If you ask me, and since you're reading this review you are; DJ Hero last year gave the music genre a nicely needed shot in the arm. In a landscape dominated by Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands, it was a breath of fresh air to play a game that not only gave other genres like hip-hop and rap a starring role, but that also depended on an entirely new way to play the music, in this case a plastic turntable. DJ Hero 2 is a natural extension of the first game, adding new and exciting features, but unfortunately the novelty and track variety have been left behind for this sequel, potentially narrowing the target appeal of the game.

For the uninitiated, the DJ hero franchise has you spinning, scratching, hitting notes and cross fading your way along an endless highway of prompts. Different prompts will notify the player about when it's time to shift the track left and right, when to scratch the record, when to hit the coloured notes, and so on.

The game ships with a turntable or two depending on the version you buy, and the hardware is as solid as ever. The tables come with the crossfading switch, an effects knob, and the spinner plate with three buttons. While the act of playing DJ Hero has as much to do with actual DJ'ing as Guitar Hero has with playing real guitar, the entire act of scratching the record back and forth to some intense beats holds some significant appeal. The fact that the game has an entirely unique soundtrack of over 80 mash-ups only adds to value. This is a soundtrack you won't get anywhere else.

With last year's game, all the mash-ups were pre-recorded and there wasn't much room for creativity. This has all changed for this sequel. Now, certain sections of songs will allow you to choose which side the cross fader should be set to, conversely which song of the mash-up you'll hear. Also, the sound effect button on the middle track is now song specific, instead of the incessant "yeeeeaaaah boyeeee" sound effect that polluted the wonderful mixes the first time around. Finally, certain sections allow you to freestyle scratch, and the speed upon which you scratch is reflected within the game's audio.

The rest of the gameplay is much like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, including Euphoria which can pull your butt out of the fire like Guitar Hero's star power, and the ability to rewind the track for extra points by spinning the plate backwards.

With the new additions, DJ Hero 2 should be easily more fun to play than the original right? Well, sort of. The creative mechanics and greater player input definitely make the game more fundamentally fun to play, but the lack of track variety from the last game hurts. The original tried to be a jack of all trades, spanning nearly every genre of music like rock, pop, metal, hip-hop, rap, techno, and so on. DJ Hero 2's set list is populated (and polluted) by an excess of modern club music, hip-hop, and little else. If names like Chamillionaire, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, 50 Cent, Eminem, Missy Elliot, Nelly, Pussycat Dolls, and Flo Rida populate your iPod, then you'll be in music nirvana here. Unfortunately, if these tunes aren't your cup of tea, you're going to be caught Ridin' Dirty. That's the right connotation right? Even classic names in the genre like Public Enemy, Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, and many more are left behind, let alone more eclectic acts that appeared in the first game like Blondie, Queen, Motorhead, and Blink 182. To put it simply, DJ Hero 2's soundtrack is excellent for the target audience, but the lack of variety in the tracks limits the appeal to club goers and top 40 hip-hop fans, and little else. If have to hear "it's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes" one more time, I'm going to throw my turntable through the TV. If there was ever a case study for just how misogynistic rap and hip hop are, it can be found here.