It seems odd
that in a house where the patriarch likes to rock it out, that the younger
members of the house prefer country music. But part of the joy of parenting is
to allow children to develop their own tastes and personalities.
When the
SingStar franchise first came out back in 2004, the oldest daughter dove in and
strained both her vocal chords and the hearing in the household belting out the
tunes on the original. There have been a whole lot of additions to the
franchise, about 17 titles in all, but through it all, she kept up a steady
banter about wishing for a Country version.
Come Oct. 28,
she will get her wish when SingStar Country hits retailers.
If you don’t
know what SingStar is … here is the overview:
It is a karaoke
game that requires microphones (not included with the expansion – they came with
the original release), and uses three visual elements for the game content. The
visuals are comprised of the music video from the song being played, the lyrics
along the bottom of the screen and a pitch meter cutting through the middle of
the screen. The goal is to sing the songs, either in the shortened forms (with
bigger points accumulating over the time frame) or over the course of the full
song, hit the notes, get a score and try to ride the top of the charts. There is
no online play, but there are party games in which you can battle another singer
with the game’s two microphones (which came with the original release, what is
being looked at here is an expansion), or sing as a team with the goal – again –
being to outscore your opponents. There are three difficulty levels, which
essentially means the level of forgiveness the game will give you as you sing.
Being a bit off is fine at the Easy level, but you have to be almost dead on at
the hard level to score well. The multiplayer, or Party, mode has several games
from the head-to-head Battle mode, to Pass the Mic (teams undertake different
singing challenges in turns) . The different challenges include singing medleys
for scores or to keep the meter above a specific bar by hitting the notes.
So what does
this SingStar offer? Well, a new song list, and this one offers something for
everyone, if you are a country music fan. Here is the list:
-
Alan Jackson –
Chattahoochee -
Alan Jackson –
Good Time -
Big & Rich – Save
a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) -
Blake Shelton –
Home -
Brad Paisley –
Online -
Brooks & Dunn –
Boot Scootin’ Boogie -
Brooks & Dunn w/
Reba McEntire – If You See Him/If You See Her -
Bucky Covington –
It’s Good to be Us -
Faith Hill – Red
Umbrella -
Gretchen Wilson –
Redneck Woman -
Jessica Simpson –
Come on Over -
Jewel – Stronger
Woman -
Johnny Cash – A
Boy Named Sue -
Johnny Cash – I
Walk the Line -
Josh Turner –
Another Try -
Keith Urban –
Days Go By -
Kellie Pickler –
Red High Heels -
Kenny Chesney –
Big Star -
Lady Antebellum –
Love Don’t Live Here -
Martina McBride –
A Broken Wing -
Miranda Lambert –
Kerosene -
Montgomery Gentry
– My Town -
Montgomery Gentry
– What Do Ya Think About That? -
Rascal Flatts –
Bless the Broken Road -
Sara Evans – Born
to Fly -
Taylor Swift –
Our Song -
Terri Clark –
Girls Lie Too -
Trace Adkins –
Honky Tonk Badonkadonk -
Trace Adkins –
You’re Gonna Miss This -
Willie Nelson –
Pancho and Lefty
The song list
is diverse enough to appeal to most vocal ranges and ages. This is a good thing.
The graphics are the music videos from the songs and they look fine. Nothing
else has changed here.
In the final
analysis, Country – like all SingStar titles – is about the song list. Does it
work and is it diverse enough to have relatively broad appeal? Just like
SingStars that have focused on rock music, pop, or R&B, Country is targeting
fans of the musical genre. This compilation, though, is a nice mix.
|
|
Gameplay: 7.0
Nothing has changed
in the presentation, games or gameplay mechanics. They still work, but nothing
new is here.
Graphics: 7.9
Yep, the videos are
of high production values and translate well on the PS2.
Sound: 7.8
The song collection
is diverse and will appeal to a lot of country fans.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 7.0
It’s the same
concept – it still works, but it’s the same concept.
Multiplayer: 7.8
Again, the song list
will have a broad appeal, and even those who are not tried-and-true country
crooners may find themselves drawn into the multiplayer.
Overall: 7.5
With this title, so
much depends on the song selection and this release will do fine in that regard.
