Star Power
This article is about a Guitar Hero feature. For ScoreHero's official Podcast, see Starpower Podcast
'Star power
' is a feature of the
Guitar Hero series which allows one to double the points they acquire for a limited duration. When star power is active, all points gained are doubled. Additionally, the
rock meter rises faster when star power is active.
Star Power Meter
The star power meter shows how much star power one has and is visible on screen at all times. In earlier games, the star power meter was represented as a bar that filled with energy. As of Game_GuitarHeroIIILegendsOfRock Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, it is now a series of six light bulbs which light up as more power is gained.
The meter ranges from empty to full. How much star power one has is generally denoted by the fraction of the bar that is full.
Multiplayer Star Power
In
face-off mode and
Pro-Face-Off mode, each player has their own individual star power meter, and star power can be used independently by either player.
In
co-op mode, both players share the same star power meter, and must tilt their guitars or press select together to activate star power.
In
Battle Mode, star power does not exist.
Gaining Star Power
Star Power Phrase
Star power is only gained during star power phrases, which span over a number of notes in a song. The phrase is denoted by a star graphic on each note in the phrase.
If one plays each note in the star power phrase without missing any or over-strumming, the player will successfully acquire 1/4 a bar of star power.
Whammy
A note in a star power phrase can also be used to gain star power. If one uses the
whammy bar during these holds, star power is slowly gained. Even if the phrase itself is missed, star power gained from hold notes earlier in the phrase still remain.
Star power gain during whammy is based on the number of beats of possible whammy. The speed of the song has no effect on star power gain. The speed at which one moves the whammy bar also has no effect on star power gain. All that counts is that the whammy bar is moving at all.
In single-player, star power is gained at a rate of 1/30th of a bar per beat of whammy (7.5 beats are needed to fill the tank). In coop, star power is gained at a rate of 1/40th of a bar per beat of whammy (10 beats are needed to fill the tank).
Early Whammy
Early whammy is hitting (and whammying) hold notes earlier then they're intended to be (by abusing the timing window) to get more Star Power/Overdrive from it. This is used by most top players and especially helps in squeezing. Be careful though, some paths don't mix well with early whammy. Usually this will be denoted in the path though. Until then, whammy away!
Note that early whammying does not work on Guitar Hero 3 or Aerosmith, as Neversoft's engine removed this "bug".
Using Star Power
Activation Methods
Star power can only be activated when at least half of the star power meter is full.
In most Guitar Hero games, star power is activated either by tilting the guitar controller vertically or by pressing the select button. In Game_GuitarHeroOnTour Guitar Hero: On Tour, star power is either activated by yelling or blowing into the microphone or pressing a button on the controller. In Game_GuitarHeroWorldTour Guitar Hero: World Tour on drums star power is activated by hitting both cymbals (yellow and orange) at the same time and on vocals by making a loud sound.
In coop mode, both players must activate at the at the same time in order to activate star power.
Pre-tilting
Pre-tilting is the act of holding your guitar up vertically before you accumulate Star Power so that you can immediately activate once you have enough Star Power.
This technique only works in GH3 and GH:A (and GH:WT?).
Drain Rate
The rate at which star power drains depends solely on the number of measures the star power is under. In other words, star power's duration is based on measures, not beats or time. The time signature of the measure does not matter, either.
In single-player, a full bar of star power lasts for 8 measures. In coop, a full bar of star power lasts for 6 measures.
Front-End
The beginning of a Star Power activation. Hit this note late and activate the instant you hit it in order to
squeeze.
Back-End
The end of a Star Power activation. Hit this note early in order to
squeeze.
See also
Category:
CategoryGameMechanics