Karaoke is one of my most recent “addictions”, if you want to call it that. Ever since Karaoke Revolution Party I haven’t really thought much about it until last New Year’s Eve party, where a friend brought over his machine for us to sing, or rather, try to, while he hogged the microphone. After that, I tried out a few karaoke bars with some friends, where I ended up singing Shakira and choreographing the YMCA. Where did I come up with the nerve? Booze, of course.
Fortunately, singing in the comfort of our homes has a lot of advantages. First, I don’t need to have a couple of drinks to feel comfortable. Second, there are no strangers watching me. Third, I can attempt to sing tunes I’ve never heard before and still laugh at myself in the end.
SingStar Pop is the latest in the SingStar franchise, a popular karaoke game for the PS2 that will test your singing abilities a bit like a very picky bunch of judges. I say this because I found it to be more demanding in the pitch, rhythm and tone recognition than Karaoke Revolution Party, even on Easy mode. Mind you, trying to sing things that usually make me switch radio stations doesn’t really help…
The compilation of tunes includes a total of 30 hits from classic and current pop artists. I am pretty partial to U2, so having one of my favorite songs in there was a big plus for me. Add to that one of my favorite video clips and 80’s songs ever – A-Ha’s Take On Me – and The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go, and I am one happy singer.
Other artists include Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Ashlee Simpson, Britney Spears, Gorillaz, Avril Lavigne, Destiny’s Child, James Blunt, Franz Ferdinand, Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper.
Right from the beginning of the game you have all the songs available plus a bunch of different game modes. Single-player Solo mode is pretty self-explanatory, you hop into the game, pick a song, pick the normal or short version, and off you go.
The game plays the videoclip of the respective song, with a top bar showing the score and overall performance (green is good, yellow is so-so, red is bad) and the bottom bar with the lyrics. On top of the video, the meters pass by indicating the length and pitch of each note, and they will switch to blue as you hit the right notes. If you don’t want to be scored during a song, you can always get acquainted with the tracks you don’t know in Freestyle mode.
SingStar Pop is designed to be mostly a party game, since the focus of the game is in the multiplayer features. There’s a Duet Mode and Battle Mode for two, plus a Pass-The-Mic mode to be played with teams. I had the chance to play a couple of Battles with a cousin and it was the most hilarious karaoke experience ever! The game sort of keeps you on your toes by changing who sings each line, sometimes Player 1, sometimes Player 2, sometimes it will be both. Hearing the playback for that was as funny as embarassing: “shut up, it’s my turn!” and a ton of laughs were heard more than the actual lyrics.
There are a series of differently themed medleys as well, but unfortunately, no medley customization feature. And of course, the game wouldn’t be complete without three difficulty settings: Easy, Medium and Hard.
There are two features that add a lot of value to this title. One is the Eye Toy support, which allows you to insert yourself into the videos and watch yourself act like a real popstar and even take photos of yourself performing. The other is the ability to listen to yourself after finishing a song and record that clip for posterity. This made me go “Wow, did I really sound like that at the bar? Good lord!” and then slowly sink into the couch. I’m not making any recordings of myself, that’s for sure! Maybe those couple of drinks at the bar really made a difference…
Still, there’s nothing like shaking your head while singing Take Me Out, owning I Wanna Dance With Somebody or trying to be Cyndi Lauper with Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (because we do want to have fun!).
The only thing that I found lacking in the game was some sort of unlockables, which would have been a great incentive for Solo gameplay, and a medley creator where we would pick the songs we want for it.
SingStar Pop offers great family entertainment, with a wide range of musical styles, so the game will have something for everyone. Plus, if you own any other previous SingStar titles you can compile the song lists into a more diverse song library with the quick disc swap feature.
If up until now you’ve been singing in the shower (or any other private and secluded place), it’s time to move to the living room. Grab a mic, start up a game, sing along with the pop stars and become one yourself.
And now I’m off to find a copy of SingStar Rocks, and then try to convince some friends to come over for a karaoke party. I’ll even buy the drinks!
Special thanks to Sarah Lasky, Brian Keltner and SCEA for providing a copy of this title.