Rock your blocks off with some family friendly Rock Band fun.

The music genre has finally found its stride and has decided now to try and get the whole family into the act. Especially if there will be genre and band specific titles why not make something that will appeal to the kiddos as well? Lego Rock Band fits the bill quite nicely, providing a fun and entertaining experience that will entertain both the kids and kids at heart with another set of eclectic tunes, supported by the delightful and humorous Lego creations.

While not reinventing the wheel by any means, Lego Rock Band will give gamers yet another way to enjoy rocking out with their friends, but now not having to play only when the kids go to bed. The game still offers the same great multiplayer fun, satisfying song list, and even fun challenges to keep you busy late into the night. You have many modes to play, from challenges to a delightful story mode, but don't expect to jump online as the head to head and online party modes have been nixed from this version, I assume not to entice the young ones. Of course this time around the game's story mode is entertaining ,as it is fun to play and unlock venues, and thanks to the humor brought to you from the minds behind Lego Indiana Jones and Star Wars. This unique sense of humor can easily be recognized during the games "themed" levels. One level may have you taking down the ghouls of a haunted house to the theme to Ghostbusters, or you may even face off against a giant Octopus with pirates while playing "In Too Deep" From Sum 41.

Some of the levels are so amusing you will find yourself missing notes just to follow the action, but thankfully if you are a perfectionist, you can complete the level and then watch it uninterrupted in movie format. It is in this mode where you will spend the most with the game, making your band a superstar by gathering roadies, managers, and earning a record deal and fans.

The game's visuals, while not pushing next gen consoles to their limits, are well animated, colorful, and full of life as each stage is unique and some of the themed levels are quite enjoyable not only to the eyes of kids, but grownups will find amusement in some of the adult jokes tossed in as well. What's more, the developers have gone out of their way to make Lego likenesses of Queen, David Bowie, and even Iggy Pop (even if the Lego version looks thicker than Iggy ever has). Customizing your avatars, gig areas, band members, and more is nice as you will unlock tons of premade Lego characters as well as their parts. Nothing to me is more satisfying than having a band called "The Fabulous Pumpkinheads" while accompanied by a lead singer who is a walking Jack-O-Lantern.

The song lists, while not huge at only 45 songs, consists of a great mix of tunes from today and yesterday. Some stand outs are: Blur's "Song 2", "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams, Queen's "We are the Champions/We will Rock You", "Ghostbusters" from Ray Parker Jr., "Free Fallin" from Tom Petty, "I Want You Back" from the Jackson Five, "Fire" from Jimmy Hendrix, and Europe's Glam Metal classic, "The Final Countdown". Fear not Rock Band 2 owners, as if you buy this for the kids, you do have the option for 10 dollars to upload these tracks to your copy of Rock Band 2. Even better is the fact that most of your DLC for Rock Band 1 and 2 are integrated into Lego Rock Band to increase that song list as well, you just can't import any other tracks as such.

While the omission of online mode is disappointing, I don't think it is the intention of Harmonix to replace Rock Band 2, but rather allow the little ones to play when mommy and daddy aren't playing on no fail mode in a drunken stupor. I did find myself giggle a few times while enjoying the new set of tunes, and since I own Rock Band 2 already, importing 45 songs for 10 bucks is a steal if you were getting the title. Of course it seems a little steeper if you are buying the game just for the songs, but then again... why would you? The game is so charming it is hard not to get hooked and enjoy this whether you are 8 or 58. This is the Rock Band game that all the family can easily enjoy. If you've been struggling finding a music game that you won't have to monitor the song list, Lego Rock Band will put your mind at ease.