Tiny's PS2 Pizza Party, Episode 3: Singstar '90s
Singstar, having mopped up in other territories, never quite caught on the states the way it could have. Several years before the Guitar Hero craze took off, or the casual gaming push, or the party game revolution, Singstar is more of a cult classic than a popular favorite. I saved the latest entry in the franchise, Singstar '90s, for last for no other reason than that I wanted my guests to be as socially lubricated as possible: wine makes MC Hammers of us all.
Which is an excellent thing if you're playing Singstar '90s, whose track list features not only Hammer, but such unbelievable all-stars as Boys II Men, New Kids On The Block, Paula Abdul, SIR MIX A LOT, Technotronic, Vanilla Ice and Jesus tapdancing Jones, for the love of all that's holy!
So you can imagine that my four fab friends and I spent about as much time howling over the delicious feast of nostalgic irony as we did playing the game. Or singing the game. Or, in some cases, rapping the game. Because Tiny throws down a mean beat box...
Read on for the dish and the setlist!
Singstar '90s is pretty easy to dive into, even for the uninitiated and inebriated (although to be fair, my buddies - like most of the gays I know - are old hands at all things karaoke, not to mention performative). Anyone who's played Rock Band or any of the other Singstar titles will be familiar with the pitch and rhythm bar at the bottom the screen, and you can simply start up the game, pick a song, and sing - the game will display your own performance as colored bars that, depending on how well you're singing, may or may not match up with the guide bars. If you're using both mics, each player's vocal bars will be color coded. If you're using the EyeToy, you'll see yourselves in the background - and if not, a video.
My friends and I were mostly awful, with the exception of my friend (and TGS Special Asian Reporter) Takashi, who's a trained and professional singer. At any rate, finished songs will score you anywhere from "tone deaf" to "super-frickin' awesome," and it's fair to say we smeared ourselves across that spectrum.
We tried out solo singing, two-man battles, delicious duets, and five man streaks of pass-the-mic or head-to-head competitions, although the game allows for up to eight players at a time, which is a nice touch. Pretty much every mechanic is the same as in the previous installments of Singstar, although this was only the second Singstar title I'd tackled, so some of them were still new to me - like the neat ability to switch out the disc for other Singstar games without interrupting gameplay.
In fact, it's the stupendous track list that really sells this game, and singing along to "Opposites Attract" with your gays while watching Paula flirt with that goofy cartoon cat (now, of course, we know that she could actually see him) is more or less the only selling point a game like Singstar '90s really needs. It's awesomely horrible music, in a great way, and it lets you sing along. That's about it - scoring is pretty generous, there are no campaign or career modes, and you don't need to worry about unlocking songs. Just insert the game, insert some friends, insert some party supplies (clearly I recommend classic red wines, but I'm sure a nice chilly Sancere would be fun too, in warmer climes - or, for that matter, tequila), and sing! You can't fail out like in Rock Band, so this game really is party friendly and non-gamer/casual gamer friendly.
Bottom line: if you enjoyed any other Singstar title, this game is a must-have. If you're new to the genre, the tracklist alone makes this game a novelty buy at the very least, and probably something you'll one day find yourself happy to have bought. And, lastly, if Singstar was never really your thing, there isn't anything new here to change your mind.
Except, perhaps, this gnarly tracklist:
- "Tennessee" -- Arrested Development
- "Motownphilly" -- Boys II Men
- "Tubthumping" -- Chumbawumba
- "I Wanna Sex You Up" -- Color Me Badd
- "I Touch Myself" -- Divinyls
- "Free Your Mind" -- En Vogue
- "More Than Words" -- Extreme
- "Hey Jealousy" -- Gin Blossoms
- "Only Wanna Be With You" -- Hootie and the Blowfish
- "Right Here Right Now" -- Jesus Jones
- "Steal My Sunshine" -- Len
- "U Can't Touch This" -- MC Hammer
- "Torn" -- Natalie Imbruglia
- "Step By Step" -- New Kids On The Block
- "Lithium" -- Nirvana
- "Opposites Attract" -- Paula Abdul
- "Unskinny Bop" -- Poison
- "Everybody Hurts" -- REM
- "Smooth" -- Santana (feat. Rob Thomas)
- "I Want You" -- Savage Garden
- "Kiss From A Rose" -- SEAL
- "Baby Got Back" -- SIR MIX A LOT
- "Kiss Me" -- Sixpence None The Richer
- "Black Hole Sun" -- Soundgarden
- "Two Princes" -- Spin Doctors
- "Plush" -- Stone Temple Pilots
- "Pump Up The Jam" -- TECHNOTRONIC FEAT. FELLY
- "Zombie" -- The Cranberries
- "Ice Ice Baby" -- Vanilla Ice
- "Hold On" -- Wilson Phillips
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Reviews, Video Games on 20 March 2008
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: ps2, singstar, singstar 90s, sony, tiny's ps2 pizza party
I was excited about the U.S. release until I saw we got the shaft end of the deal in terms of the songlist. Where's Barbie Girl and Wannabe?! As a big 90's kid, I'm not pleased
Yeah..I'm gonna pass. This is more like "SingStar sorta 90's"