Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol (PS2) Review
Posted by Shawn Struck on 02.02.2007
Konami partners with American Idol in the latest Karaoke Revolution game. Does this team up make a perfect duet, or just strike a sour note? Find out inside!
Taking the gameplay of Karaoke Revolution, where anyone can be a star, and adding American Idol to it (where everyone tries to be a star), seems like such a natural fit that one might wonder why it took so long to make it.
As a fan of the KR franchise, and American Idol, you'd be forgiven if you approached this title with some doubts: The first American Idol game released for the Playstation by another company was horrible. The original Karaoke Revolution development team, Harmonix, has been replaced by developer Blitz Games this time out.
However, whether you're an American Idol junkie, or a Karaoke Revolution newbie, you'll find a lot to like about this game.
Gameplay
The basic mechanics of the Karaoke Revolution remain the same: song lyrics scroll right to left, along with a bar that shows where on the pitch scale the notes lay. An arrow shows where your current pitch is relative to the target melody, and the closer you are to the right pitch, the more points you rack up. Some portions of a song have sparkling note segments, and if you get at least a "Good" performance on that section, you get a boost to your score and the crowd meter. If the crowd meter dips below red, you fail the song. It's as simple as getting the pitch arrow at the right place at the right time... and as difficult as making your voice to do what you want it to. This addictively simple gameplay has made the Karaoke Revolution series a consistently fun game to play.
In addition to getting a high score on the songs there's also the trick of impressing the judges from American Idol. The songs are all scored up to 50,000 points, but getting the gold record simply requires 20,000 points. In previous versions of the game a gold record would've been a good point to kick back and relax, but not anymore. Now you must face 3 judges from American Idol as well.
The judges are tough and Simon Cowell, true to the show, is as cruel as ever. At the end of each song, the three judges give you their verdict. Both Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson lend their voices to the game... while Paula Abdul's role has been replaced by someone very similar named "Laura". It's a little disconcerting at first to have pitch perfect likenesses of Randy and Simon, and then come face to face with a no-name (it's also a little puzzling, since Paula Abdul had no problem with KR using "Straight Up" as a song in the game).
An additional wrinkle added to the game is that you can also judge how well you're singing not just by the Crowd Meter, but by watching the judges' reactions when the camera cuts to them, leading to an even more immersive feel.
It's possible to sing just one song and be judged, but the true game involves going from the local tryouts to Hollywood to compete through several different events to become the next American Idol. There are a few different lengths with eight to 18 rounds each, but each one plays out as a series of songs where the judging keeps getting tougher and tougher with the last few songs requiring some knockout performances. With this in mind it's best to figure out what songs are your strongest and save those for last.
A nice touch, though, is that the game will remember what you did previously, and apply that against future songs as well. Start to mess up songs and they'll ask you what's been going on since you were doing so much better before. The worst thing to do is to repeat a song and do it worse than before.. if you do that, prepare to be raked across the coals by the judges.
The other multiplayer modes are here: duet, medley, and standard karaoke (with just the lyrics onscreen like a karaoke machine) and remain unchanged from previous versions.
Graphics
The graphics are well-done, with the new American Idol backgrounds looking like they came straight from the show. The "Final 12" stage in particular is really well done. The character models for Rand and Simon are very accurate looking, and the motion capture is really well done... until they start talking. There's something really weird about the lip movements and the attempt to sync the movement of the tongue in their speech that just doesn't come off well at all.
As mentioned earlier, you can watch the judges reactions for cues as to how you're doing overall, though the animations themselves seem to be limited to 3 or 4 stock poses. Simon's reactions when you're doing awful are especially hilarious. Little touches, like Simon's trademark smirk and Randy's constant hand gestures are recreated fairly well.
The character models for your character are very customizable and very well done. As in previous games in the series, you can use a pre-fab model or design your own from scratch. If you have an EyeToy, you can even map your face to a character’s head (this feature does take a fair amount of tweaking to get right).
Sound
Any new Karaoke Revolution game needs a good new song list and it's a little longer this time around with a total of 40 tunes. The cover versions are the same high level of quality as in previous versions and the variety here provides a lot of ground to cover. There are classics such as "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," "Build Me Up Buttercup." and, of course, "She Bangs" (but don’t try singing like William Hung on this one. Trust me. No one, from the judges, to your friends or spouse will thing you’re clever).
This game lives and dies by just how well these judges have been recreated within the videogame and the results are surprisingly good. The commentary is usually very natural sounding, especially when it comes to the interplay between judges. However, sometimes the judges will contradict themselves-- say, talking about how you're the best contestant on the show, but then talk about how you need to improve your performance.
Simon's one-liners are even more caustic at times then in real life, but they're always hilarious (My personal favorite: “Please. Do us all a favor and put the microphone down…now”).
The selection of songs doesn't seem as wide as before; though there are plenty that were used as audition pieces in past seasons of American Idol (and Billy Joel fans will be pretty pleased-- you can pick "Piano Man" or "Just The Way You Are"). The in-studio musicians do an excellent job of recreating the sound and feel of the original songs.
Fun Factor
The game is simple, but the fun of singing is still worth it. The addition of Randy, Simon and PaulaLaura give you that extra bit of motivation to want to do well on each song. I played this game both in solo and with a group of friends and everyone had a blast.
The American Idol mode adds a new twist, and when you’re playing with a bunch of friends, seeing who’ll get eliminated is actually a little nerve-wrecking.
Lasting Appeal
In addition to the many different modes of gameplay, there is a lot to unlock while you play through the game: outfits, accessories to create your own virtual avatar, and video clips from American Idol finalists performing some of the songs featured in the game. There are unlockable rewards relating to every mode in the game and for practically everything you can do, from getting various amounts of gold records, perfect scores, performances in duet modes, and more.
The game is already enjoyable enough to come back and play over and over; these unlockables are really just an extra reward.
The 411
The virtual judges successfully do their jobs by both providing some analysis and giving you motivation to try even harder. With their presence the experience is fuller than before and with loads of video clips and official artwork and presentations, this game is far from a Karaoke Revolution game with a coat of American Idol paint. Karaoke Revolution: American Idol is a must buy if you've enjoyed any of the other Karaoke games.
Graphics
8.0
Great recreation of the judges, authentic backgrounds, and stylish characters make for a slick presentation.
Gameplay
8.0
Addictive as ever, and the new American Idol mode adds a fresh twist.
Sound
8.0
Solid offerings from the Top 40 charts (and a double shot of Billy Joel).
Lasting Appeal
9.0
The game itself is fun enough to play over and over, and all the unlockables give you more reason to come back.
Fun Factor
9.0
Yo, dawg, check it. This game is off the hook, especially with your own Dog Pund-- er, I mean group of friends.
Taking the gameplay of Karaoke Revolution, where anyone can be a star, and adding American Idol to it (where everyone tries to be a star), seems like such a natural fit that one might wonder why it took so long to make it. 
The judges are tough and Simon Cowell, true to the show, is as cruel as ever. At the end of each song, the three judges give you their verdict. Both Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson lend their voices to the game... while Paula Abdul's role has been replaced by someone very similar named "Laura". It's a little disconcerting at first to have pitch perfect likenesses of Randy and Simon, and then come face to face with a no-name (it's also a little puzzling, since Paula Abdul had no problem with KR using "Straight Up" as a song in the game).
The character models for your character are very customizable and very well done. As in previous games in the series, you can use a pre-fab model or design your own from scratch. If you have an EyeToy, you can even map your face to a character’s head (this feature does take a fair amount of tweaking to get right).
