The greatest rock bands of all time have a complete collection of merchandise that goes from the typical blue pen to show off at work or the underpants you start wearing once you’re in the second year of your relationship. Kings of merch like KISS even have a 4.500 dollars coffin.
So, it’s no surprise when we tell you that there have also been many games developed that are inspired by the greatest rock bands of all time. What we can assure you is that you’ll still be baffled by some of the titles presented on this list. And if you ever fancy more, you can read Scott Steinberg’s Music Games Rock, an eBook reviewing the best music games in history.
Let’s jump in!
Journey’s Arcade Game (1983)
Until the release of this arcade game, rock bands were only seen at pinball machines. But Bally Midway ventured into developing the first proper videogame of a rock band, and the result was a thrilling and farcical adventure by the band of Journey.
The game even has a narrative behind it. Alien groupies have stolen the band’s instruments and your task is to help them retrieve their instruments. Every band member has a minigame that you must beat in order to bring the instrument back to the band’s spaceship (that takes the shape of a scarab).
The best part of this game is that you get to play with the actual music of the band with an arcade-style sound. Complete all missions to witness Journey’s first galactic concert.
Revolution X Featuring Aerosmith (1994)
An evil corporation has declared all forms of entertainment such as video games, television, and music illegal! You’re on your way to an Aerosmith concert when the militaristic corporation starts seizing all citizens aged between 13 and 30. Your task is to battle thru the armed forces, reach the Aerosmith concert, and start the Revolution from there!
If the narrative has got you pumping your fists in the air, then just wait to start playing this shooter-style arcade while listening to the best Aerosmith tunes. This is a way more advanced video game than the one of Journey and you get to listen to the actual voice of Steven Tyler and the rest of the hard rock band. An absolute gem of a game.
Guitar Hero (2005)
And we jump to the modern era of video gaming with a franchise that sold more than 25 million copies of the game, setting the game at a value of more than 2 billion dollars.
Guitar Hero changed the horizon of music video games and set the bar so high that there wasn’t another successful console music video game released after this. We’re talking about a game where people could feel like an actual Rockstar, with a piece of hardware that was a plastic guitar that looked like a colorful ax, where you played the chord progression of the best rock titles of all time.
Not only it was a hit video game, but it meant that millions of players, mostly young people, became from one day to the next absolute rock fans. This probably saved many classic rock bands that were being left in oblivion.
NetEnt’s Motorhead (2016)
And since the video games industry was all saturated with Guitar Hero, there remains a category that still to our days brings us many entertaining releases worth having a place on this list.
Online slots have become an ideal companion and have experienced huge approval among consumers that can find themed slots for almost every pop culture topic. Motorhead is an example of one of the best slots inspired by rock bands but you can find many more on online platforms and even read about the experience of other people with these games in the Casumo casino review for instance. Get to know the best available games and the many online bonuses you can find for g up. You can find NetEnt’s Motorhead slot as well as other developers’ slots from Microgaming to GreenTube or Play’n GO.
Motorhead’s slot is inspired by a rock band with a big influence from betting games, as one of their most successful songs is called “Ace of Spades”. At the same time, Lemmy Kilmister was very fond of casino games.
The best part of the slot is that you can play with the actual music of Motorhead and offers in-game bonuses that guarantee you monetary prizes. Few things can beat listening to Ace of Spades while accumulating earnings!
Header image source: Cassidy James Blaede on Unsplash
