And so starts TPSN’s Game Of The Year awards. The first category up is the music game. 2009 has seen the release of a massive number of these titles and at the time of writing there’s still more to come. Here’s what we, the staff of ThePlayStatioNetwork, thought were the five best released this year.

The first of Harmonix’s games to make the list (and it’s not the only one, that’s for sure), LEGO: Rock Band offered up something different to Rock Band fans and none fans alike. A more ‘family friendly’ version of the game it may be, but that doesn’t mean it’s without a cool soundtrack and more songs people want to play. A great package of songs, don’t let the LEGO aesthetic put you off.

4. Guitar Hero: Metallica

Guitar Hero:Metallica was a reminder that Activison and Red Octane knew how to make a brilliant music game. Guitar Hero 1 was the first, best and most original of the GH series and outputs from the developers since the release have been sub-par, but Metallica redefined the muse game once again. Sure Rock Band did the “band” thing first, but Metallica does it better. The original storyline, playability and fun factor has returned and certainly paved the way for future music titles. It’s a bench mark for the present music games.

3. Guitar Hero 5

After the progress made by our last entry, the fifth numbered entry in the Guitar Hero franchise was bound to be better than before. Those who saw, last year’s, ‘World Tour’ as a bit of a disappointment will have been glad to see even more progress in the franchise. With a whole new art style and a great tracklist, number five is the best Guitar Hero of the bunch so far. It might have been even more fondly thought of had there not been a million other additions to the franchise in 2009.

2. The Beatles: Rock Band

Unlike Activision, Harmonix really doesn’t want to flood the market with music titles. 2009 saw the release of two, very different, iterations of the Rock Band franchise. After a massive back and forth between The Beatles, Harmonix and Activision the originators of the modern music game won out and created a music game masterpiece with The Beatles: Rock Band.

It certainly was a different direction for the franchise as a whole and has been welcomed by fans and non-fans alike. It did a lot of things different, a lot of things better, but it wasn’t the best this year had to offer.

1. DJ Hero

Finally we have a change in the insanely tired music/rhythm genre. DJ Hero is the best music game of the year, and absolutely the most original. FreeStyle games broke the incredibly mundane stream of band titles with this well polished take on the art of DJ’ing. Famous DJ’s like DJ Shadow, Daft Punk, and the late DJ A.M all contribute quite the nice selection of mixes for your enjoyment. From the outstanding selection of 100+ mixes already on the disk to the well designed peripheral, faith has finally been put back into this dying breed.

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