“Guitar Hero 5″
Genre: Rhythm/music
Developer: Neversoft
Publisher: Activision
Platforms: PlayStations 2 and 3, Xbox 360, Wii
ESRB rating: “T” for Teen
Price: $59.99
Grade: B

Honestly, what’s left for the “Guitar Hero” franchise to do?

It introduced the rhythm-game genre in 2005, has since scored over $2 billion in sales in the United States alone and expanded the gaming realm for music marketing. Seasoned performers and their standards find new life in GH’s intricate visual renditions of contemporary and legendary venues, and digital remakes of classic performances.

And, of course, there’s the GH-inspired “Rock Band” franchise that beefs up the consumer appeal of fake music-making and creates a market-driven competition where none was imagined earlier this decade.

So then, what does “Guitar Hero 5″ have to give it an edge over older titles?

Well, for starters, thirty of the 80-plus tracks in this GH are game debuts, including Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” which doesn’t resonate in the mind quite like Jimi Hendrix’s version but is fun to hear nonetheless. And all in this set list can be played right away; no special unlocking powers are necessary.

Furthermore, any mix of four instruments for up to eight players is possible. This is enhanced by the new Party Play mode in which players can jump in and out of performances as if they’re musical tag teams while the random music list continues thumping in the background.

There are Band Moments, where group players score points by matching streams of notes, and there are individual song challenges demanding similar precise duplication. Recording original compositions is easier, too, thanks to a streamlined studio interface. And players can import most of the set list from GH5’s predecessor, “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” though they’ll have to pony up a little jack to do so.

Beyond all that are tweaks — instant instrument switches in Career mode, less inclination to boot out band members who can’t keep up the pace and more emphasis on player competition at the expense of arcade-like features that were more corny than classy. (There’s plenty of corn served still by allowing cameos from stars such as Shirley Manson and the late Kurt Cobain to share the stage with Xbox avatars — a cut-and-paste job of underwhelming proportions.)

However, once Game Guy struck his last chord, the first summary word that came to mind was, “Meh!” After all, the music is what matters most in any rhythm franchise, and this motley collection of tunes in GH5 takes eclectic to an extreme. The graying boomers living out their faded rock dreams — GH5’s primary constituency — probably will love taking turns with Peter Frampton and Wild Cherry but might look askance at and avoid comparatively fringe acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Attack! Attack!

Sure, GH5 contains welcome improvements, upgrades that frequent players probably mused about out loud at times and a few tunes that Game Guy expected in earlier versions, but the franchise overall is starting to look as old and anomalous as the name.