Best Rhythm/Music Game

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At the outset of 2009, full-band music games were firmly established as the heavy hitters in the rhythm and music game genre. The two titans, Rock Band and Guitar Hero, prepared to square off once again, but this genre encompassed more than just its most visible members. Some games innovated or improved in a variety of musical forms of expressions, while others took one of the most basic elements of music--rhythm--and creatively explored new gameplay mechanics. Whether our heads were bopping along to the beat, or we were sliding across our living room floors ripping through an epic plastic rock solo, these were the best rhythm and music games of 2009.

Editors' Choice Winner

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Editors' Choice Winner

And the winner is…

The Beatles: Rock Band

Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix Music Systems

GameSpot's Best Games of 2009 Editors' Choice Winner

You can use a lot of superlatives to describe the Beatles, but excellent source material does not necessarily end up in an excellent game. This was not the case with The Beatles: Rock Band. The game took not only the music, but the personalities, the style, and a host of other inspirations from the Beatles and turned them into something special.

The music spans the Beatles' career, mixing number one hits with more obscure tracks to create a surprisingly varied and thoroughly entertaining tracklist. When you play through the career mode, you see how the band evolved over time, not only through their music, but through the stylish cutscenes and artistic videos that play during each song. These videos can bring the energy of a packed stadium to your living room or transport you somewhere else entirely, and they accomplish what no rhythm game has accomplished before: they make you want to look beyond the note highway.

In addition to the artistic presentation, the most remarkable thing about The Beatles: Rock Band is how it makes you feel the bond of being in a band more keenly than any full-band game before it. The cohesive musical catalog helps create this feeling, and the host of unlockables make the larger-than-life stars more accessible and therefore more identifiable. The three-part harmonies, in addition to being a first for the genre, let you essentially collaborate to play the same instrument, further fostering band unity. The Beatles: Rock Band works so well on so many levels that you can't help but get caught up in the excitement and camaraderie of rocking out in your living room. For bringing us together and showing us something new and special in the genre, The Beatles: Rock Band is the best rhythm/music game of 2009.

Readers' Choice Voting

Info	Title	Vote
	The Beatles: Rock Band	Vote
	Guitar Hero 5	Vote
	DJ Hero	Vote
	Rock Band Unplugged	Vote
	SingStar Queen	Vote
	Band Hero	Vote
	Lego Rock Band	Vote
	Rhythm Heaven	Vote
	Guitar Hero: Metallica	Vote
	Bit.Trip Void	Vote

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17 Comments

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MasterDalton
Posted Jan 1, 2010 7:19 am GMT

Best game in the worst category
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sambob530
Posted Dec 24, 2009 11:17 am GMT

GH:M ftw
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maccer101
Posted Dec 24, 2009 12:33 am GMT

The best game won, nice.
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Tomrock101
Posted Dec 23, 2009 5:47 pm GMT

DJ hero. Masterpiece.
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x-2tha-z
Posted Dec 23, 2009 5:32 pm GMT

DJ Hero would've won this if more people got to play it. Activisions fault for releasing it with such a high price tag.
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stephenage
Posted Dec 23, 2009 3:28 pm GMT

Such an amazing game
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SamSharp505_UOC
Posted Dec 23, 2009 2:33 pm GMT

DJ hero for me, a lot more fun than guitar hero and rock band, huge fan of guitar hero and rock band...but I gotta hand it to DJ hero, its really fun.
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KriobaKeys
Posted Dec 21, 2009 5:04 am GMT

DJ Hero! It may be expensive but it's immense fun!
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efc91
Posted Dec 19, 2009 1:23 am GMT

the beatles
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gbrading
Posted Dec 18, 2009 2:09 pm GMT

The Beatles. Who would have thought it would ever happen? I certainly didn't.
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stephenage
Posted Dec 18, 2009 11:56 am GMT

The Beatles, because it was a legitimately good game
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English-Lion
Posted Dec 18, 2009 9:43 am GMT

I vote for SingStar Queen!
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rht992
Posted Dec 18, 2009 9:06 am GMT

lucy in the sky with diamonds
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Syez99
Posted Dec 18, 2009 7:29 am GMT

The Beatles was awesome but definitely nothing exceptional. DJ Hero gets my vote, lots of fun, great original music, and something different.
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viper_najem
Posted Dec 18, 2009 5:13 am GMT

Let it be!
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coruscant
Posted Dec 18, 2009 4:27 am GMT

I went for Singstar Queen, becuase I love Queen. I like the Beatles but don't know that many of their music really, out of all the stuff they'd done, so had to go for Queen.
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JustPlainLucas
Posted Dec 17, 2009 10:07 pm GMT

I went with DJ Hero because I've had so much fun with what little I've played from it.
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Games Index

Introduction

Winner Reveal Schedule

Dec 21

Special Achievement
Dec 22

Dubious Honors
Dec 23

Genre Awards
Dec 24

Platform Awards
Dec 25

Game of the Year

Readers' Choice winners are announced Jan. 27, 2010

Genre Awards