While the SingStar franchise has
been tearing up the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for a few years now, Xbox
360 owners didn’t get their first official karaoke title until Lips hit the
system last year. The game was a fine addition to the genre, but had a few
drawbacks to keep it from being a true classic. Now, eleven months after that
title shipped, Microsoft has released the follow-up, Lips: Number One Hits.
Unfortunately, Lips: Number One Hits
doesn’t really offer much new to fans of the first game. In fact, this is almost
exactly the same game as the first game, albeit with a new set list and a few
minor added features. While hardcore fans of the original game who were able to
see through its flaws might not might the modest upgrades and enjoy themselves,
those who weren’t sold on the original game probably won’t be into this sequel.
Lips: Number One Hits adds 40 new
songs to the franchise, with hit songs from various genres and decades. There
are songs like “Disturbia” by Rihanna, “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga, “How You
Remind Me” by Nickelback, “Loser” by Beck, and quite a few others. While the
songs span a variety of different genres, but most of the songs on the
soundtrack will be immediately familiar to anyone who listens to the radio.
Owners of the first Lips game will
be able to access the songs from that game via the hot swap feature. You’ll be
able to select a song from the original Lips through the menu, and then change
out the discs when prompted. This is a welcome feature if you’re an owner of the
original game, but it does feel somewhat cumbersome, especially when you
consider that games like Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band 2 allow you to import songs
from other games directly to your hard drive.
Lips: Number One Hits does make a
couple of minor tweaks to its predecessor, but nothing too major. You’ll now be
able to unlock special Avatar Awards, clothes and accessories, and they’ve added
a streak multiplier for the scoring system. In fact, the game is pushing Avatar
support quite heavily, even having your Avatar pop up during gameplay and in the
menus. However, aside from that, this is pretty much unchanged from the first
Lips.
And it’s that feeling of stagnation
where Number One Hits disappoints. While the game has a different aesthetic and
a cleaner interface, the content is mostly the same as last year’s game,
including the mini-games, the ability to plug in an MP3 player and sing along to
your own songs, and downloadable tracks. There isn’t a lot of innovation to be
found in Number One Hits, and this is especially disappointing considering that
the game still costs a hefty premium, 60 bucks for the game and one mic.
All of the problems that brought
down the original Lips title are still here for the sequel. There’s no career
mode to be had, just a menu of songs to sing through, something that limits the
single-player experience quite a bit.
Conversely, the things that the
original game did right are present and accounted for here. The game does a
great job with the basics of a karaoke title, the menus are easy to navigate and
the vocal registration mechanics work spot on, even picking up on vibratos and
giving you bonus points for them. The drop-in mechanic is also great, allowing a
second player to pick up another wireless mic, give it a shake, and start
singing along with their buddy in the middle of a song. The mic is also motion
sensitive, and you also have some prompts where you can gain special points by
performing certain dance moves as they appear on the screen, as well as gain
points by holding your mic a certain way, which is a nice feature.
Additionally, the background videos
look great, allowing you to sing along to actual music videos of most of the
songs or choose your own backgrounds. The menus and presentation are all very
easy to navigate and clean. The music is also good quality, and you can raise or
lower the volume of the original vocals depending on how comfortable you are
with your singing abilities. The global rankings is also a great feature,
telling you how you rate in real-time as you perform the song.
Lips: Number One Hits isn’t quite
the revolution that the series needs, but will be fun for people who loved the
original game.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The game cleans up the interface a bit and offers up some nifty new Avatar
features, but this is largely the game content as the original, albeit with a
new setlist.
Graphics: 8.0
While some of the videos haven’t aged well in the transition to HD, the
menus look great and most of the videos look very good.
Sound: 8.0
The sound quality is quite good, and the ability to raise and lower the
volume of the vocals on the track is a great feature.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 6.5
While the basic mechanics still work well, the game doesn’t really innovate
from its predecessor.
Multiplayer: 7.5
The drop-in duet mechanic is a great touch, making it easier than ever to
jump and start singing with friends.
Overall: 7.0
Lips: Number One Hits has some issues, but it’s still a pretty solid karaoke
game and very fun to play in the right environment. However, here’s hoping the
devs try to get a little more creative the next time around.
