 
|
|
ESRB: 
Platform: PS2
Category: Miscellaneous
|
Graphics 7 |
Sound 8 |
Gameplay 8 |
Tilt 7.5 ||
Overall 7.7
Author: Trevor H
|
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment London
Features
No. of Players: 1-8
Memory Card Space: 575KB
EyeToy USB Camera Compatible
SingStar Microphones and USB Converter Required
Once again we are a little late to the party as SingStar Pop hit North American shelves just over a year ago. Nevertheless, here we are with another SingStar review for our Game-Boyz readers. Those of you looking to expand your SingStar library or are still looking to jump into the SingStar craze, have I found the game for you. SingStar Pop features yet another solid 30 song set list and some of the deficiencies seen in previous editions of the franchise have been addressed. Granted, many of the nuances from other SingStar games re-surface in SingStar Pop, however it remains one the stronger games in the franchise.
Graphics
Although SingStar is not your typical animated video game, the visuals in SingStar Pop are not bad at all considering it is a PS2 game. It's nothing incredibly stunning but it manages to get the job done quite well. In all honesty there is not much I can say about the visuals as SingStar Pop, and SingStar franchise as a whole for that matter, as it is not your typical video game.
For those who are still SingStar rookies, or those of you who haven’t read my other reviews of this franchise, the bulk of the gameplay requires you to sing along to a song while a music video plays in the background. As the music video plays, horizontal bars are displayed across the screen which gauges your pitch while the lyrics of the song are usually displayed at the bottom of the screen in typical karaoke scrolling fashion. The videos are displayed in standard definition which comes as no surprise as it is a PS2 game. The bars and the lyrics displayed on the screen are very clear, easy to read and don't distract from the music videos. I found I was able to jump into the first song with ease and it was once again great to go down memory lane with some of the music videos I grew up watching.
SingStar Pop’s menus are easy to navigate and look good but they don’t look nearly as good as the recently released SingStar for the PS3. Regardless they are clean, crisp and very readable. Once you move past the main menu and jump into the song selection area you are greeted with a slick menu system for selecting music. The album covers are displayed as you flip through your selections and you get a preview of the music before you make your selection. All in all, SingStar Pop scores decent marks visually.
Sound
As I have stated in the past, karaoke or music/rhythm type games really rely on the sound as it is arguably the most important aspect of the game. Fortunately SingStar Pop delivers in this department. As with past SingStar games, all the songs and music videos are master tracks which gives the game instant credibility and authenticity. As I have noticed in my other SingStar revies, nothing “grinds my gears” more than when I am playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band and some cover band is playing my favorite artist’s song. Sure, most of the music sounds good in Guitar Hero or Rock Band but not all the tracks are the real deal. SingStar Pop features all original artists featuring the songs and video's which made the artist’s so popular. I had a great time singling along to tracks such as Panic! At the Disco’s “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies” and Gorillaz “Fell Good, Inc”.
The microphones are also very good quality, but then again they should be as all SingStar games use the same mics. I still reflect on my pre-SingStar days where the last karaoke style game I played was on the original Xbox. I remember how during that game, which shall go nameless, my voice would often have a bit of delay and it would almost always throw me off and I often had to compensate for the delay. Furthermore it often sounded like I was singing in a tunnel. In any event, as with the other SingStar games I have reviewed, there is no such delay in SingStar Pop as it appears the microphones are calibrated to perfection.
The other in-game sounds such as the background tunes which play when you are in the menus to such other in-game sounds all sound decent. As with the majority of the SingStar games I have reviewed lately I have no complaints with the sound aspects of the game as no deficiencies stand out in this area.
Gameplay
I think it is prudent to start with what SingStar Pop is all about. I am going to assume that there are a lot of people who have played any of the past SingStar games, but I am sure that there are those who have not. SingStar Pop is essentially a karaoke game. It features a scoring system for singing while the artist's music video for that particular song plays in the background. Similar to the vocals on Rock Band, SingStar Pop for the PS2 has you sing along with the music in order to score points. Users interface with the PS2 via the SingStar USB microphones. If you don’t have the microphones from a previous edition of the franchise you can get the game with the two microphones (red and blue) and the USB adapter.
SingStar Pop does not measure how well you know the lyrics but rather uses a system which gauges your pitch (similar to Rock Band). The pitch you are required to sing is displayed on horizontal bars and these bars correspond with the lyrics of the song. Your pitch is compared to the pitch of the actual artist singing the song and the better your singing abilities (e.g. the better your pitch and timing) the better your score will be. So you do not need to nail down the words to perfection as you can hum through an entire song and gain decent scores. This is perhaps a flaw with the game but I have no idea how they would be able to score players on how well they know the specific lyrics of a song.
SingStar Pop comes with 30 tracks out of the box. This is the series standard for how many tracks are packaged with the game. I know that I am sounding like a broken record given that I have reviewed all the SingStar games for Gameboyz, but in my honest opinion 30 tracks are not enough. When games such as Guitar Hero III come with well over 50 tracks, 30 just seems way to short of a track list. Ideally I would have liked to have seen the playlist doubled to somewhere around 60 songs. Unfortunately, SingStar Pop for the PS2 does not feature an online component as the PS2 does not come with a built in HDD. So you are stuck with the 30 songs that are on the disc. So, if you decide SingStar Pop is going to be your first and last SingStar purchase you’ll be stuck with the 30 songs included on the disc.
For those of you wondering, the game’s track list is as follows:
Doors Down "Kryptonite"
A-Ha "Take On Me"
Alicia Keys "Fallin'"
All American Rejects "Move Along"
Ashlee Simpson "Invisible"
Avril Lavigne "Sk8er Boi"
Blue October "Hate Me"
Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time"
Cartel "Honestly"
Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
Daniel Powter "Bad Day"
Destiny's Child "Survivor"
Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc."
Hinder "Lips of an Angel"
Hoobastank "The Reason"
James Blunt "You're Beautiful"
Jesse McCartney "Beautiful Soul"
Lifehouse "Hanging By A Moment"
My Chemical Romance "Helena"
Natasha Bedingfield "These Words"
Panic! At the Disco "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies"
Rihanna "SOS"
Ryan Cabrera "On The Way Down"
Snow Patrol "Chasing Cars"
The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
The Fray "Over My Head"
The Raconteurs "Steady, As She Goes"
U2 "Vertigo"
Whitney Houston "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"
Overall this not a bad set list and I was somewhat relieved that the developers deviated from ‘traditional’ pop tunes. For instance, I would not exactly call The Clash or Gorillaz Pop music. So if you were expecting a heavy dose of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Madonna or any other top-40 type tunes like this you will be disappointed. Regardless you get a good mix of music in SingStar Pop as it appears the developers wanted to reach a wide range in their target audience.
SingStar Pop features a variety of modes including singing solo or duet. You can sing freestyle where you don’t have to worry about scores or getting the right pitch. For those competitive singers you can sing in battle mode where you go head to head against another opponent. Of course the one who sings the song better and scores more points wins the game. Furthermore you can play with up to eight players and organize players in a Party Mode. Party mode features games such as Pass the Mic which is a game based on rounds where you are presented with different singing challenges. All in all there is a fair selection of multiplayer modes to play including customizable team games.
The final thing I want to comment on, and again it is something that I found a little disappointing in all my SingStar reviews, is the fact that there is no single player mode similar to what we have seen with Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Granted, SingStar is a much different game, and I did like the fact I could play any of the 30 songs right for the get go. That being said, a single player story mode or some sort of mode featuring some unlockable content would have given more reason to play on my own more often and try to get better at the 30 songs included on the disc if I knew there was a bigger reward at the end.
Conclusion
For those that enjoy SingStar games, and who love the majority of tunes identified above, SingStar Pop is a solid purchase. Besides, it has been over a year since its release, so you should surely be able to find a cheap copy somewhere. However, you need to keep in mind you are stuck with the 30 songs on the disk as SingStar Pop does not include any ability to download content as you can with the PS3 version of the franchise. Nevertheless, on its own, SingStar Pop is a pretty solid karaoke style game.
|
|
»
||
|
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to our RSS feed of Reviews
