Reviewed: November 15, 2008
Reviewed by: Jeremy Ewing

Publisher
Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer
SCEA London

Released: October 28, 2008
Genre: Music
Players: 1-8

8
8
8
10
9.0

Supported Features:

All SingStar games are compatible with the microphones as long as your PS3 is backward compatible and allows the playing of PS2 games. If you can’t play PS2 games, most songs from the PS2 releases are available for download on the PlayStation network for a small price. The SingStar series can be played with one to eight players. One player sessions are basically a high score solo run through the songs to set a mark for you and your friends to beat in the future.

Once you add a friend to the mix there are several other options for gameplay. Battle mode pits you versus your friend in a head to head matchup of vocal ability. Duet allows for a less competitive approach. Pass the mic allows several players to take turns, and gives the complete “party” aspect to SingStar.

Scoring is based off of pitch. If you are singing Britney Spears, you don’t have to match her high notes exactly as long as you come up in range and can match the pitch change from your normal tone. This means that men can easily sing along with a woman’s song and women the same with a man’s. The great thing about the series is that it doesn’t take an accomplished vocalist to make the game fun. Anyone of any level of singing ability can play with success.

As the words scroll across the bottom of the screen pitch bars will show you the fluctuations across the middle. Your singing output with either match up or show up below or above the given marks. If your marks are below, then you must sing higher. Above means you need to sing lower. For anyone who may have played EA’s Rock Band or Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour, this should be fairly similar to the way vocals work in those games.

Due to SingStar’s large variety spread across several discs, Sony has included a “swap discs” option that allows you to easily switch between genres without having to restart the system. Simply select the option to swap discs, open your disc tray and insert the new disc to begin singing the new songs. This feature will only work with the original SingStar for PS3, but you can always reset and play you PS2 SingStar games if your PS3 is backward compatible.

Another convenient feature of the series is the “medley” selections. These selections will automatically flip through several songs of a similar genre and keep players on their toes. Once you feel that you have a good grasp of each song on the disc you can add some extra difficulty by selecting a medley. The sudden song changes can make things pretty interesting.

SingStar Vol. 2 hits on all cylinders with songs new and old to deliver one of the best lineups yet in a SingStar title. From Aerosmith to Eminem, from The Police to Pink, Volume 2 is the real deal! Add in the titles that can download via the Playstation Network, and you have hours upon hours of quality karaoke fun. SingStar Vol. 2 contains a 30 song playlist, just as all the others have. The set list is as follows:

• Aerosmith – Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
• Bad English – When I See You Smile
• Bobby Brown – My Perogative
• Boys Like Girls – Hero/Heroine
• The Bravery – Believe
• The Cure – Pictures of You
• Elton John & Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
• Eminem – Without Me
• Gavin DeGraw – In Love With a Girl
• Gnarls Barkley – Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)
• Goldfrapp – Happiness
• The Killers – When You Were Young
• Lit – Miserable
• The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreaming
• Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten
• The Offspring – Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
• Panic! At The Disco – Nine in the Afternoon
• Paramore – CrushCrushCrush
• Phantom Planet – California
• Pink – Just Like a Pill
• The Police – Don’t Stand to Close to Me
• The Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
• Radiohead – Street Spirit
• Rise Against – Prayer of the Refugee
• Sara Bareilles – Love Song
• The Shins – New Slang
• Tone Loc – Funky Cold Medina
• Weezer – Beverly Hills
• Yael Naim – New Soul
• Young M.C. – Bust a Move

The real draw to SingStar is the sound, as with any music game. If you enjoy the songs that you are singing, then not much else will frustrate you. The sound quality is magnificent, but be sure to respect your neighbors if your SingStar session takes you into the early morning hours!

To easily summarize the SingStar experience, you could probably lump it into the typical music party game genre, but in all honesty it gives you more than that. Hours upon hours of competitive or friendly SingStar play await with each installment of new songs. Even for those that already own one game, there are at least 30 reasons to buy the latest game.

Replay value is obviously based upon your liking of each individual playlist, but with the wide range to choose from it is easy to play for hours and not realize it. The games sell individually for $40 or with the microphones for $60. This is a much less expensive option that most other games in the music genre, so the price is hard to beat. Quickly swapping between discs opens up new song choices that can keep you playing for literally days on end!

I would highly recommend that anyone that enjoys singing try out the series. Pick up the game with the track list that best suits your liking and then expand from there. I’ve found that once you break through your initial fear of embarrassment, that anyone and everyone will enjoy playing the SingStar series. As the famous saying goes, “Dance like no one is watching and sing like no one is listening.” If you follow those words, there’s a whole world of fun waiting for you in the SingStar series.