The interface is much more user-friendly this time around. There's a lot to do, so you'll be annoying your neighbors long into the night with the clickety clack of your guitar strums and the tappity tap of your drum sticks. There are also local challenges tailored to specific instruments, and extensive online leaderboards that track everything from best solos to high scores to biggest fan base.

It really gives you a sense of being part of the Rock Band community. Before picking up the gauntlet you can see where your friends stand in the rankings and check out the overall high scores. Today, for instance, there is a Hippie Battle with a setlist featuring the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan. While not a head-to-head competition, this mode gives bands a chance to beat everyone else's scores in specific challenges. You can now test your skills against other groups online in Battle of the Bands. That takes care of all the features that were missing from the original Rock Band, but there are other new modes we never even knew we wanted.

And the online music store will go live 'very shortly' after the game's release, according to Harmonix. Your band is now rendered in real-time during a performance, rather than appearing in generic video. The full character editor is here (except for the tattoo creator, but only sailors and ex-cons have tattoos anyway). World Tour mode is here for both local and online play. The Wii version of Rock Band 2 is feature identical to the PS3 and 360 versions.

Well, the band has been in the studio remastering Rock Band for Wii, and the sequel more than makes up for the original's problems. Major features like World Tour mode, character customization, and downloadable content had been gutted. When the first Rock Band hit the Wii last summer, it was a shell of its former 360 and PS3 self. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rock Band 2.

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