Rythm-based games beware - your future has changed drastically!
When they broke onto the scene in the early 1960's, the Fab Four were an absolute sensation. The frenzied audiences of their early years and revolutionary recording practices are a thing of legend, and Harmonix jumped at the opportunity to make something more out of their music. Simply mashing buttons on plastic instruments just wouldn't have felt right, these songs being so important to the course of pop culture history.
In comes the fantastic "Story Mode", which fittingly starts off with The Cavern as a venue. (For those unversed in Beatles history, it was the tiny Cavern Club in Liverpool where they started gaining a reputation as an up and coming sensation.) Whether you appreciate the band's early catalogue or not, you can't help but notice the great attention to detail right off the bat. Not only are character models a perfect (albeit cartoony) match for John, Paul, George and Ringo, but any true musician can tell the models are playing the right chords and and beats. Almost too cool for some - I messed up a few notes when I was too busy paying attention to George's hands on the fretboards!
The famous Ed Sullivan Show performance is next, followed by two of the biggest concerts ever held at the time - the show at Shea Stadium, then the equally famous Budokai set in Japan. After this, not only does the music ramp up it's originality, but the game does as well.
The Beatles eventually quit the touring life in favor of recording and performing in the studio exclusively. Their new mantra paid off, as some of the most influential albums of all time (Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, just to name a few) would come out of these sessions. Instead of showing the band simply performing the songs in the studio while you play along to them, montages called "Dreamscapes" blend into the background for some very interesting eye candy.
With a reputation of being a very artistic group of individuals (possibly due to the consumption of a few substances in particular), the Dreamscapes are the single greatest feature of the game. From the underwater-themed "Yellow Submarine" to the recreation of the "Hello, Goodbye" music video, there's always something fun to look at. Some get pretty distracting from the gameplay, however, as "Within You Without You" and "Revolution" are overly flashy and psychedelic.
Unlocked through the journey are pictures and videos from the band's journey, which officially ended in 1970. Though their stint was short compared to most bands, there was plenty of archived material, just waiting for the chance to see the light of day.
The 45 tracks included on the disc are joined by three albums available for download in their entirety, some with completely new dreamscapes to enjoy. While the gameplay itself is nothing Earth-shattering, it's all in the presentation, which Harmonix has gone above and beyond to perfect. To anyone just looking for a stroll down memory lane, to learn what The Beatles were all about or even just rock out to some great tunes, you can't go wrong with this game.