DJ Hero 2

DJ Hero 2 follows from its predecessor in simulating the performance of a disc jockey mixing one or two songs using a special turntable controller. The controller, the same unit as shipped previously with DJ Hero, includes a rotatable turntable to use for recording scratching, three "stream" buttons to match notes from the two music tracks and an effects track, and a slider to control the crossfade between tracks. These actions are presented to the players through on-screen notation that scrolls in time with the music. Players score points by performing the actions correctly, but are not penalized otherwise.

By successfully completing a consecutive set of actions, the player can increase their scoring multiplier up to 4x; the multiplier returns to 1x should they miss any actions. Certain marked sections, when played correctly, fill a "Euphoria" (the "Star Power" for this game) meter which can be unleashed using another button on the controller and will temporarily double the scoring. The player can also earn the ability to rewind a song by a few seconds by playing a long string of consecutive notes. They can rewind the song by quickly spinning the turntable in reverse; the rewind effect can be used to either correct a mistake or further boost one's scoring.

DJ Hero 2 was officially announced in June 2010 for release in the last quarter of 2010. Prior to the game's announcement, Activision revealed a month before the game's release that it is actively seeking artists for downloadable content and a sequel to the game. David Guetta has stated that he was set to work on the game's sequel, to arrive late in 2010. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stated that despite low sales of DJ Hero, they are committed to continuing the series, with the sequel due in 2010. The sequel, DJ Hero 2, was further confirmed during an Activision investors report for 2009, citing it as one of only 2 major Guitar Hero titles to be expected from Activision in 2010, with an expected late-2010 release date.

Work on DJ Hero 2 started some months after the first game was completed, as the development team had endured heavy working hours to meet the release deadline. FreeStyleGames' creative director Jamie Jackson said that DJ Hero 2 took about seven months to complete. While they were able to easily build on the existing framework for DJ Hero, FreeStyleGames wanted to do more than just include new mixes, and sought to include additional features such as the Battle Mixes into the game. Many of the game's new features are a result of feedback from players, including the game's social modes and improvements in the game's interface to provide a cleaner look and instantaneous visual feedback to the player.

DJ Hero 2 was well received by critics, who felt the game was a significant improvement in both gameplay, presentation, and song selection from its predecessor. Michael Brown of 1UP.com noted while there was very little overall change to the gameplay, "it's the minor tweaks that make it a definite improvement over the original". Keza MacDonald of Eurogamer believed that DJ Hero 2 was "much slicker, clearer and more tasteful" with changes in presentation and interface that quickly allows the players to jump into the game. Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica called the title "the best kind of sequel" as it retained the best features of DJ Hero and added further improvements atop of those. Matt Wales of IGN noted that the early difficulty levels of the game were much more suited to beginners "to make for a more convincing DJing experience, without sacrificing that all-important accessibility".

Critics praised the new freestyle features into gameplay, citing the overuse of the Flavor Flav default sample in the first game. MacDonald favored how FreeStyleGames transformed the limited freestyle sections of the first game into "an integral part" of the sequel. Matt Helgeson of Game Informer stated that the nature of DJ Hero 2's freestyling made him feel that he was "helping craft the mix, not just hitting buttons in time". While the addition of new multiplayer modes was well-received, many felt the vocal track addition did not work out well.