Lego Rock Band is a music video game and part of the Rock Band series developed by Harmonix Music Systems, but also incorporates elements from other Lego video games as developed by Traveller's Tales. The game was initially released on November 3, 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS. The game was distributed by MTV Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The Nintendo DS version was developed in conjunction with Backbone Entertainment.
The game, as with other games in the Rock Band series, will allow up to four players to use instrument controllers to play lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals on a number of rock music songs. In addition, aspects of building with Lego bricks as seen in Classic and Modern LEGO Video Games are incorporated into the game, allowing players to customize their avatars and other band assistances, and include additional Lego-themed gameplay modes. The gameplay and the game's soundtrack have been selected to create a "family-friendly" game.
Development[]
Industry rumors circulated in early 2009 of the game's existence[1] and appeared to be true when mention of the game was shown in a slide (that was later removed) in Harmonix's Dan Teasdale's presentation at the 2009 Game Developers Conference.[2] The game was announced officially on April 21, 2009.[3] Despite skepticism for the viability of the game,[4][5] the game is stated to combine "two compelling properties" by Traveller's Tales managing director Tom Stone, and has been called "a social game experience that crosses every generation and every genre of rock" by MTV Games senior vice president Bob Picunko.[6]
Iggy Pop both voiced the in-game tutorials for the game and lent his trademark shirtless likeness to a Lego avatar for the game.[7] This marks the first appearance of a musician in a Rock Band title, not counting The Beatles: Rock Band. In addition to Iggy Pop, other musicians also appear in Lego form in the game, being unlocked for selection or customization after playing their respective songs:
- David Bowie
- Queen
- Freddie Mercury
- Brian May
- John Deacon
- Roger Taylor
- Blur
- Damon Albarn
- Graham Coxon
- Alex James
- Dave Rowntree
- Spinal Tap (exclusive to console versions)
- David St. Hubbins
- Nigel Tufnel
- Derek Smalls
Gameplay[]
Console version[]
The music portions of the game will remain the same as the Rock Band series, though easier skill levels will be provided for "budding musicians".[8] Only slight changes in the game's main interface have been made, most notably that notes are represented by colored Lego bricks.[9] Successfully completing songs will earn the players Lego studs which they may use to build and customize their Lego-style avatars, staff, vehicles, and their "rock den".[3][8] There will also be Lego-themed challenges such as demolishing buildings by successfully playing songs.[8]
All existing music game controllers will work with Lego Rock Band.[3]
DS version[]
The Nintendo DS version of the game is stated to play similar to Rock Band Unplugged, in which the player switches back and forth between the various instruments, trying to keep the entire band playing. The game only utilizes the touchpad and stylus and would not include additional peripherals that was used for Guitar Hero On Tour.[10]
Notes
Control | Action |
---|---|
Red note | |
Yellow note | |
Green note | |
Blue note |
Soundtrack[]
Main Article: Lego Rock Band Setlist
Characters[]
Original Rock Band Characters[]
These characters are original characters for the Rock Band series. Nineteen of them are from Rock Band 2 while the other seventeen are new and exclusive characters for this game.
Image | Name | Note |
---|---|---|
Mini Figg | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Mel Odie | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Misty Stage | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Love Note | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Dee Fender | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Skye High | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Nicky Brick | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Ana Coustic | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Terra Min | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Roxy Gently | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Tina Spirit | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Wammie Barr | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Tommy LeRock | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Chuck Amps | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Rob Hearts | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Mike Reverb | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Bigg Ruckus | Exclusive to Lego Rock Band | |
Heather Moonbeam | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Buzzsaw | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Sharkey | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Moosejaw Boudreau | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Nicky Overdrive | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Penny Twilight | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Megan Scott | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Grace Williams | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Mekon Gemini | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Fritzi Kostopoulos | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
The Duke of Gravity | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Quentin Lance | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Maynard Winter | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Sir Thomas | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Ol' Smokey | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Dora Sullivan | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Penelope McQueen | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Mothership Q | Character also in Rock Band 2 | |
Earl Stephens, Jr. | Character also in Rock Band 2 |
Guest Stars[]
Below are guest stars which are real bands in mini-figure form.
Image | Name | Band | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Iggy Pop | |||
David Bowie | N/A | ||
Freddie Mercury | Queen | ||
Brian May | Queen | ||
John Deacon | Queen | ||
Roger Taylor | Queen | ||
Damon Albarn | Blur | ||
Graham Coxon | Blur | ||
Alex James | Blur | ||
Dave Rowntree | Blur | ||
David St. Hubbins | Spinal Tap | Exclusive to console versions | |
Nigel Tufnel | Spinal Tap | Exclusive to console versions | |
Derek Smalls | Spinal Tap | Exclusive to console versions |
Trivia[]
- This was the first Rock Band game for a few things:
- The first and only Rock Band game to have any of the series' original characters on the front cover, in this case, Sir Thomas, Quentin Lance, Penny Twilight, and Nicky Overdrive.
- The first Rock Band game to be released on Nintendo DS.
- This was also the last Rock Band game for a few things:
- The last Rock Band game to include Buzzsaw, Earl Stephens, Jr., Fritzi Kostopoulos, Grace Williams, Heather Moonbeam, Mekon Gemini, Nicky Overdrive, and Penny Twilight.
- The last Rock Band game released in the 2000s.
- For unknown reasons, American Phil was the only one of the Rock Band 2 Session Musicians not to appear in this game.
- The silenced version of the solo from the song Shoulder to the Plow heard in the Rock Band 2 character selection menu is reused for the character selection menu in this game.
- There were plans to feature a Lego minifigure of Jimi Hendrix in the game, but it was cut for unknown reasons. Leftover assets are present in the files for the Wii version, though.[11]
Gallery[]
References[]
A very helpful FAQ guide by Rock Band Forum member "Sayburr" [1]
- ↑ Faylor, Chris (2009-01-05). "LEGO Rock Band, LEGO Harry Potter Rumors Swirl". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56593. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ↑ McWherter, Michael (2009-04-05). "Harmonix Designer Unwittingly Confirms LEGO Rock Band". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5199530/harmonix-designer-unwittingly-confirms-lego-rock-band. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, The LEGO Group, Harmonix and MTV Games Announce LEGO Rock Band". PR Newswire. 2009-04-21. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090421005517&newsLang=en. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ↑ Gladstone, Darren (2009-04-23). "9 Lego Games You’ll Never See". PC World. http://www.pcworld.com/article/163742/9_lego_games_youll_never_see.html. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ↑ Sheets, David (2009-04-24). "LEGO + ‘Rock Band’ = silly". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-game-guy/the-game-guy/2009/04/lego-rock-band-silly/. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ↑ Butts, Steve (2009-04-24). "Lego Rock Band". IGN. http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/974/974773p1.html. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ↑ Walk, Gary Eng (2009-09-11). "'Lego Rock Band': no Paul or Ringo, but Iggy pops in". Entertainment Weekly. http://popwatch.ew.com/2009/09/11/lego-rock-band-2/. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Lego Rock Band". http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/l/legorockband/. Retrieved 2009-04-22.
- ↑ Frushtick, Russ (2009-08-17). "Exclusive Video: 'Lego Rock Band' Gameplay Reveal". MTV Multiplayer. http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/08/17/exclusive-video-lego-rock-band-gameplay-reveal/. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
- ↑ Jackson, Mike (2009-08-19). "GC: Lego Rock Band hits DS". Computer and Video Games. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=221685. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ↑ https://tcrf.net/LEGO_Rock_Band_(Wii)#Unused_Jimi_Hendrix_Assets