Clone Hero

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Clone Hero
CloneHero Logo.png
Developer(s) CH Team
Publisher(s) CH Team
Designer(s) Ryan Foster
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
Release
  • Alpha: March 1, 2017
  • Full: November 29, 2022
Genre(s) Music, rhythm
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Clone Hero is a freeware music rhythm video game created by Ryan Foster, first released in alpha on March 1, 2017, receiving a full release on November 29, 2022. [1] The game is a clone of the Guitar Hero franchise with nearly identical gameplay. The main draw of the game is its ability to play community-made songs, which has resulted in a large fan community around the game as well as a resurgence in popularity for the genre.

Contents

Gameplay

Screenshot of guitar gameplay, showcasing notes on the highway; the hit window; song progression, star, and star power meters; point, star, and combo counters; and the combo multiplier. CloneHero Gameplay.jpg
Screenshot of guitar gameplay, showcasing notes on the highway; the hit window; song progression, star, and star power meters; point, star, and combo counters; and the combo multiplier.

Clone Hero, by design, features nearly identical gameplay to Guitar Hero, and uses GUI assets from Guitar Hero games. [2] Gameplay involves hitting colored notes in time to songs; Clone Hero allows players to use any PC-compatible controller from the Guitar Hero or Rock Band franchises, as well as a keyboard or any other input device. [3] Unlike the Guitar Hero series, by default there is no penalty for missing notes, aside from breaking a combo, making it impossible to fail a song, although there is an option to enable this.

For guitar, players must hold specific buttons that line up with combinations of five colored notes that are arranged on a track referred to as a "highway" or, as some players term it, a "fretboard", similar to that on an actual guitar. When the notes hit the bottom of the highway, the player must strum to hit the notes in time with the music. Notes can be singular, or multiple at a time, forming a chord. Notes can also be sustains (internally hold notes), in which the player must hold the matching button(s) after strumming, the duration of the hold being indicated by a line following the note or chord. There is also an "open strum" note, represented with a purple bar, which requires the player to strum without pressing any other buttons. In addition to normal notes, there are "HOPO"s ("hammer-ons" and "pull-offs") and "tap notes", which both do not require the player to strum them to hit them, with the difference between the two being that a string of HOPOs must begin with a strum, and the player must re-strum if they miss a note. Certain notes may also be part of a "star power phrase", marked by a series of notes with star outlines. Successfully playing the marked section will reward the player with star power, which can be used to double the combo multiplier for a limited time. The game also contains a mode which emulates the guitar gameplay of Guitar Hero Live , which is notably different from other games in the series, involving six guitar buttons instead of the standard five. [4]

For drums, gameplay is similar, involving one less possible note; players must hit a corresponding drum or cymbal when a note hits the bottom of the highway. There is also a bass drum note, represented by an orange bar, which unlike the guitar's open strum can be combined with other notes. Drums were not added until the Playable Test Builds of 1.0.

Unlike Guitar Hero games which each have a large built-in setlist, Clone Hero comes pre-bundled with only seventeen songs as of the v1.0 update, [5] including "Troopers of the Stars" by DragonForce, a composition made by the band specifically for Clone Hero. [6] The game instead largely relies on the ability to play community-made songs, called "charts". [2] [3] [6] [7] However, unlike games in the Guitar Hero series, these songs do not need to be original compositions, and can instead be any audio file a member of the community wishes to turn into a playable chart. This allows for any song to be made playable in the game, but also leads to many humorous and/or non-musical audio files being turned into charts, [2] as well as the creation of many intentionally impossible charts. [7] The freedom offered by the game's system has also spawned many charts that are created as brutal challenges to other players, far beyond the difficulty of anything in the standard Guitar Hero series. [8] [9] [7] While Clone Hero includes the main four difficulty modes seen in Guitar Hero, the vast majority of charts are designed for Expert mode.

Development

Clone Hero started as a small project of Ryan Foster's in 2011, [2] then called GuitaRPG, built in the XNA engine and bearing simple, 2D graphics. [10] Around 2015, the game's name was changed to Guitar Game to reflect its forking away from the RPG style, and had been upgraded with pseudo-3D graphics made with 2D graphics with warped perspective. [11] The project was later moved to Unity, and received its final name change to Clone Hero. In 2017, the game had its first alpha release.

Reception

Clone Hero made an appearance at Awesome Games Done Quick 2020. Done by the Player Frif which had also did the Summer Games Done Quick 2022 event. [9] [12] The game has been praised for its large and thriving community, [3] as well as its gameplay which has been favorably compared to the original Guitar Hero games. [6]

Related Research Articles

Bemani, stylized as BEMANI, is Konami's music video game division. Originally named the Games & Music Division (G.M.D.), it changed its name in honor of its first and most successful game, Beatmania, and expanded into other music-based games, most notably rhythm games such as Dance Dance Revolution, GuitarFreaks, and DrumMania.

<i>Guitar Hero</i> (video game) 2005 music rhythm video game

Guitar Hero is a 2005 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2. It is the first installment in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released in November 2005 in North America, April 2006 in Europe and June 2006 in Australia. The game's development was a result of collaboration between RedOctane and Harmonix to bring a Guitar Freaks-like game to United States.

<i>UltraStar</i> 2023 video game

UltraStar is a clone of SingStar, a music video game by Polish developer Patryk "Covus5" Cebula. UltraStar lets one or several players score points by singing along to a song or music video and match the pitch of the original song. UltraStar displays lyrics as well as the correct notes similar to a piano roll. On top of the correct notes UltraStar displays the pitch recorded from the players. UltraStar allows several people to play simultaneously by connecting several microphones possibly to several sound cards. To add a song to UltraStar, a file with notes and lyrics is required, together with an audio file. Optionally a cover image, a backdrop image and a video may be added to each song. UltraStar comes preloaded with a short sample from Nine Inch Nails hit "Discipline" from The Slip album.

<i>Frets on Fire</i> 2006 video game

Frets on Fire (FoF) is a free, open-source music video game created by Finnish independent video game developer Unreal Voodoo. Players use the keyboard to play along with markers which appear on screen, with the aim to score points, achieve a high point multiplier, and complete a song. Frets on Fire was the winner of the Assembly 2006 game development competition.

Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. The games attempt to mimic many features of playing a real guitar, including the use of fast-fingering hammer-ons and pull-offs and the use of the whammy bar to alter the pitch of notes. Most games support single player modes, typically a Career mode to play through all the songs in the game, as well as competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes. With the introduction of Guitar Hero World Tour in 2008, the game includes support for a four-player band including vocals and drums. The series initially used mostly cover versions of songs created by WaveGroup Sound, but most recent titles feature soundtracks that are fully master recordings, and in some cases, special re-recordings, of the songs. Later titles in the series feature support for downloadable content in the form of new songs.

<i>Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock</i> 2007 video game

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a 2007 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the third main installment and the fourth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. It is the first game in the series to be developed by Neversoft after Activision's acquisition of RedOctane and MTV Games' purchase of Harmonix, the previous development studio for the series. The game was released worldwide for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii in October 2007. Aspyr published the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X versions of the game, releasing them later in 2007.

<i>Guitar Hero World Tour</i> 2008 video game

Guitar Hero World Tour is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was launched in North America in October 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles, and a month later for Europe and Australia. A version of World Tour for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X was published by Aspyr in July 2009.

<i>Guitar Hero Mobile</i> series Rhythm video game series

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<i>Rock Band</i> Series of rhythm video games

Rock Band is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero series, the main Rock Band games has players use game controllers modeled after musical instruments and microphones to perform the lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drums and vocal parts of numerous licensed songs across a wide range of genres though mostly focusing on rock music by matching scrolling musical notes patterns shown on screen. Certain games support the use of "Pro" instruments that require special controllers that more closely mimic the playing of real instruments, providing a higher challenge to players. Players score points for hitting notes successfully, but may fail a song if they miss too many notes. The series has featured numerous game modes, and supports both local and online multiplayer modes where up to four players in most modes can perform together.

<i>Guitar Hero 5</i> 2009 video game

Guitar Hero 5 is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released internationally in September 2009 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 consoles. Similar to the preceding title, Guitar Hero World Tour (2008), Guitar Hero 5 is geared towards playing in a four-person band experience, including lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game is available as a standalone title, allowing players to use existing compatible instrument controllers, and as a bundle that provides these controllers. Guitar Hero 5 adds several new features, such as drop-in/drop-out play, bands composed of any combination of available instruments, a Rockfest competitive mode consisting of several various scoring mechanisms, and both song-specific and general Challenges to unlock new avatars, clothing, and other extras in the game. Many of these changes were added to make the game a more social experience, allowing players across a range of skill levels to be able to play cooperatively and competitively against each other both locally and online. The PlayStation 2 version is based on Guitar Hero World Tour, using the same gameplay UI as Guitar Hero: Metallica (2009), Guitar Hero Smash Hits (2009), and Guitar Hero: Van Halen (2009), albeit with a different Rock Meter design.

<i>Guitar Hero Smash Hits</i> 2009 music rhythm game for PlayStation, Wii and Xbox

Guitar Hero Smash Hits is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Beenox and published by Activision. It is the eighth installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game features 48 songs originally featured in five previous games in the series—Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith—redesigning the songs to be based on master recordings and to include support for full band play first introduced to the series in Guitar Hero World Tour (2008). The game was release on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 systems worldwide in June 2009.

<i>Guitar Hero: On Tour</i> 2008 video game series

Guitar Hero: On Tour is a series of music video games based on the Guitar Hero series for the Nintendo DS handheld game system. The series is developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. Three games in the series have been released since June 2008: Guitar Hero: On Tour, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits.

<i>Rock Band 3</i> 2010 music video game

Rock Band 3 is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, on October 26, 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on November 23, 2011. It is the third main installment and the seventh console release in the Rock Band series. As with the previous titles, Rock Band 3 allows players to simulate the playing of rock music and many other subgenres using special instrument controllers mimicking lead and bass guitar, keyboard, drums, and vocals. Rock Band 3 expands upon previous games by including three-part vocal harmonies — previously used in The Beatles: Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band — plus support for MIDI-compatible keyboards, electronic drumkits, and even use of a real guitar in "Pro" mode.

<i>Power Gig: Rise of the SixString</i> 2010 video game

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<i>Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock</i> 2010 video game

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a 2010 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released in September 2010 for PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Similar to previous entries in the series it is geared towards playing in a four-person band experience, including lead and bass guitar, drums, and vocals. The game is available as a standalone title, allowing players to use existing compatible instrument controllers, and as a bundle that provides these controllers.

<i>Rocksmith</i> 2011 video game

Rocksmith is a music video game produced by Ubisoft, released in October 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in North America. Rocksmith was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during September 2012 in Australian and European markets and October 2012 in Japan. A Windows version was released on October 16, 2012, after several delays. The game's main feature is that, unlike other rhythm games such as Guitar Hero that require proprietary controllers to play, Rocksmith instead allows players to plug in virtually any electric guitar and play along via a USB adapter.

<i>Guitar Hero Live</i> 2015 video game

Guitar Hero Live is a 2015 rhythm game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision. It is the seventh main installment and the twelfth overall installment in the Guitar Hero series. The game was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in October 2015. As with previous games in the series, the goal is to use a special guitar controller to match fret patterns displayed on a scrolling note pattern on screen in time with the music.

References

  1. ↑ Dawe, Liam (December 7, 2022). "Guitar Hero inspired free game Clone Hero version 1.0 is out now". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Stubbs, Mike (May 1, 2018). "The spirit of Guitar Hero lives on in a bizarre community-made clone". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Schuhart, Jonah (August 19, 2020). "What Clone Hero Is (& Why It's So Important)". Screen Rant . Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  4. ↑ "The New Guitar Hero Live Controller". support.activision.com. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Clone Hero v1.0". YouTube . Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Parrish, Ash (April 22, 2021). "Clone Hero Is So Much Fun I Don't Mind The Carpal Tunnel". Kotaku Australia . Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 Neilan, Dan (August 10, 2018). "Guitar Heroes never die, they just start playing Clone Hero". AV Club. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  8. ↑ Winkie, Luke (July 24, 2018). "Meet the streamer making Guitar Hero cool again, one insanely hard song at a time". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Bennett, Connor (January 13, 2020). "Insane Guitar Hero performance goes viral after jaw-dropping "speedrun"". Dexerto. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  10. ↑ Foster, Ryan (April 11, 2015). "GuitaRPG - Guitar Hero". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 17, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. ↑ Foster, Ryan (July 18, 2015). "Guitar Game - Bleed it Out". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  12. ↑ Deschamps, Marc (January 13, 2020). "Undertale's Sans Appears in Wild AGDQ Video". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
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