SingStar PS3 Review

After a notably long wait SingStar has finally been released for the PlayStation 3. I am here to tell you it was worth the wait.

If you love to sing, or love karaoke then this game is a must own. Singstar was an out of character purchase for me, as I am not the type of guy to do karaoke. But it is easily one of the most fun times I have ever had on my PlayStation 3, and that is saying a lot.

SingStar offers some of the slickest, and most stylish presentation I have ever seen in a game. It gives off a certain feeling of class, much like a Mercedes Benz. Those of you have played GT5:Prologue know the type of class I am talking about. Upon firing up the game, you are greeted to an opening video, followed by your usual menus. The menus flow smoothly into the next, where you will find “Play SingStar”, “My Media Gallery”, and “SingStar Online”.

“Play SingStar” offers, many different ways to belt out your tunes, such as “Battle”, “Song Solo”, “Duet”, “Practice” and the group/party mode “Pass the mic”

Each mode offers a different way to sing, and laugh. This is a game that is much, much more fun with friends, since its karaoke at heart, you will almost do as much laughing as you will be singing. You have the option of changing up the menu’s theme with “Wallpapers” which are partly animated, and each have a different beat, and look allowing you to personalize your SingStar.

The game scores you by how accurately you are singing each note, and has 3 difficulty modes. It also lets you sing the full or “short” version of any song you own. Song lyrics scroll by at the bottom of the screen, while pitch is shown above, for each player. If you are familiar with the song lyrics then great, otherwise it can be a bit difficult paying attention to pitch, while reading your lyrics. Then again I am playing on a 50″ HDTV, so it may be easier with a smaller TV where things are a bit more crammed together. After your performance you are given a score letting you know how well you did, along with a ranking which can label you a “Tone Deaf” to “Lead Singer” and everything in between. If you beat the high scores (and own a PS Eye) the game will give you a chance to take a snapshot of yourself, claiming victory.

“My Media Gallery” lets you check out audio playbacks of your performances, as well as video playbacks, and snapshots if you own a PlayStation Eye (which is highly recommended to get the full SingStar experience).

SingStar Online is where the PS3 version of SingStar separates itself from the PS2 versions. The SingStore is sleek and sexy. Its broken down first into categories, including All Songs, Rock, Pop, RnB, Rap, Duet, Indie, Song Packs, and Wallpapers. Choose your category and the songs are further broken down alphabetically. Song listings show up as album covers, in 4 rows of 5 per screen. Clicking on an album cover, lets you see a list of songs (if there is more than one), you can press X to preview the track, which gives you the cost, file size, type of content (SD or HD), release date, and song length, as well as short video clip. All songs have the original videos, which is great, letting you relive some great videos in music history that you might not usually have the chance to see. At the time of writing this there are 203 downloadable songs, all available for $1.49 a piece. Downloading songs can become rather addicting, if your a music lover such as myself. Once your songs are added to your cart, you are prompted to the PS Store checkout, where you can purchase or add funds to your wallet.

“My SingStar Online” is where this game really shines, giving you a “myspace-esque” experience complete with a profile, an avatar, along with your best in-game score/rank.

You can also upload videos of you and your friends performances, where other online singstar users can view, and rate you. Of course, you can also check out the “SingStar Scene” where you can see the rest of the SingStar community’s videos, meet SingStar players, and take “Quick Polls” asking you to choose between two songs according to the poll’s question. Some of the highlights in the “Hall of Fame” include chewbacca singing a variety of songs, some cute kids, and a group effort performed by none other than an orange, an apple, a pear, and a banana. Yes, people are having that much fun with My SingStar Online…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q3B1g1Ecw0]

If you already own PS2 SingStar USB mics then you are in luck, you can purchase the $39.99 version without the mics. If not you have to buy the $59.99 version which comes complete with the game, and 2 USB microphones. Unfortunately only SingStar mics work, so if you have a Rock Band mic, and you want to use it you are out of luck. Bluetooth mics are supposedly in the works, and are welcomed, seeing as we have all been spoiled by not being tethered to a controller cord anymore. Obviously to take advantage of a lot of the community features you will need a PlayStation Eye. Another thing is the game’s tracklist is a little short only having 30 songs available, so buying more and more songs, is almost necessary to get your moneys worth out of the game. But if you are willing to spend the money, you can turn your PS3 into a full fledged karaoke machine, where you can interact with people all over the globe. Unfortunately there is no online battles or duets. All in all this game was quite the pleasant surprise, and a wonderful break from the barrage of shooters that are on the market now a days.