If you’ve never played SingStar on the PS2, you’ve missed out. It’s a karaoke rhythm game where you get points for singing the proper notes to your favorite songs. The five editions on the PlayStation 2, Pop, Rock, Amped, 80s and 90s, have been enormous hits throughout the world. The PS3 version takes it up a step with online features and downloadable songs. Having been released in Europe for a while now, SingStar for PS3 has finally landed in the US. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of SingStar for the PS3:

SingStar games feature the original videos of each song where available. For the first time in the series, you get pretty HD graphics for all the videos, whether native or upscaled. The menu systems are done very well and you can tell the recent PlayStation Store redesign took a few nods from SingStar. The sound is the area that SingStar is designed to shine, and it works very well. Each song has terrific original sound for you to rock out with and everything supports 5.1 channel surround sound.

To play SingStar, you sing in time with words that pop up on the screen. Not only do you have to time things right, but you need to be on key as well. In the middle of the screen is the proper intonation for each word. If you’re too high or too low, you won’t score any points. So just grabbing the mic and screaming isn’t the best bet to get a high score in SingStar. Once you master your voice, you will rack up big points for consecutive streaks and singing special lines properly, just like in other rhythm games.

One of the coolest features of the game is the use of the PlayStation Eye camera. If you have one hooked up, the system will take 10 snapshots of you during play. These aren’t just still shots either; they’re brief clips including audio and video. Along with these, there is one part of the song where it will record about 30 seconds of video and audio. You can check all of these out after the song, save the ones you like and even upload them to SingStar Online.

Multiplayer is the bread and butter of SingStar. If you like to sit in a room alone and sing karaoke, that option is definitely there. But the best part is co-op 2 player singing. You can use up to 8 players in multiplayer party mode, where you go through and see who can sing better. There’s still no head to head or co-op online play, even though some great new features were introduced.

A first for the series is an online presence. With My SingStar Online, you can create your own profile and upload snapshots and videos of yourself rocking out on the mic. You can also search for other users and view top pictures and videos. It’s a very cool feature and you’ll end up spending a lot of time watching other people’s videos. Some of them are hilarious, such as a guy dressed in a Wookie suit. The other aspect to SingStar Online is the SingStore. At launch, two hundred tracks were available to download for $1.49 each. Sony plans on added around fifty songs each month, so you’ll never be short of karaoke songs for your next party.

With the game having 30 songs out of the box and over 200 songs already available for download in the SingStore, there’s plenty of appeal to keep playing this title. The game works best with friends in a party setting, so it’s not really a game you’re going to pick up mid week and play everyday. If you have a friend, roommate, significant other, or family member who likes to sing, this could be very addictive. Keep in mind you’ll need the microphones to play, so if you don’t have them from previous PS2 versions of the game, pick up the bundle that includes them.

Overall: 8.5 of 10

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