View Full Version : Games featuring Rock & Roll musicians
evildead2099
11-07-2005, 10:46 PM
Are there any games featuring licensed bands / artists that you sincerely enjoy playing?
The Journey arcade game is rather popular, but most people I know like to play it for the sake of deriving joy from the game's unintentional humour.
For the most part, I like Revolution X (Starring Aerosmith). I don't think it's nearly bad as some people (i.e. Seanbaby) say it is. The game is definately not without its faults: it is repetitive, but then again, so is Terminator 2: The Arcade Game, Lethal Enforcers, Chiller, etc. Actually, unlike those other light gun shooters, I find Revolution X's first two levels (Club X, and the Helicopter ride through the city, respectfully) rather dynamic, fast-paced, and hella fun. Same goes for the bus level (which, admittedly, is reminiscent of the level in T2 in which you must protect the pickup truck from damage). In my opinion, the only time the game really feels terribly repetitive (again, considering the type of game it is) is when you must navigate through mazes respective to the Jungle and Factory stages.
Ozzy Osbourne was supposed to star in a first generation PS2 game not unlike Panzar Dragoon, but to my knowledge, that game never came out.
I've heard that the KISS first person shooter is pretty decent. It's reported to be one of the few polygonal first person shooters to pit you against dozens of adversaries at a time (not unlike what we used to get treated to in Doom II, when technology was sprite-based and computers could easily process more than 10 enemies on screen at the same time).
diskoboy
11-07-2005, 10:54 PM
The version of KISS: Psycho Circus for the DC was so-so. But I can't think of many games featuring bands.
But I would kill to see the "Pink Floyd - The Wall" arcade game prototype from Bally/Midway. I don't think I've even seen a screenshot for it, but it's listed on KLOV.
http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=P&game_id=9022
EDIT: The best games I can think of with bands are in a totally different genere... Pinball - The Who's 'Tommy', Kiss Pinball (such a classic), Elvis Pinball, Elton John's Capt. Fantastic, etc...
Blanka789
11-07-2005, 10:54 PM
There is also a Kiss pinball game for PSone, with, surprisingly, no Kiss Music! It's an average game.
thegreatescape
11-07-2005, 11:13 PM
Crue Ball on genesis/Mega Drive, featuring the one and only Motley Crue. I suspect it rates pretty low on the Mega Drive pinball food chain though.
Neil Koch
11-08-2005, 12:17 AM
Crue Ball isn't that bad -- the graphics are pretty blah but it's a decent video pinball.
If Revoulution-X didn't feature Aerosmith, I might have liked it (I liked the T2 lightgun game, and Revolution X plays just about the same). I cannot stand them and whenever one of those old farts would tell me to "start the revolution" or whatever, I wanted to kick in my TV.
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 12:30 AM
Crue Ball isn't that bad -- the graphics are pretty blah but it's a decent video pinball.
If Revoulution-X didn't feature Aerosmith, I might have liked it (I liked the T2 lightgun game, and Revolution X plays just about the same). I cannot stand them and whenever one of those old farts would tell me to "start the revolution" or whatever, I wanted to kick in my TV.
Hey man, Aerosmith are still better than 90% of the acts that have come and gone since the 70s (I'm being serious).
Although it's poorly edited and repeated way too much, I cannot see how you can disrespect Aerosmith if you got far enough in the game to listen to "Eat The Rich" (One of the band's hardest rocking tunes ever).
... Then again, maybe you were stuck playing the 16-bit ports of Revolution X O_O
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 12:38 AM
I would kill to see the "Pink Floyd - The Wall" arcade game prototype from Bally/Midway. I don't think I've even seen a screenshot for it, but it's listed on KLOV.
There exists a hack of the NES port of Donkey Kong whichis based on Pink Floyd's The Wall.
GarrettCRW
11-08-2005, 01:21 AM
... Then again, maybe you were stuck playing the 16-bit ports of Revolution X O_O
Which were garbage, especially since sprite sizes and layering simply weren't possible on the consoles in a manner that could replicate the arcade original.
Of course, I happen to like Aerosmith quite a bit, so a grain of salt may be needed. :D
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 01:36 AM
... Then again, maybe you were stuck playing the 16-bit ports of Revolution X O_O
Which were garbage, especially since sprite sizes and layering simply weren't possible on the consoles in a manner that could replicate the arcade original.
As someone who owns the Genny and PC CD-ROM ports of that game, I can tell you from experience that the 16-bit ports are a far cry from the fun and excitement that the coin-op brought to the table. The PC CD-ROM port is decent; although it plays reasonably well and sounds great (again, bearing in mind the fact that Midway really did Aerosmith a disservice by editing and looping the band's tunes to such a severe degree), the graphics are hella pixilated. I haven't tried the PS1 or Saturn ports, but according to a Gamepro issue I have, neither of those ports are much better than the 16-bit versions.
Of course, I happen to like Aerosmith quite a bit, so a grain of salt may be needed. :D
I'm in agreement with you with respect to both points.
(By the way, when I first tried the game, I had no idea that it featured Aerosmith; the arcade was dark, noisy, and I was drawn to Revolution X not by the artwork on its cabinet but by the legions and legions of soldiers that I saw someone taking on all at once! X_x ).
Rev. Link
11-08-2005, 02:04 AM
IMO, Aerosmith is the best band ever. Revolution X was a lot of fun in the arcade, but I agree that the home versions never really lived up to it.
As for the Kiss Psycho Circus game, the PC version was great. Unfortunately for me, everytime I'd exit out of the game it would blow out my video drivers and I'd have to re-install. I wound up getting the Dreamcast version, and both the graphics and more importantly the control were bad.
devilman
11-08-2005, 03:54 AM
Anyone played 'The Eye' with Queen in? Haven't had the chance myself.
The Nomad Soul has David Bowie's music and apparently at one point you get to view a virtual Bowie playing a gig. So I'm told anyway - I couldn't get that far!
Austin
11-08-2005, 03:58 AM
Anyone played 'The Eye' with Queen in? Haven't had the chance myself.
The Nomad Soul has David Bowie's music and apparently at one point you get to view a virtual Bowie playing a gig. So I'm told anyway - I couldn't get that far!
I'm also of the party of never getting far enough to actually see Bowie. The music that he had through the rest of the soundtrack was great, however. It's too bad the rest of the game was so boring.
Cauterize
11-08-2005, 04:28 AM
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00006482R.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
LOL
Valhalla
11-08-2005, 04:30 AM
No one has mentioned Rock 'n' Roll Racing!!!
Features Paranoid, Highway Star, Bad to the Bone and the blues brothers theme (dunno the name of the song).
I "sincerely enjoy playing" this game, it is my favourite racing title. Car combat + a kick ass soundtrack is the ducks nuts. The Megadrive versions may have different songs, not sure though. SNES version is the superior version to have.
Oobgarm
11-08-2005, 07:27 AM
Ozzy Osbourne was supposed to star in a first generation PS2 game not unlike Panzar Dragoon, but to my knowledge, that game never came out.
The game DID come out, just without Ozzy's name or music attached to it. It was simply called Savage Skies.
http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/game.cmf?gameid=34697
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 01:16 PM
No one has mentioned Rock 'n' Roll Racing!!!
Features Paranoid, Highway Star, Bad to the Bone and the blues brothers theme (dunno the name of the song).
I "sincerely enjoy playing" this game, it is my favourite racing title. Car combat + a kick ass soundtrack is the ducks nuts. The Megadrive versions may have different songs, not sure though. SNES version is the superior version to have.
I agree that Rock 'n' Roll Racing is a great game, but my thread concerns games that actually feature rock musicians that you can actually play as or directly interact with.
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 01:17 PM
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00006482R.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
LOL
:roll: She's about as legitimate a musician (Nevermind a rock star, much less one who's been featured in a game) as Mary Kate & Ashley Owlsen.
davepesc
11-08-2005, 01:43 PM
Wasn't there a FPS featuring Eddie from Iron Maiden?
Also: Fred Durst in Fight Club, Make My Video games and ICP shows up wherever someone will let them.
Finally, Aerosmith is the greatest Rock n Roll band ever. I've seen them 25+ times. They always manage to find the best up-and-coming openers too. I saw Guns n Roses and Black Crowes before anyone heard of them, thanks to Aerosmith. To be fair, I also saw 4-non blondes and Candlebox, but you can't win them all.
pacmanhat
11-08-2005, 01:47 PM
It's not rock and roll by any means, but there are the Def Jam games for recent consoles.
Also, Way of the Warrior on 3DO's music was 100% White Zombie...does that count?
EDIT: And let's not forget the abundance of Nine Inch Nails references/music in Quake.
GameSlaveGaz
11-08-2005, 02:08 PM
There is also a Kiss pinball game for PSone, with, surprisingly, no Kiss Music! It's an average game.
No, but you can take the game disc out once you loaded a table and put in any music CD you want and the game will play with the music CD playing. I would play this game while playing the KISS: Smashes, Thrashes and Hits best of album. Or Highway to Hell. I can't help it, I'm too big an AC/DC fan.
AC/DC should have a game. A side-scroller where Angus has to save the rest of the members. And he uses power chords to defeat enemies. That would be EXTREMELY cheesy, but I love cheesy and I love AC/DC so SOMEONE should make that game *calls up Capcom, pitches idea, gets unceremoniously hung up on*
devilman
11-08-2005, 02:13 PM
Anyone played 'The Eye' with Queen in? Haven't had the chance myself.
The Nomad Soul has David Bowie's music and apparently at one point you get to view a virtual Bowie playing a gig. So I'm told anyway - I couldn't get that far!
I'm also of the party of never getting far enough to actually see Bowie. The music that he had through the rest of the soundtrack was great, however. It's too bad the rest of the game was so boring.
I enjoyed it to an extent. I thought it looked and sounded the part. However, the puzzles just seemed to be so illogical - I had to refer to an FAQ to get anywhere and every time I read the next bit, I was like 'what?? why??'
Lemmy Kilmister
11-08-2005, 02:18 PM
Wasn't there a FPS featuring Eddie from Iron Maiden?
Ed Hunter.
http://www.maiden.ch/images/albums/ed_hunter2.jpg
evildead2099
11-08-2005, 02:20 PM
Wasn't there a FPS featuring Eddie from Iron Maiden?
Ah, yes. I've seen copies of Ed Hunter, but never tried it m'self.
Also: Fred Durst in Fight Club, Make My Video games and ICP shows up wherever someone will let them.
Fred Durst is also a hidden character in WWF Smackdown 3.
I think WCW Thunder (PS1) may feature The KISS Demon, but I'm not sure. I know that Vampiro is in the game, but I'm not sure if Vampiro was ever actually in The Misfits.
... Vampiro is also in one of the latest Backyard Wrestling videogames...
Aerosmith is the greatest Rock n Roll band ever. I've seen them 25+ times. They always manage to find the best up-and-coming openers too. I saw Guns n Roses and Black Crowes before anyone heard of them, thanks to Aerosmith.
I'm glad that I'm not the only one who likes Aerosmith around here (Not to mention Revolution X, as imperfect a game as it may be)!
I saw Aerosmith in 2001, and even though I'm generally discontent with the material that the band has been putting out since Big Ones (9 Lives up to the present album), the more than half of the setlist was comprised of classic tunes, and all of them - even the newer stuff - rocked!
I have Aerosmith to thank for introducing me to Buckcherry, as well. Buckcherry's 1'st album (self-titled) is amazing; I consider it the best pure hard rock album since Appetite for Destruction.
Valhalla
11-08-2005, 07:23 PM
but my thread concerns games that actually feature rock musicians that you can actually play as or directly interact with.
Sorry!
I Misread, thought you were just seeking games featuring rock music.
Matt-El
11-08-2005, 07:29 PM
The who pinball machine, I second.
Also, the "make my video"....Is that the one with Kris Kross?
davepesc
11-08-2005, 08:19 PM
The who pinball machine, I second.
Also, the "make my video"....Is that the one with Kris Kross?
From memory, there was Kris Kross, INXS, C&C Music Factory and maybe Marky Mark.
Cirrus
11-08-2005, 08:19 PM
Put your name in as D-I-S and press C in NBA Jam for the Sega Genesis and you can play as P-Funk George Clinton. Not exactly rock, but close.
klausien
11-08-2005, 10:17 PM
I had a thread about this some time ago, but here is another Aerosmith one:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/klausien/QF1.jpg
This is the PSX version. There is also a PC version. Music game with cheesy FMV. You tap the pick thing along to a horizontally scrolling bar, almost like Taiko Drum Master or Donkey Konga, only much simpler.
Also, don't forget Crue Ball, the Motley Crue pinball game on the Genesis or Necronomicon, another pinball game, this time for Saturn, that had music entirely composed and played by John Petrucci.
DDCecil
11-08-2005, 10:28 PM
She may not be a rock 'n roll star in the usual sense (some of her songs feature some awesome guitar playing), but she does rock my world:
http://img284.imageshack.us/img284/81/00digitaldancemix9go.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
There is a mini-game where you move her around a maze to reach a monkey. No, I'm not kidding.
Push Upstairs
11-09-2005, 12:08 AM
Thats what modern gaming is lacking...mini-games where singers search for a monkey in a maze.
McBacon
11-09-2005, 12:37 PM
Tony Hawk's PS 4 let you unlock Eddie From Iron Maiden.
Tony Hawk Underground had a KISS concert level. If you hit all four letters, they guys would appear on stage (plus, you unlock a video of a gig).
Finally, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland has Billie Joe of Greenday as a playable character .
http://thps4.piwko.pl/eddie.jpg
Journey's Escape on VCS (good game)
Just Rock and Roll? Or Pop too?
eg
Wham Jukebox on Spectrum
Frankie goes to Hollywood on C-64
Beatles Popquiz (Atari XL & C-64)
Or Punk?
Stranglers (forgot the title) on Spectrum
Also 'Explora 1' and 'eve' from Peter Gabriel, do they count? They are quite good actually
ECWSandmanECW
11-09-2005, 05:25 PM
Didn't Metallica have a PC game?
evildead2099
11-09-2005, 10:35 PM
I had a thread about this some time ago, but here is another Aerosmith one:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/klausien/QF1.jpg
This is the PSX version. There is also a PC version. Music game with cheesy FMV. You tap the pick thing along to a horizontally scrolling bar, almost like Taiko Drum Master or Donkey Konga, only much simpler.
Also, don't forget Crue Ball, the Motley Crue pinball game on the Genesis or Necronomicon, another pinball game, this time for Saturn, that had music entirely composed and played by John Petrucci.
I've wanted to try that since I found out that it existed, but could never locate any copies! Of course, I was intimidated by the fact that it's marketed as a musical game since I cannot play musical instruments very well.
Here's some more:
Axl Rose lends his voice to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as a Radio DJ.
Although it's not technically Axl, you can play as a character who is clearly based on Axl Rose in Guilty Gear (Axl Low).
The Toxic Twins (Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith) lent their voices to a Myst-type PC game called 9: The Last Resort.
evildead2099
11-09-2005, 10:36 PM
Didn't Metallica have a PC game?
Perhaps Capitalism?
theghostlyguitarplayer
11-09-2005, 10:48 PM
I was actually about to mention Gabriel's "Eve" project. He also did some music/made an appearance in one of the Myst games (Myst IV), if I'm not mistaken. "Burn you Up, Burn you Down" was on his new Greatest Hits album, and it was pulled from that game. I haven't played it myself, but the song's pretty cool.
-Adam-
slapdash
11-10-2005, 04:13 PM
There's also that Japanese game (actually, I think it came out here too, but I can't remember the name) featuring Gackt (or whatever the hell his name is) from some Japanese rock band.
Okay, that's almost no info whatsoever, but hopefully enough hints to remind someone else of what I'm talking about...
Daltone
11-10-2005, 04:48 PM
There's also that Japanese game (actually, I think it came out here too, but I can't remember the name) featuring Gackt (or whatever the hell his name is) from some Japanese rock band.
Okay, that's almost no info whatsoever, but hopefully enough hints to remind someone else of what I'm talking about...
That's reminded me of The Glass Rose, which has Masahiro Matsuoka (a drummer?) as the 'star' of the game.
klausien
11-11-2005, 12:41 AM
There's also that Japanese game (actually, I think it came out here too, but I can't remember the name) featuring Gackt (or whatever the hell his name is) from some Japanese rock band.
Okay, that's almost no info whatsoever, but hopefully enough hints to remind someone else of what I'm talking about...
The main character in Bujingai, which is also available in the US, is based on Gackt. It is a 3D actioner akin to Devil May Cry, Shinobi or Ninja Gaiden, but with a bit of an HK cinema feel to it. The battle system is very fluid and quite cool.
*TRICKSTAR*
11-11-2005, 01:29 AM
(hahaha) Marky Mark "Make my video" hahah
slapdash
11-11-2005, 03:48 PM
There's also that Japanese game (actually, I think it came out here too, but I can't remember the name) featuring Gackt (or whatever the hell his name is) from some Japanese rock band.
The main character in Bujingai, which is also available in the US, is based on Gackt.
Thank you! All I could think of was Tsunugai, but I knew that wasn't it...