Game Title: SingStar 80's and SingStar Amped!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Studio: SCEA
Rating: T for teens
Reviewer's score: 8 out of 10
THE REVIEW
GAMEPLAY: If you're used to playing arcade or adventure games on your PlayStation 2, you're in for something entirely different with the SingStar franchise. And if you've got some buddies willing to share the spotlight and humiliation, it's a lot of fun. At our house, it's possible to pass hours with the SingStars, which now number four discs.
SingStar is a little like karaoke, in that the disc provides the music and the written lyrics. But you've got to provide the vocals, with of 10 hilarious results. If you're just getting started, you need to buy the SingStar pack that includes one of the music discs and two microphones, which costs around $50. Once you have those, you can add new stand-alone discs as they come out for around $29. You can also hook your EyeToy in, if you want, and video some of the sessions, bringing the humiliation to a whole new level. What a hoot.
SingStar can be played in battle mode — my daughters love to go head-to-head to see who can hit the notes most precisely. You can play single, but there doesn't seem to be much point, unless you're practicing for when you trick your siblings or friends into a round of battle mode. You can play it in duet mode, which is both entertaining and yields some surprisingly nice results, if you can halfway carry a tune. Or you and up to seven more of your buddies can toss the mikes back and forth in party mode.
It's all great fun.
The music selection makes the game and there's something for everyone on each disc. 80's has Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl," Blondie "Heart of Glass," Culture Club "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?", Cyndi Lauper "Time After Time," Duran Duran "Rio," A Flock of Seagulls "I Ran (So Far Away)", Kim Wilde "Kids in America," Madonna "Material Girl," Madness "Our House," Starship "We Built This City," Survivor "Eye of the Tiger," Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It," and Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," among others.
Amped is a lot edgier, and parents who are playing with younger children will want to keep an eye on the song selection, because not all the lyrics are entirely family friendly. But those are the minority of songs. The disc includes Steppenwolf "Born to be Wild," ZZ Top "Gimme All Your Lovin'," Yes "Owner of a Lonely Heart," Talking Heads "Burning Down the House," Pearl Jam's "Alive," Poison "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", Nickeback "Savin' Me" (the household favorite, it's been played so much it's now the soundtrack when I dream), The Killers "When You Were Young," Fall Out Boy "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race," Blink 182 "I Miss You," Boston "More Than a Feeling," Blue Oyster Cult "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," Dave Bowie "Changes" and a bunch of other tunes.
SingStar has a disc swap feature that lets you pop one disc out and put in another at will, without rebooting or adjusting, so you ultimately have a pretty good-sized singing library as you add discs. But there's a tendency to go for the songs you know, so if you're like everyone I know, there will be songs you play a lot and some you seldom or never touch.
GRAPHICS: The graphics consist of the music videos that go with the songs, superimposed with bars that graphically show you where your voice is supposed to be. The mikes are blue and red and whoever possesses each one will be represented in that color on the screen as you sing. Sing too high and you'll be above the bars, too low and you'll fall below them. The goal is to color the bars precisely, egged on by an instant analysis from the game: "cool," "bad," "good," "awful." You get points as you go, based on how diva-like you really are.
AUDIO: The sound provided by the discs is great. The sound you'll mostly hear — your own voice — is out of Sony's control. Although this is a music game, the audio's actually not the main event here. You can also check out how you did in playback mode.
THE WRAP-UP
PARENT'S TAKE: The SingStar franchise is a good bet for kids of all ages and it will get them on their feet and moving. The "T" rating for the 80's version is for an alcohol and tobacco references, mild language and mild suggestive themes. Some songs in "Amped" have sexual themes and some lyrics that are a bit rougher, although not obscene. It does limit the appeal somewhat, which is too bad. You don't want to try to sing your way through Amped at a family reunion.
FINAL WORD: SingStar's great fun for all ages and abilities. And the goofier you and your friends are, the more fun you'll have with it.
E-mail: Lois@desnews.com