For many years, the air guitar was the only way most people could actually dream of being on stage and rocking to a sold out crowd. Harmonix and Red Octane took that dream one step closer with the invention of the Guitar Hero series, enabling those less talented to play some of the greatest rock songs of all time. For crooners, the only way to showcase some chops was to go to a local bar and belt out tunes. Konami introduced Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol to satisfy those dreams of telling off Simon Cowell and get the dawg pound "Yeah" from Randy Jackson.

For me, I always wondered if it was possible to release an all encompassing game to include another favorite of mine, the air drums. After Guitar Hero II, Harmonix took their already successful ideas and joined with EA and MTV to create Rock Band, which combines all of these ideas and more.

At first look, there's a lot more to the creation of your band than anything Guitar Hero ever offered. After coming up with your band name, a total avatar can be created to represent any one of the four positions within the game: lead vocals, lead guitar, bass, and drums. The accessories are small to start with, mainly concentrating on your face rather than clothes, but as you proceed through the game more outfits can be bought at the store.

In career mode, lead vocals, lead guitar, and drums can be played individually, but sorry Sting fans -- bass can only be played in multi-player mode. There are four levels of difficulty: easy, medium, hard, and expert, with Achievements awarded for completion of each level on the Xbox 360. The guitar that comes with the game is a Fender Stratocaster, and is almost a full size replica. The weight and feel of the guitar is natural, and like the Guitar Hero series, has five colored frets at the top and a strum and whammy bar at the base. Harmonix went a little further on this model with the addition of the same five colored frets at the base of the neck for "Eddie Van Halen" wannabes which can strum the notes like the all time great. To top it off, on the base is a module toggle which can change your sound effects for something different to hear during the guitar solos on most songs.

The drum set is comprised of four colored circle pads, a foot pedal, and two drum sticks. It takes a few songs to get used to, but I found the set to be engineered quite well. Harmonix has said that when playing on the hard and expert levels, you are truly playing the drums. The pads are made of a nice rubber composite which can take a serious pounding even after doing your best Tommy Lee impersonation.

MTV's contribution is what truly sets this game apart from Guitar Hero. An astonishing amount of songs are available to play -- and these are the master tracks, by the original artists. Plus, the game is not where the developers are stopping. Right now, there are additional tracks available to download for about five dollars per set on Xbox Live.

The guitar's career mode seems a lot easier than the career mode in Guitar Hero, and with good reason. Guitar Hero is for the true axe masters, while Rock Band wants to deliver the whole musical experience, rather than concentrating on one aspect. Still, there are lots of similarities between the two games, such as "Overdrive," which allows the player to increase their score to get a better rating on the song. A welcome new distinction is that Overdrive can keep going once it's deployed -- if there are more key notes that are perfectly hit -- to extend the streak. In multiplayer mode, Overdrive can also help restore a partner who has failed his or her part (similar to Gears of War, where you revive a fallen teammate).

Rock Band makes for a great party game, especially with the deluxe edition that comes with the drum kit, guitar, and microphone. The best part is the multiplayer mode, which allows you to get together with buddies that are far away and just jam, or go head-to-head individually in a battle to be the best.

Each platform has an advantage over the other. For the PS3, the guitar is wireless, while the Xbox 360 comes with a four-port USB hub for all of the components to hook up at once. For Guitar Hero owners, another guitar purchase won't be necessary as the explorer and the Les Paul from GHII and III work just as well.

For music fans, Rock Band is a must. No more strumming your hands together or beating the air into submission -- just a power on from your console is all it takes to make those rock 'n' roll fantasies reality.

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