Reviewing SingStar games has become an exercise in music critiquing more than game critiquing. As little as I’m qualified to review games, I’m even less qualified to review music since I’m the kind of person who actually enjoys the new Britney single. What I can say completely objectively is that this is the same game you’ve played many times before (there have now been 16 Singstar discs released on the PS2 in English), with no difference but for the music. So my advice is to take a look at the track list at the end of the review and decide from there how much you want to sing those songs.

But maybe you’ve never played a SingStar game so I will explain the game in a nutshell: it’s karaoke with score and music videos. Karaoke doesn’t quite convey it properly though – in this case it’s the real song, not some dodgy cover without the voice track. The real song sung by the real artist while the real music video plays in the background, and the lyrics go across the screen with a handy pitch guide for you to sing to so that you can see when you’re not singing the song exactly the same as the real singer. The game comes with two microphones that plug into the PlayStation 2, and all the while the game scores you for how in tune you’re singing (thankfully it doesn’t measure how pleasant you sound), giving you bonus points for getting a whole phrase right or hitting certain notes. At the end of the song (or half the song if you have musical ADD) you’re rated on your performance and compared with your singing partner (if you’re playing multiplayer, and you really want to play multiplayer).

It’s All About the Music

The best mode is the Party, or Pass the Mic, mode where up to eight people can play in two teams. There are all kinds of events in this, from straight battle to duets to medleys to the really fun pass the mic, where the mic has to be passed from person to person on the team when the game tells you to. That is pretty much the whole game – there’s no single player career mode (thankfully, that would be strange), no unlocking of songs or features: just select a song and sing it with a friend – what more could you want? Ok, I could want an extra two mics so that we can have four people singing at once – I wonder that this hasn’t been done, I mean how hard can it be? Of course you are more than welcome to sing along with your team mates anyway, you just won’t get scored since you don’t have the mic and why on earth would you want to sing if you’re not getting scored?

I think this rather tongue-in-cheek comment is the measure of whether you’re a match for SingStar, or whether SingStar is a match for you. If you like to sing along to songs in the car or in the shower or whatever then you’ll find SingStar is right up your alley. It’s most certainly not about performing for your friends (although it is often entertaining to watch), or about kicking people off the leaderboard (since you have to sing in a robotic way to get high scores), it’s really about enjoying singing and music with a bunch of friends.

Non-diverse and a trifle difficult

So then we get to the track list: the only thing that’s different between the last 15 games in the series. This boils down to personal choice, although a few comments can be made. The song selection, as always, is very UK-centric. There are songs on here that I’ve never heard on radio in South Africa so they’re complete strangers to me (but note: I am not the most avid radio listener, I could be wrong.) I guess it’s not possible for Sony to swap out a few songs for the South African market but it would be a nice touch. I don’t mind in the least hearing some new songs (which are usually good, which is why they’re here anyway), but it doesn’t work in a party setting when people don’t know the songs. This disc also seems to boast an inordinate number of brand new music and not very much of anything older than a year or two, but I guess that much is obvious from the title. This might make it more popular with the right crowd (those who are hip and up to date, like teenagers, say), but I wouldn’t recommend playing Hottest Hits with a diverse age crowd – you’re better off with something 80s, 90s or SingStar Party on PS2, or any of the new PlayStation 3 SingStar games.

Hottest Hits also seems to boast some of the hardest songs ever conceived for something like SingStar (or any so-called music game) where you’re rewarded for mimicry more than music. I mean, trying to sing anything by Mika is pretty much impossible (but fun nevertheless, and even more fun, not to mention slightly disturbing, if you’re watching), while I’d rather eat glass than sing anything by Fall Out Boy. If I had one wish it would be to remove Fall Out Boy from any and all music games made from here on out – they have officially replaced Good Charlotte as “least favourite music game band.” Meanwhile, I’m one of those that loves Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars, so that song alone almost makes the whole track list worth it (kind of like The Reason did for SingStar Pop). Chris Brown’s With You, One Republic’s Stop and Stare and Sean Kingston’s Beautiful Girls also help. But, really, you can make your own mind up – you’ll find the track list at the end of this review.

Unless you’re a Grinch who thinks pop music is evil or just plain horrible, or that singing is for idiots, you’re likely to find at least a few songs that you like. Of course, if you think singing is for idiots you shouldn’t be looking at this review or thinking about getting SingStar. The rest of us will be over here having a jol while you play your serious business games.

The complete song list:

* Annie - “I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me”
* Avril Lavigne - “When You’re Gone”
* Calvin Harris - “Acceptable In the 80s”
* Colbie Caillat - “Bubbly”
* Chris Brown - “With you”
* Fall Out Boy - “THNKS FR TH MMRS”
* Fergie - “Clumsy”
* Finger Eleven - “Paralyzer”
* Gabriella Cilmi - “Sweet About Me”
* Lily Allen - “LDN”
* Maroon 5 - “Makes Me Wonder”
* Mika - “Grace Kelly”
* Mika - “Love Today ”
* My Chemical Romance - “Teenagers”
* Nelly Furtado - “All Good Things”
* One Night Only - “Just For Tonight”
* OneRepublic - “Stop and Stare”
* Operator Please - “Just a Song About Ping Pong”
* Powderfinger - “Lost and Running”
* Ricki Lee - “Can’t Sing a Different Song”
* Sam Sparro - “Black And Gold”
* Sean Kingston - “Beautiful Girls”
* Sneaky Sound System - “Pictures”
* Snow Patrol - “Chasing Cars”
* The Fray - “How to Save a Life”
* The Potbelleez - “Don’t Hold Back”
* The Ting Tings - “Great DJs”
* The Ting Tings - “That’s Not My Name”
* Vanessa Amorosi - “Perfect”
* will.i.am - “I Got It From My Mama”

Purchase: