That brings us to the songlist, which is comically mammoth right out of the box. There are more than 80 tunes right on the game disc, and you can download 20 more. Unfortunately, you can't rip the songs from the original Rock Band onto your Wii memory card like you can with the 360 version - the Wii's lack of a hard drive means there's nowhere to put them. However, the Wii version does have its own online store, complete with downloadable songs. Plus, you will be able to access downloaded songs straight from the game even though they're located on a memory card instead of in the Wii's measly built-in memory. this may sound like a given, but Wii owners should know it's not.

Unfortunately, as we post this, that store is not yet live, so we can't say how big the files are - so, because you're forced to store things on a memory card instead of a proper hard drive, you'll probably run into some limits on how many songs will fit on your card. Plus, while the 360/PS3 versions claim there will be 500 songs avaialble via disc or download by year's end, the Wii version's box promises only 150.

Simply put, don't expect to build the same library that PS3 or 360 owners can. Credit goes to the developer for doing the best it could with the hardware at hand. The Wii just can't do the same things as a PS3 or 360. Speaking of which, you really don't expect these graphics to compare to those other consoles either, right? Things here are so soft-focused, you may even have trouble reading the streaking lyrics on some TVs.

Aside from moaning about the shortcomings the Wii's technical limitations force upon the game, the only thing to complain about with Rock Band 2 – and it’s barely even a complaint - is that it polishes rather than reinvents. Make no mistake: We appreciate the backwards compatibility of the instruments, and the gameplay additions and tweaks that have been made seem universally designed to make the player’s experience better. But with no real revolution, this feels more like an 80-song expansion pack than an all-out sequel.

But you know what? We’re okay with that, at least for this year. We’re thrilled that Harmonix didn’t try to fix things that weren’t broken and add in silly things just to add bullet points on the box – the original Rock Band was nearly perfect already. And even if we know the setlist by heart, we still find ourselves running to Rock Band 2 every week and basking in the intoxicating clamor of the in-game crowd’s standing ovations. What can we say? We love living the lives of a bunch of rock stars.

Dec 18, 2008