The “Guitar Hero” series has made great strides over the past few years. When it was first released, nobody knew if it would be successful, and most of the songs were covers.

Now, at the third entry (fourth if you count “Guitar Hero Rocks the ’80s”), the majority of the songs are master tracks, and “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” made more than $100 million in the first week alone. Not bad at all.

“Guitar Hero III” is new in more than one way. For starters, it has a new developer. Harmonix, the previous developer, parted ways with Red Octane, the publisher, which  now works for Activision. Harmonix is creating the out-this-month “Rock Band,” while Neversoft (of “Tony Hawk” fame) is the new developer for “Guitar Hero III.”

But have no fear. While there are changes and the game has a different feel, it’s still a fun, quality music-rhythm game.

If you’ve played any of the games, you know the general idea: Colored “notes” float down a guitar neck toward you, and you have to press the corresponding button on the guitar controller while “strumming” with the other hand.

That hasn’t changed. The notes look slightly different and a nice note-streak counter has been added, but the big difference in looks is the inclusion of cartoonish cutscenes that tell a bit of a story. Not that “Guitar Hero” has ever needed a story, but it gives the game a new feel.

The core layout hasn’t really changed: There are sets of songs, and each set ends with an encore song. Eventually, you work your way through all the sets and play the final song. Game over.

This time, however, some sets make you face off with a “boss” — Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Slash of Guns ‘N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver fame.

The battles throw in power-ups, similar to the score-multiplying star power but with damaging effects on the opponent. These effects range from increasing the difficulty level for a certain time period to forcing the other player to hit the whammy bar a certain number of times before they can play again.

You win the boss battle by making the boss fail the song. If you get to the end of the song, you lose, even if your score is higher. It’s an interesting change, but not a particularly great one. While I like the idea of rock bosses, the battles themselves leave me feeling pretty “meh.”

What is nice is that the battle mode also is available in multiplayer, along with face-off and pro face-off modes, online play and a new co-op career mode.

The co-op career mode is a great addition. Not only does it give two players more to do than just play a song at a time, it also includes songs that are not available in single-player (at least not until you’ve gone through the co-op career). This adds a whole new dimension to the game.

The list of songs is long (more than 70) and varied, ranging from the Rolling Stones and Foghat to Disturbed and Metallica. For a real challenge, DragonForce’s blindingly fast “Through the Fire and Flames” is available after the game is beaten. Good luck with that one.

For those who like to brag, a Web site (www.guitarhero.com) keeps track of leaderboards for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions.

Making a decision about “Guitar Hero III” is easy if you’re a fan of the series: Buy it! It’s a fantastic game.

I can’t wait to see how “Rock Band” compares in a few weeks.

Also out recently is “LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga,” which combines the two LEGO games into one and adds quite a bit of new content.

In case you missed it the first time around, the “LEGO Star Wars” games are platformers that follow (in abbreviated, humorous form) the story of the “Star Wars” movies. You play as LEGO characters, who break apart into little pieces when they die. In addition to running through the levels, you’re trying to gather up LEGO studs, which are used as your currency, and hunting for pieces of kits to build new vehicles.

“The Complete Saga” reworks the first game with all the improvements made in the second game — building, riding vehicles, character customization. One of the best changes is a revamped Mos Espa podrace, a level in the first game that I hated with a passion.

There are also quite a few new levels, most involving flying around in space, new bounty hunter missions and a plethora of new playable characters.

For Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users, the game can be played cooperatively online for the first time.

“The Complete Saga” would be a good buy simply because the previous games have not been available before on the systems for which it’s released (with the exception of “LEGO Star Wars II” for the Xbox 360). So even if you have played it before, you won’t have played it on a next-generation system.

But so many additions have been made that “The Complete Saga” is also a great buy just to experience everything new.

Plus, it’s nearly Christmas (I know you don’t want to hear it, but it is), and “LEGO Star Wars” is a fantastic game for families to play together.

Reach Aimee Green at 473-7326 or Aimee.Green@lee.net.