It took a few generations, but Guitar Hero is finally on the Mac.

Warning: The following game my be hazardous to your productivity and will unleash your suppressed fantasies of rock stardom.

Not all of us can be rock stars, but some of us can be Guitar Heroes. For years, the Guitar Hero series has been popular with game consoles, and fortunately, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock delivers most of its console cousins’ attributes to the Mac.

At its core, GH3 is a music-based color-matching game. You “strum” a bar on the USB-connected guitar’s body while holding down colored buttons on the neck. The game shows you which notes to play and when, and your goal is not to get booed offstage. You can play with your Mac’s keyboard instead of the guitar controller, but it ruins the spirit of the game.

In solo career mode, your band travels from venue to venue while the cut-scenes tell a mildly amusing story—and, more importantly, give you time to rest your hands between songs. In the Boss Battles, you attack your opponent with a variety of guitar-related problems. The battles require more luck than skill, and if one goes on too long, the Boss eliminates you with a Death Note.

You can play the co-op career mode with a friend (after you buy a second USB guitar, sold for the Xbox 360 for about $50). The venue path is different than in solo mode, and you’re spared the worthless Boss Battles. The co-op career unlocks songs that are unavailable during the solo career mode.

If you’re in a competitive mood (and you have two guitars), three head-to-head modes are available. Face-Off lets you and a friend trade off playing song sections. Pro Face-Off has both competitors play the entire song at once. Battle Mode is the Boss Battles transferred to multiplayer mode, but equally matched players almost always end up finishing up via sudden death, so it gets old pretty quickly.

GH3 supports online play, too. You can set up a private match, or use Quick Play to battle a random shredder. Network lag is corrected by a “flash forward” effect that re-syncs you and your opponent. At press time, Aspyr was still negotiating downloadable tracks, so keep an eye out for them in the future.

The bad news is the pro-level system requirements. PowerPC Macs are out. The minimum requirements are so steep that MacBooks, with their integrated graphics chips, are unable to play the game. Even with the recommended requirements met and the graphics set to their lowest settings, there’s still noticeable stuttering during the first song.

The bottom line. If your Mac can handle the requirements, GH3 is a fun, addictive game that will have you wishing you could get the band back together. Even the hamfisted Boss Battles don’t detract from the spirit

COMPANY: Aspyr

CONTACT: www.aspyr.com

PRICE: $79.99

REQUIREMENTS: 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster, Mac OS 10.4.10 or later, 1GB RAM, 6.1GB hard disk space, 128MB ATI Radeon X1600 or nVidia Geforce 7300 or later, USB

Great solo and party game. MacBook Pro and GH3 means you can finally rock out during your lunch break at work.

Boss battles are lame. High system requirements. Intel Macs only. No Pantera songs.