Hero Power but GHTV has that and other Hero Powers including:
Clear Highway: Removes all on-screen notes. Clear Highway is always free while all other Hero Powers are buyable and consumable in GHTV.
Dial Up: Temporarily increases the difficulty level. Not available if playing on Expert difficulty.
Dial Down: Temporarily decreases the difficulty level. Not available if playing on Casual difficulty.
Safety Net: Holds your multiplier and score streak at its current value.
Invincibility: Temporarily hits all notes, and missing notes do not register.
Score Chaser: Maximum score multiplier is temporarily doubled. This is not to be confused with Double Multiplier as Score Chaser does not double the current multiplier as Double Multiplier does, but Score Chaser lasts longer.
The evolution of gameplay features throughout the Guitar Hero Mobile video game series. It is also to note that each Guitar Hero Mobile game has a "high-quality" version for higher-end mobile devices with more features (such as achievements and unlockables) and a "low-quality" version for lower-end mobile devices usually don't have these additional features.
3-lane GRYGuitar track that would be used throughout the Guitar Hero Mobile series. To play notes, press the key on the keypad that corresponds to the position of the gem notes that pass by the target line.
2-note chords including GR, GY, and RY chords.
Scoring: A single note is worth 50 points. Chords are worth the number of notes attached to them (2 notes in a chord = 100 points, 3 notes in a chord = 150 points). 3-note chords are the biggest chords to be seen until Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
Multiplier: For every 10 notes hit consecutively (also known as a "note streak of 10") without breaking a combo, the player's multiplier increases by one level, up to x4 after 40 notes hit consecutively ("40 note streak").
Star Power: Occasionally, a group of gem notes will be shaped stars, slowly spinning around. This group of star gems is referred to as "Star Power phrases". Successfully completing a Star Power phrase without breaking a combo will add 25% energy to the player's Star Power Meter. At 50% Star Power, the player can activate the Star Power ability which doubles the player's multiplier (up to a maximum x8) until the meter is drained of energy.
Rock Meter: A performance system. Each time you successfully hit a note, the needle of the Rock Meter gauge slowly moves toward the right green zone, indicating that you are performing well and the crowd will be cheering. However, making mistakes such as missing notes or mishitting notes will greatly move the needle of Rock Meter gauge towards the left red, danger zone, indicating that you are performing badly and the crowd will be booing you off stage, ending the song on a failure with no scores saved.
Other features
Difficulties: High-quality versions have three difficulty levels including Easy, Medium, Expert, while low-quality versions of Guitar Hero Mobile games often lack the Medium difficulty. All three use all three GRY frets. Easy has the least amount of notes and chords are very rare while Expert has the most notes (will not cover every audible note though) and more chords.
While there isn't a difficulty level named "Hard", Expert difficulty in the Guitar Hero Mobile series is more like Hard difficulty.
15 songs in each game: All songs are covered in MIDI format (covers are based on Guitar Hero covers) while certain ports allow official audio versions. Most songs last for about 2 minutes before cutting out.
More available as downloadable content or in the Song Pack 1/More Music standalone expansion.
Unlock in-game instrumental designs and achievements by completing certain tasks. These features may not be available in "lower-quality" versions of the Guitar Hero Mobile games.
Touchscreen support for devices that support them.
Gameplay elements
Playable Drums track. In addition to the three GRY lanes, there are also purple bars that act as bass drums. Purple bars and another note can exist together (like a chord) on mobile devices with keyboards but not on touchscreen-only devices.
Online support (additional online features available in the N-Gage version)
Guitar Hero 5 Mobile is a miniaturized version of Guitar Hero 5 and the one major feature it includes since Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile is playable Bass.
Gameplay elements
In addition to World Tour Mobile's Drums, playable Bass track. Plays similar to Guitar but on Bass. No opens note though.
50% Star Power is acquired for each Star Power phrases successfully completed.
Other features
Upgrade MIDI audio tracks to official MP3s online.
Switch between portrait and landscape mode on Android.
Full-length songs on Windows Phone: While most mobile ports have 2-minute songs including several mobile ports for Guitar Hero 5 Mobile, the Windows Phone port features 32 songs including the 4 bonus songs from the BlackBerry and webOS versions and most songs from the More Music standalone expansion.
"Warrior" abilities for Johnny ("Speed Freak", then "Speed Freak+") and Pandora ("Star Power Nova", then "Star Power Nova+") for their tiers.
While the Android version has chords, the J2ME version is absent of chords.
Back to 25% Star Power energy acquired from completing Star Power phrases.
Other features
While the main mobile game has 15 songs, its More Music version is the only one that has 10 songs.
Full-length songs: While the other games feature songs that last around 2 minutes before ending gameplay, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Mobile and its More Music version feature full-length songs.
Online achievements: Android version also featured achievements for the OpenFeint online service.
Backstage Pass titles[]
The Backstage Pass spin-off titles of the Guitar Hero Mobile are much different compared to the other mobile games. While Guitar Hero is popular for its rhythm game mechanics, the Backstage Pass games are music-themed life-business simulation video games (in other words, "band simulators") with various action-based minigames including standard 3-lane rhythm game(s) based on the Guitar Hero Mobile games, but there are only 5 songs in the Backstage Pass titles.
Guitar Hero III: Backstage features two playable characters that the player can choose throughout their Career including Axel Steel and Judy Nails. The player starts in the 7th district but unlocks new districts as the player progresses through their Career.
Career mode features
The world hub in Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass.
World design:
Select a playable character throughout the entire Career: Axel Steel or Judy Nails.
Character stats including Buzz, Fame, Cred, Cash, Fines, and later Hero.
Rehearse: Practice and level up your songs' Rehearsal levels in the Fret Frenzy minigame to be used at better Venues.
Gig minigames: Fret Frenzy, secondary minigame(s), and the Finale minigames are always played at a gig.
Fret Frenzy: The standard 3-lane rhythm music video game on Guitar.
Secondary minigames:
Raise the Roof: Spin your guitar, toss it in the air, and catch it as it falls.
Crowd Surfing: Surf over the audience when there is a huge audience!
Three in a Row: Catch as many of same items thrown on stage three times in a row.
Spotlight Slide: Knee slide underneath a spotlight.
Bank Notes: Hold and balance the guitar strum.
Finale: Button-mash the end of the gig.
Leafleting: Throw leaflets at pedestrians interested in your gigs to earn Buzz at the cost of some Cash per throw. Try not to stay too long or get fined by the cops.
Busking minigames: Earn Cash and Cred while busking behind buildings in a series of three minigames.
Axe Solo: Memorize and playback patterns.
Guitar Spin: Spin your guitar around your body as fast and as long as possible.
Catch the Cash: Grab Cash thrown towards you to earn Cash.
Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass features new content like additional instrumental minigames. However, some other minigames like Busking and the Cred and Hero stats were removed. Additionally, it devolves in its world design and its Career is more linear and shorter than its predecessor, lacking some content presented in Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass.
The only playable character the player starts with is Axel, presumably taking place after the events of Axel's story in Guitar Hero III: Backstage Pass. Axel is kicked out of his band after his failure at the 5-star venue Woodstick and he must create and form a better band to dominate that final venue.
Career mode features
The world hub in Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass.
World design:
Select a playable character throughout the entire Career: Axel Steel or Judy Nails.
Band stats including Buzz, Fame, Cred, Cash, and Fines. Hero bonus stat is dropped.
4 districts (5 less than GH3BPS) unlocked during Careercontaining:
Hotels: Rest at night or visit your Hotel Room's contents (can also be accessed in Pause Menu).
Law Court: Renamed from "Police", pay Fines or serve jail time when you are caught committing crimes (i.e. Leafleting).
Publicities: Raise your Buzz stat by doing interviews. Best way to earn Buzz and no consequences for it since Cred stat was removed.
Record Labels: Impress a recording label company to earn Contracts.
Studios: Record a demo tape or single of your songs and send it to a Record Label.
Venues: Not only you can perform a series of gigs here, but you can also:
And conduct an Axe Battle against another band's guitarist for their guitar.
Homes, Shops, and Studios from GH3BPS are not in GHWTM:BSP.
Lars on Drums minigame in Guitar Hero World Tour Mobile: Backstage Pass
Minigames in addition to the above Venue minigames.
Rehearse: Practice and level up your songs' Rehearsal levels on each instrument to be used at better Venues.
Leafleting: Throw leaflets at pedestrians interested in your gigs to earn Buzz at the cost of some Cash per throw. Try not to stay too long or get fined by the cops.
Watch Gig: New to GHWTM:BSP, players can watch gigs of other bands and possibly recruit certain band members under certain conditions.
Axe Battle: Also new to GHWTM:BSP, the player can challenge a rival band at a venue for their guitar in a match of best two-of-three guitar jams.
Gig minigames: Three in a Row and Bank Notes minigames from GH3:BSP were removed and replaced with Drums Solo and Hold the Note minigames. When you recruiting a new band member for a new instrument while watching a gig, they bring you a new song that they mastered for that instrument. The chosen instrument at gigs are automatically chosen in rotations once new band members are recruited.
Axel on Guitar: Fret Frenzy minigame (the standard 3-lane rhythm game) on Guitar as Axel Steel.
Lars on Drums: Fret Frenzy minigame on Drums as Lars Ümlaüt after recruiting him, now including purple bars as bass drums.
Casey on Vocals: Play Vocals (aligning the lips icon to the vocal pitch lines across a horizontal highway) as Casey Lynch after recruiting her.
Judy on Bass: Fret Frenzy minigame on Bass as Judy Nails. (No open notes)
Secondary minigames: While the instrumental minigames above rotates at each new gig, it doesn't matter which secondary minigame(s) you will be playing at gigs once you unlock new bandmates (except Spotlight Slide requires a venue to be packed like in GH3:BSP).
Spotlight Slide: Axel knee slides underneath a spotlight.
Crowd Surfing: Axel surfing over the audience when there is a huge audience!
Drums Solo: Memorize and playback patterns on Drums as Lars (after recruiting him). This minigame plays like the Busking minigame Axe Solo from GH3:BSP.
Hold the Note: Yell as much as possible with Casey on Vocals.
Raise the Roof: Toss Judy's bass guitar in the air and catch it as it falls. The guitar spinning segment from GH3:BSP is replaced with the angle of the throw.
Finale: Button-mash the end of the gig with each recruited band member.
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