Singstar has star quality (Singstar (PS2))

Member Name: Luvlylana

Product:	Singstar (PS2)
Date:	13/01/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 1-8 players, perfect for parties or playing alone

Disadvantages: You may tire of the same 30 songs

As a fifteen-year-old in 2004, I was thrilled when Sony released Singstar for the Playstation 2. It meant that I no longer had to play dodgy platform games or horrific shoot-em ups, but I could now experience a game that was perfect for parties with my friends.

I bought Singstar pretty much as soon as it came out, as a stand-alone game (I had Singstar Party as a bundle pack already). I can't remember how much I paid for it as I got it on ebay, but it was in great quality and a lot cheaper than it was in the shops. Straight away I invited 7 friends round (you can have up to 8 players at a time), and we all crowed round the TV with the eye-toy in front of us to enhance the game even further. We opted for the party mode which has two different game types: best of 3 - get the highest scores for the 3 songs selected for the competition, and pass the mic - a game based on rounds where you have singing challenges such as duets, battles, solos and more.
If you were to play the game as a single player, you can choose sing mode which just allows you to pick whichever song you like and sing it to get a high score, or star maker mode, which is a more like a story mode where you have to complete a series of songs to get to the next level and eventually become a singstar.

If you choose to use an eye-toy, you get an okay quality feedback of the footage it shoots of you singing, and you can play clips back later should you wish to watch yourself struggle to hold a note, or reach an impossibly high one. If you decide not to use an eye-toy, or you do not own one, you can watch the original music video to the track whilst singing along - though this can often be quite off-putting as you aren't looking at the words as frequently.
In order to obtain a high score, you have to try and hit the notes as perfectly as possible, and you can see whether you are doing this by how perfectly your note fits on the pitch and timing indicators on the screen. Hitting a golden note and sustaining it also gives you more points (these are the ones that are recorded if you use eye-toy). There is a "playhead" which is located at the top of the screen, which displays how far you are through the song and how much longer is left, and you can also keep track of your score in the top left corner of the screen.

I found the game easy to navigate as the menus are very clear and obvious, and I liked the modern yet simple colour scheme and design. The videos are also good quality considering when the playstation 2 was developed, and the advances we have had since. The sound is also great quality as all 30 tracks are original recordings, so you don't have to put up with dodgy re-recordings by less talented session artists. The tracklist for Singstar features:
Liberty X - Just A Little
Mis-Teeq - Scandalous
The Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love
A-Ha - Take On Me
Pink - Get The Party Started
Jamelia - Superstar
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
George Michael - Careless Whisper
Avril Lavigne - Complicated
Petula Clark - Downtown
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor
Daniel Beddingfield - If You're Not The One
Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Westlife - World Of Our Own
Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca
Lemar - 50:50
Madonna - Like A Virgin
Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
S Club - Don't Stop Movin'
Deee-Lite - Groove Is In The Heart
Sugababes - Round Round
Elvis - Suspicious Minds
Busted - Year 3000
Village People - Y.M.C.A
Good Charlotte - Girls And Boys
Blondie - Heart Of Glass
Dido - Thank You
Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame
Blue - One Love
Though some of the songs are somewhat dated in that they relate to talent competitions of the time, or bands have split up since, there is something for everyone, as dads and older brothers will love Elvis and Motorhead, whilst mums and little sisters will like Dido and Busted.

Singstar kept me occupied when I was younger as well as entertaining my friends, and I still have people over to play it now - which is often even more fun as alcohol is involved now! I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a playstation 2, and although I have never played it on a playstation 3, I'm sure the basic principles of the game remain unchanged, and therefore it would be good fun on there too.

(As written for Ciao.co.uk)

Summary: Great fun for all ages, whether you can sing or not