Singstar Pop Vol.2 (PS2) Review
Posted by Sean Garmer on 10.29.2008
Do you like to sing Poppy music, like Norah Jones, Rihanna, and Fergie? Then this is the game for you.
Karaoke is a wonderful concept, where one person or a group can gather and sing their favorite songs and be judged by a score, or maybe just from the laughter of their friends. You can have a party based around it or just a small gathering. So it just seems like common sense to adapt that to video games. Enter Singstar, developed by Sony’s London studios, though not the first of its kind, it has rapidly become the standard for singing party games. With more than 30 games to its credit, the Singstar series continues going strong with its newest game Singstar Pop Vol. 2
Graphics:
There isn’t much to the graphics, some bars show up on the screen to let you know where your pitch should be. If you hit the right note it may sparkle, other than that it’s just going to fill up with a color. The best part is the artist or music video that plays behind the bars making it a nice spectacle for your friends, because the singer probably needs to pay attention to the words. The only issue I have is that I really think Sony needs to move the bars down to where the words are, similar to how it is done in Rockband and Karaoke Revolution. On most large screen televisions, it makes it very difficult for singers to be able to read the words and see how well they are doing at the same time because the words are too low on the screen. There isn’t a way to change that either. They either, need to move the bars and words above the video, or move the bars down because the way the game is structured it is no guarantee that just because you know the song you’ll hit the right notes.
Gameplay:
I’ve played about five or six different Singstar games, but never reviewed one, so if some of what I’m about to say sounds harsh, seeing as this is a glorified song pack, I apologize. In the end, I may be the only one that notices these things (I sure hope not), but to me they affect the game experience. For one, most of general America are not musical artists and don’t get to take lessons or have the natural “gift.” People have natural bravado in their voice, which is picked up by the Singstar microphones fairly easily and causes them to show up on the screen as pauses in your voice, which then breaks up the bar you are trying to fill. In essence, even if you know the words to the song, the game causes you to pay (way too close) attention to how you are singing the song. Even then, it makes your score a lot lower than it should be because Singstar tries to be too realistic (and this is on normal difficulty, and even on easy that annoyance is still there). Both Karaoke Revolution and Rockband (both made by Harmonix) scraps the whole bravado thing and just focuses on pitch the way it should be. Personally, I can’t sing very well (my singing voice has great range, but it doesn’t sound too good), but my girlfriend has taken classes, been in multiple choir’s, and can sing very well, but still has the same issue, so it’s not just me that noticed this. For me. it takes the fun out of singing, especially if there isn’t a story mode or anything like that to keep me interested in continuing to play, but that’s for later.
The game does do a great job of helping the singer understand pitch, the problem is that the game (it is a lot more forgiving on Easy, so I’m not killing it here, I just think this needs to be brought up) forces you to sing the song in the same vein as the artist. So like with Evanesence’s “Bring Me To Life” I can get my voice to sound like Amy Lee’s, but most guys can’t sing that high, and you are out of luck if you can’t, because if you try to sing in normal voice the game thinks you are singing incorrectly. That really shouldn’t be the case. The basis of Karaoke is having fun, and you should be rewarded on how well you know the song (well as long as you are coherent and not sounding like you had a little too much to drink.) Such is the case for the most part in Rockband, Karaoke Revolution, and most if not all karaoke machines. Not on how well you can sing like the artist like in Singstar. The game does help you understand that if you wanted to sing that song in its best light you should strive to sing like the artist or sing that verse in this pitch, and you can commend them for that.
Other than those quirks, Singstar Pop Vol. 2 is essentially a fine game. It has different modes to play with friends. It has a freestyle mode for those that just want to fine-tune their abilities or for those that just want to sing without the hard stuff. Then there is pass the mic, which allows for 2-8 players to play in a gauntlet of different formats. Ranging from a medley, to a points battle, to singing micro-melodies, and a few others, it does make for some fun times. There is also the battle mode (which is essentially versus), and a duet mode where the game allows you and another person to sing a duet together. You will each have certain parts to sing and then come together for the chorus, since this game has a lot of poppy, love songs I recommend doing a duet with someone of the opposite sex, just in case you get weirded out by telling your guy or girl friend that you love them.
Notice that I said “with friends” because since the beginning Singstar has decided to scrap a single-player or story mode entirely. I really think that even going the Guitar Hero route, with just some setlists, and then allowing the unlocking of all the songs on the game to give way to five or so bonus songs (and stretching them out among the various difficulties) would have been enough to keep people playing a lot longer. However, Sony has decided to make this almost entirely a multi-player experience, leaving a solo player with just the ability to practice. Now Singstar for the PS3 gets away with this because it has downloadable content, but you would think with the PS2 nearing its end and not having the DLC, that Sony would try to make the game worth the $30 dollar price tag, but hey, it’s their game, they can do what they want with it.
Sound:
There really is only two things you will hear in this game, your voice through the microphone and the artist singing the song through the video that plays in the background. There is also not a way to take away the vocal track, so unless you blast the microphone volume you will always hear the artist singing. There are some instances where the song lags a tad, but it doesn’t happen often. The music plays right on with the words and the microphones do a very good job with voice recognition.
Lasting Appeal:
After this category I’m skipping to the end, as this game’s fun factor relies truly on its lasting appeal. As I mentioned there is no story mode, so here is my recommendation this game is going to become a pile of junk for you, unless you have a lot of friends or have lots of parties, or lots of family members that like to get drunk and sing (as I do). I’m just being honest here, have you seen people that just like to spend all day playing a game where they sing by themselves? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
The 411: If you are a Singstar fanatic you probably already have this game, so the only people I really need to appeal to here are the casual folk. If you are mostly a solo player that is looking for a singing game this isn’t it. Go buy Singstar for PS3 if you want that because at least you can just get new songs for $1 each. If you have a lot of friends and like the tracklist on here, then have at it, I’m sure you will enjoy it. With two more Singstar games coming out soon (Country and Legends) this franchise isn’t stopping, but for all the loyal fans this game is the same good game as all the others.
Graphics
8.0
The videos look great, everything else is just there. It's a karaoke game what do you expect?
Gameplay
8.0
If you like the songlist you will enjoy the game. The game is a harsh judge so be careful.
Sound
9.0
There are some few instances where the song or maybe the words lag behind, but for the most part things sound great.
Lasting Appeal
7.5
nothing to unlock, no DLC, no story mode, this is purely a multi-player game.
Fun Factor
8.5
It's karaoke, bring a few friends and a have a ball singing to these songs.
