Top Music Games for Xbox Featuring Musical Instruments
If you’re looking for Xbox games featuring musical instruments, you’ve come to the right place. While there are many Xbox music games in the market, the ones featuring musical instruments are surprisingly rare. Therefore, we’ve put together this list of top Xbox music games which allow you to play a wide variety of instruments.
Featuring several instruments from the piano to the electric guitar, these Xbox games are a must-play for all music lovers/players!
Rock Band 3
The best music/instrument playing Xbox on the market, Rock Band lets up to four people simulate performing popular rock songs using controllers. These controllers are modeled after musical instruments such as the lead, bass, drums, and keyboards. With these “instrument controllers”, players can play the lead, bass, and drums parts of famous songs. It’s also possible to sing through a USB mic, so it’s quite comprehensive.
If you’re looking for an Xbox game that features musical instruments and lets you play them, Rock Band is a must-have. Thanks to the realistic modes for drums and keyboard of the game, it’s also great to learn how to play the piano, guitar, or drums at a basic level.
Scores are given based on players’ ability to match scrolling musical notes while playing instruments or to match the pitch of a singer’s vocals.
Online and offline multiplayer can be used to allow players with the Xbox 360 version to interact with each other. Over 2,000 songs are available for download on both the Xbox 360 version of the game disc.
Six sequels were released to the game’s success: Rock Band 2, Lego Rock Band, and Green Day: Rock Band. Rock Band 3 and Rock Band 4 are also available.
Rocksmith 2014
Developed and published by Ubisoft, Rocksmith 2014 is a combination of Education, Music, Rhythm, Simulation, and other elements. Rocksmith 2014 is a unique musical game in that it uses a full-sized, real guitar, while most other instrument-playing games feature fake peripherals. In this sense, it provides you with a real guitar playing and learning experience through connecting to the output port of guitars using a real tone cable.
Another highlight of the game is that there are many great songs included such as House of the Rising Sun and I Got Mine. The player can play the song by repeating the beat within the game.
The normal mode shows a guitar fretboard divided into colored strings. The player must match the color of each note with the guitar strings they are to remove. The game becomes more difficult as the player progresses and unlocks new songs.
Guitar Hero: Metallica
The British company FreeStyleGames developed this music rhythm game and it was published by Activision. Guitar Hero Metallica uses the same gameplay principles as the other installments in the series. Players will need a guitar-shaped controller with a strum bar and buttons that match the music notes on a scrolling highway.
While Rock Band is a fantastic game and has many songs, it’s lacking in two areas: real heavy metal (not pop-metal junk) and challenge. Guitar Hero: Metallica solves both of these problems. This game features a great song selection if you’re a fan of Metallica or any old-school metal. These songs don’t have a fixed difficulty level. Although they have a lot of notes, they are just as enjoyable and rewarding as any song in a rhythm/music game.