An encore, according to Merriam-Webster, is a reappearance or additional performance demanded by an audience. An additional definition says that an encore is a second achievement, especially that which surpasses the first. There’s no questioning whether or not fans of the Guitar Hero series were clamoring for more songs to live their rock star dreams through, especially given the popularity of the pricey Xbox 360 downloadable songs, so Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s matches this portion of the definition. However, the game falters in regards to the additional definition; it does not surpass or even meet the lofty standards set by its predecessors. This wouldn’t be a problem if it were priced like the expansion pack it is, but unfortunately this uninspired and ultimately empty effort is offered at the same price as its more complete brethren.

There are several problems with the game, though none of them have to do with any kind of fundamental design flaw. This makes sense, since every asset used by Harmonix to build this game was taken right out of Guitar Hero II. Since that game played solidly, there’s no reason why this should have played, looked, or performed any differently. And therein lies the first issue: nothing was done to further the presentation, or more importantly, to enhance the gameplay. There are less selectable characters, fewer arenas to rock in, and no new gameplay elements. Sure, the stages and characters were tweaked here and there — the logos on the Warped Tour stage were replaced with anti-drug propaganda, and some characters now sport liberty spikes or Members Only jackets, but otherwise everything is exactly the same, but available in a smaller quantity.

Speaking of a decrease in quantity, there are only 30 songs in the game. Comparatively, Guitar Hero II offered up 66 total songs for the same price. And while it’s immediately disappointing to find such a modest amount of tracks to play through, it’s even more crushing to realize that the selection is nowhere near as legendary as it could have been. To be fair, most of the songs have interesting patterns to play (aside from the travesty that is "What I Like About You"). However this collection isn’t just about the playing patterns, even if the challenge level does feel slightly scaled back; this game is about the songs Harmonix handpicked from the decade of decadence. It’s great to see songs by Dio, Judas Priest, or The Scorpions, and while it’s chic to hate on Winger (believe me, I understand), the song they picked for this game is actually pretty fun to play. But for every Wrathchild (by Iron Maiden) on here, there are three songs like "We Got The Beat" by The Go-Go’s. Also, only five of the songs are master tracks, meaning you might not enjoy playing "Holy Diver" (or any other of the covered tracks) as much as you would have originally hoped.

The paltry amount of gameplay, mostly poor track selection and utter lack of improvements offered here make it hard to justify this game as a full-priced purchase. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is an expansion pack in full-game’s clothing. Don’t be fooled into buying now and instead wait for a price drop.