8 Video Game Rip-Offs Better Than The Original

1. Guitar Hero (GuitarFreaks)

Streets of Rage Final Fight
Harmonix/Konami

2005's Guitar Hero made bedroom Mark Knopflers of us all, allowing even the most untalented and tuneless to become a rock and roll god. Its deceptively simple rhythm action gameplay and novelty guitar-shaped controller invited practically everybody to give it a jam, making Harmonix' melody maker an instant hit. A slew of sequels, expanding into all manner of instruments and ensembles, soon followed.

This was old news in Japan, where arcade-goers had already been thrashing fake guitars for six years. Konami's 1999 title GuitarFreaks isn't just spookily similar to Guitar Hero, featuring both a scrolling fretboard and plastic axe, but was the direct inspiration for Harmonix' hit. The echoes were such that the two companies ended up in court together in 2010, only for the case to be dismissed.

As anyone with a wider appreciation of the music biz knows, many chart-toppers are unbeknownst cover versions. Like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Natalie Imbruglia's Torn, Guitar Hero was no different; it might have played from Konami's tab sheet, but it did so with the sort of mainstream appeal that made it an overnight sensation.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.