There has been a new trend emerging from the music industry - the re-release of a recently released album. In 2006 we saw Fall Out Boy, Alkaline Trio, Coheed and Cambria and the Aquabats - among many others - release their most recent albums in a new "special edition" version, containing unreleased tracks, demos and videos, all in new packaging. While they're must-purchases for super fans, casual fans haven't always responded as positively, finding CDs engorged with uninteresting filler tracks and short DVDs.

Regardless of the value of the extras, re-releasing an album so soon after its original release is frustrating for early adaptors and generally seems as nothing more than a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of consumers. Activision and RedOctane have decided to try their hand at the re-release game with their musically beast, Guitar Hero II, porting it from the PS2 to the Xbox 360. With a brand new guitar (the PS2 guitar is not compatible with the Xbox 360, for obvious reasons), new HD graphics, ten new songs, online leaderboards and the ability to download new songs (with rumblings of a possible online versus play mode coming in the future), this is no mere cash-in parading around as the "ultimate edition" - this is the real deal, Holyfield.

If you are one of the few souls who have yet to experience the rock phenomena known as Guitar Hero, reading this review will not do this game justice. This is a game that has to be experienced firsthand. You need to wrap your hands around the specially designed guitar controller that helps the musically helpless rock out, with its five colored fret buttons, responsive strum bar, working whammy bar and straightforwardly addictive gameplay. You need to jam through a couple of songs, revisit covers of classic rock favorites, recent hits and everything in between. There is little chance you will be able to simply listen to rock music again, as the interactive nature of Guitar Hero will forever change your musical perspective; there is a reason why people spend countless hours devising their dream song lists.

Still confused as to just what Guitar Hero II is? Check out our review of the PS2 version for an in-depth run through of the gameplay and modes, as we are about to enter 360-only country.

For starters, there's the brand new X-Plorer Guitar Controller. Sporting a slick white body, this new guitar isn't all about the looks; there's a d-pad for easier menu navigation, smaller and closer together fret buttons and a body that's better suited for holding in your lap, making this new controller both more aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing. The biggest, and only, complaint about the X-Plorer is the same one that has been echoed by gamers for months - the cord. With the Xbox 360 sporting wireless controllers, it was a logical assumption that we'd be jamming without cords right out of the box, but Microsoft shut that down.

As many Xbox 360 owners know, Microsoft's white box has been on the mediocre to bad end of far too many ports from weaker systems. The most obvious crime of port debauchery has been in the graphics department, where only ever so slightly touched up graphics are passed off as "next-gen." Though it lacks the depth and detail normally seen in a game built from the ground up for the 360, Guitar Hero II's facelift is more than superficial. The first feature that gamers with an HDTV will notice are the smooth layers of HD gloss and wider color palette spread over every inch of the game. Text, posters on walls and graphics on T-shirts are crystal clear and easy to decipher, clothing and skin now have realistic textures that show features such as wrinkles and ridges, and the dynamic lighting and shadow effects are now even more impressive.

Even each of the playable venues has gone though changes, as the more powerful 360 allowed the developers to add things that just weren't possible before. All the equipment, wall hangings and other objects littered throughout have been filled with individual depth and texture. Walls are covered with readable flyers and posters, objects with shiny casings that reflect light differently than those without, and the hokey stage props seen at the Vans Warped Tour and Harmonix Area can be been seen as the over-the-top jokes they are. The fans do not appear any different than they were before - a giant group of the same few people - but small touches like certain camera angle and light combinations making them hard to see, and the sell-out crowd in the background of Harmonix Area, are nice, subtle touches.

Despite all the changes and upgrades, there's still far too much PS2 left in Guitar Hero II for it to really feel like a next-gen game. Many of the excellent textures have simply been pasted over their original ones, leaving rigid objects and character skeletons that are essentially unchanged, which feels a bit odd at times. Not every texture was redone, so the few that were just cleaned up stick out like sore thumbs. And for all the surface eye candy, the animations have stayed essentially the same - formulaic and often times inorganic. Overall the graphics fit the game well, continuing to exploit the eccentric art design, but the visual improvements over the PS2 version are only skin deep.

Though it may not have been an upgrade many fans gave much thought to, the already amazing sound quality the series has come to be known for has received a significant boost, bringing it well into the next-generation. Every track has been remastered to take advantage of the 360's 5.1 surround sound capabilities, producing an improvement that's noticeable even on a regular TV. The tracks are now cleaner (Carry Me Home no longer sounds as if it was recorded in a tin can) as well as clearer, with your guitar and bass lines ringing loud and proud. Those of you who have surround sound systems should be prepared to crank it to 11 and shake your house like it's the Arockalypse!

Now for the two features gamers really care about - new songs and the online leaderboards. Included in this new version are 10 exclusive songs, following in the footsteps of the already 72 song deep playlist by covering a variety of genres (bands marked with a star* perform their own songs). The new additions are Possum Kingdom by The Toadies*, Salvation by Rancid, Life Wasted by Pearl Jam, Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper, Hush by Deep Purple, Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo by Rick Derringer, Dead! by My Chemical Romance*, The Trooper by Iron Maiden, Drink Up by Ounce of Self* and Kicked to the Curb by Noble Rot*. Only one of these songs drops the ball when it comes to providing high quality rocking - all the others are spot on for rockin' on!

As I originally complained in my PS2 review, having the Vans Warped Tour sponsor a tour stop in a game that lacks even one of the major bands that have made the summer punk rock festival a massive hit is disappointing and confusing. Apparently trying to rectify this, the Xbox 360 version sees the inclusion of two well-known punk bands, the currently on fire My Chemical Romance and the exalted Rancid. While Dead! might not have been their best song, it does capture MCR quite well, while being a fun song to play; Rancid's Salvation however fails miserably at both. For a band with such an extensive catalog of music, which includes more than its fair share of songs with impressive guitar and bass parts, to see one of their more rudimentary tracks chosen for this game is not only mind-boggling, but insulting. After having RedOctane's Ted Lange state multiple times - including in our interview - that punk rock generally doesn't translate well into Guitar Hero songs because of an over-reliance on power chords, I would have thought that if a punk song made the roster, there is a damn good reason why - such as the very obvious reasons why the Living End and Suicidal Tendencies made the original Guitar Hero II's roster. But that seems to not be the case, as it appears that some of those in charge of song selection only know punk rock in its watered-down, deeply rooted in pop music, mainstream format, not the invigorating, masterful form that continues to pulse through the underground. Anyway, I'll step down from my soapbox and get back to the review now!

If 82 songs prove to be nothing more than an appetizer for your rocking appetite, take solace in knowing that the Xbox 360 version is the first to feature downloadable songs. As of this writing, three song packs have been released, each featuring three songs from the first game: Bark at the Moon by Ozzy Osbourne, Hey You by the Exies and Ace of Spades by Motorhead; Killer Queen by Queen, Take It Off by the Donnas and Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter Group; and Higher Ground by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Infected by Bad Religion and Stellar by Incubus. Each of these songs has been tweaked to take advantage of the new features introduced in Guitar Hero II, including remastered sound and cooperative multiplayer. These packs are a bit high priced, coming in at 500 Microsoft Points each, but there is no denying the amount of work that had to be put into these songs to get them ready for download. This isn't the end of downloadable goodies either, as much more content has been promised to follow, including more classic Guitar Hero songs as well as brand new ones!

So, if extra songs and downloadable content are still not enough to justify full marks in the lifespan category then how do online leaderboards and hilariously well-planned Achievement Points sound to you? Though it's not the online versus mode that everyone is dying for, online leaderboards are the next best thing, allowing you to not only upload your top single song scores to Xbox Live and see how you sit compared to the rest of the world, but also compete for the top career score, which is the cumulative total of your top score for each song in the game. Running a high score board at home is a great way to challenge friends, but that is nothing compared to the rush of attempting to best the entire planet. Don't be surprised if you lose weekends sitting around a couch, passing the guitar, as you each try your hand at global rock domination!

Putting far more time and consideration into their game achievements than most companies, RedOctane has provided the deepest list since Dead Rising - and easily the funniest! With achievements for failing a song on Easy - the Long Road Ahead award, based on famous guitar players - the Dimebag Darrell, Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen awards, and refusing to play an encore - the Rock Snob award - there is more than a fair share of clever and difficult achievements to chase, adding yet another element to the single player affair.

Guitar Hero II on Xbox 360 is without a doubt the 'ultimate edition' of the ultimate music-based game. Though far from mind-blowing, the upgraded graphics are appealing, but the remastered sound, additional songs and features are the true stars of the Xbox 360 version's stage, making this game an even easier purchase than the two games before it - especially for those already entrenched with the series, while those who don't own a PS2 can finally get their hands on one of the best series that the console has ever offered. As long as RedOctane and Activision ride the gigantic waves of momentum this game has created - so far it has sold well over 300,000 copies in under a month's time in the U.S. alone - we can expect to have our heads blown to the other side of the universe when the assumingly built from the ground up for next-gen systems Guitar Hero III headlines fall release dates and many a Christmas wish list.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).