Believe the hype: The music game Rock Band lets you live out your childhood dream -- virtually -- as you play guitar, bass and drums and sing your way to stardom. From the game developers behind Guitar Hero comes this ambitious complete band experience, which is best enjoyed with a group of friends -- each tackling a different instrument in front of the same television, or even over the Internet. While at $169.99 it might be out of reach for some, packed into this Rock Band Special Edition Bundle is the game, a collapsible drum kit (featuring four tom-tom pads and a kick pedal), real drumsticks, a Fender Stratocaster guitar (which can also be used to play bass lines), microphone and a four-in-one USB hub to plug everything into the game console at the same time.

Players form a band and work their way up from the garage to the arena by pleasing fans and racking up points to unlock bigger and bigger venues. In front of the animated band performing on stage is a kind of giant guitar fret board, with a camera that sails down it as the song plays, to show players which notes/drums to hit at certain points in the song. Color-coded buttons on the guitar neck and drum pads must be hit at the correct time, while the singer must follow the karaoke-style lyrics to hit the right note at the right time, for the proper length of that note.

The Rock Band soundtrack is extraordinary, featuring nearly 60 classic and newer rock songs, mostly from the original bands, with highlights including The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," David Bowie's "Suffragette City" and The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop." Adding to its replayability, new songs can be downloaded each week for a couple of bucks apiece. These include classics from the Grateful Dead and Metallica, including a handful of full albums. Rock Band is the ultimate party game, best enjoyed with a group of friends looking for a great time together.