Take a Chance on SingStar Abba for the PS2 (Singstar ABBA (PS2))

Member Name: maria14

Product:	Singstar ABBA (PS2)
Date:	07/01/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great videos, most of the greatest hits

Disadvantages: The songs are quite hard to sing. MamaMia is much more fun

We rarely use the play station any more since getting the Wii. But the arrival of this as a Christmas present for our Abba mad daughter prompted a trip to the attic to retrieve the PS2.

We have had other SingStar games, and this one follows the same format.

You choose your song, your player mode - solo, duet, duel (you try and score more points than the person you are singing with) - and also the difficulty level. Sing star works by giving you continual visual feedback on how well you are singing, marking pitch and timing. Difficulty level dictates how strictly it marks you.

SingStar Abba contains most of the greatest hits - Money Money Money, Fernando, Waterloo, Winner Takes It All, Does Your Mamma Know, Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, Thankyou for the Music, Gimme (a man after midnight), Take a Chance, The Winner Takes It All, SOS, One of Us, Mammia, Ring,Ring and Chiquatita.

The key ommission is Honey Honey, which is in the film Mammia and which the children really like.

The SingStar works like a normal kareoke machine - it plays the video and the words appear on the screen.

I was sure it was going to be a big hit with the family - but it wasn't really. Here may be the reasons why:-

1. Compared to the film Mamamia - it also seems rather reserved.

We got the DVD Mamamia as well and played this during Christmas morning. I'd not seen it before - why would I want to watch celebreties sing Abba badly - but in fact it was fabulous. I loved it. Meryl, Colin et al attack the songs with such gusto its just loads of fun. Compared to that, the Abba performances in the videos seem very reserved and a bit frosty.

2. These songs are difficult.

Another review has queried why Abba songs don't appear on other SingStar compilations. I think part of the answer is that they are hard! Those two girls could really sing. (One for you fact fans out there, Frida became a professional opera singer after leaving the band.) On SingStar Abba, there are a couple of songs where the duet mode involves one of the singers taking the harmony. I am a classically trained singer and I could not get close. And the last thing you need is SingStar is rating you 'awful' on a regular basis, when you are singing your heart out.

On the plus side, the songs are really good and we all know them. The strange 1970's videos have a strange hypnotic quality and to be honest, I was happy just to watch the videos and marvel.

As Stephen Fry said 'The thing about Abba is that they were so much better than they needed to be.' He was right. For us mere mortals, singing along to MamaMia is much more fun.

Summary: Review of SingStar Abba