Karaoke is getting more and more popular every day, but there’s still so much more that could be done with it. Just two years ago I remember standing in a karaoke booth in Osaka, Japan singing along to my favourite songs on what appeared to be a machine by SEGA (hey, it had Sonic all over it), and found myself amazed at the fact the machine was grading me on my rhythm and pitch. What an amazing machine I thought, especially compared to my karaoke experiences in Canada… singing in front of my friends during “karaoke night” at the local bar. In the past two years since then I’ve gone to several karaoke bars in Toronto and other cities, but still found them lacking the technology I had seen that night. Now Konami, masters of all that is rhythm (also the makers of Dance Dance Revolution), continues its karaoke series on the PS2, which addresses just that problem with the follow-up Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.
Now, I had missed the first iteration of this series, so imagine my surprise when I popped Volume 2 in a few days ago and was met with just what I had been craving in karaoke here in Canada. Karaoke Revolution takes current and past hit songs and allows you to sing in different competitive modes by yourself or with friends. These modes range from just having a good old time singing along in a group, to testing your vocal skills as you try to match that tune, and pitch to a perfect “t”.
Karaoke Revolution does exactly what it sets out to do, by offering you a fun getaway from the normal games, while allowing you to have some karaoke fun in your own home. The songs are all produced with the same quality that you’d expect to hear when listening to the original version, with none of that synthesized midi stuff you may have heard in other experiences.
As you play the game you create a character to call your own, and choose different locales, characters, and costumes as you belt out your tunes. Just like in other rhythm games by Konami there are several on-screen effects to show you how you’re doing visually; like having your character glow with colors when you’re doing well, to other little lighting effects and combo systems for getting it just right. The crowd also gets into your song if you’re doing a good job, or if (god forbid) you’re a little off… you’ll get booed.
The game comes pretty much playable as it is when you crack the box open, but it does contain several unlockables such as new locales and costumes. There are even a few extra songs too. The way you get these hidden features is to play the single player mode, and score a gold or platinum record on your song. This basically means… be good. You have to score around 12,500 points for gold, and 20,000 for platinum.
Getting points while singing your songs ranges from utterly easy, to ridiculously hard depending on the difficulty level and the song that you pick. On the easy level you can pretty much just mumble in a relatively close key to the original song and you’ll do well. If you venture to actually test you skills though, you’ll be tested. On Hard and above you’ll be hit with a system that forces you to get each note just right, hit it exactly when it’s called upon, and hold it for exactly the right amount of time. If you’re silly enough to choose a song you don’t know… you can kiss your time on stage good-bye.
Karaoke Revolution is a pretty fun game if you’re a fan of the genre, but it has a major mark against it: With only 35 songs to sing along with, any real fan of karaoke will whip through them in only a few sessions. This will literally be the downfall of this game in the long run. There are only so many times you can sing “Every breath you take,” before you want to sing “Roxanne.”
Another thing that hurts the longevity of this game compared to other titles in the genre may be the lack of physical activity involved in it. Now it may not be the number one focus of many, but for some, Dance Dance Revolution, or games like Groove (for the EyeToy) require a lot of cardiovascular activity, and that’s what keeps some people playing these games long after they’ve unlocked all there is to do. With a karaoke game, the fun is in singing your favourite songs… and those are always changing with the times.
That being said, Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 still moves the series along with new songs, more characters and other changes since Volume 1. Also karaoke is almost always a fun game to play in a house party situation or with a group of friends. If you’re looking for a quick and easy game to play with your friends when they come over, this may be just the game you’re looking for. The draw of karaoke can’t be overlooked, as anyone can do it… provided they get over their butterflies.
