SingStar Pop Hits

7.0
Good

Gameplay	8.5	"If you like the songs, you probably already own this..."
Graphics	6.0
Sound	8.0
Value	7.0

By Tristan Clark

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The SingStar franchise has become an unstoppable beast. With every iteration of this popular series, Sony has gotten better at the art of extracting maximum return from as little expenditure as possible. In other words, every SingStar title since Pop has featured 30 (or sometimes only 20) new songs and absolutely nothing else. So I thought it would be appropriate to just copy and paste sections from our past SingStar reviews – everything we said in them still applies to the latest title, SingStar Pop Hits. After all, it’s only fitting that a half-assed update to a series is met with a half-assed review.

“It’s hard not to sound like a broken record when it comes to reviewing SingStar games. They’re all pretty much identical, except for the song lineup, so it all boils down to your particular taste in music, and whether it lines up with the latest collection of tracks.”
- SingStar Legends review:

“The main criticism I have of the Singstar series is the lack of new features or modes in each new version – it’s a classic example of a company striking gold, and then repeating the exact same formula over and over again. Unfortunately, this trend continues with the latest iteration…It looks like the developers spent their entire budget acquiring 30 new songs, and only had enough money left over to give the menus a different colour scheme. Still, this shouldn’t put people off – the core gameplay is still as fun as ever, and new songs are always eagerly devoured.”
- SingStar Rocks! review:

“Essentially, SingStar rates your singing ability based on the key and notes rather than the pitch. This means you can sing, for example, a high-pitched song in a low voice, just so long as you get the key and notes right. This is fortunate, as trying to hit some of the high notes (if you’ve got a deep voice) or the low notes (if you’ve got a high voice) would be near impossible otherwise.”
- SingStar Legends review:

“There’s little else to say about this new Singstar. It’s practically identical to previous versions in terms of game modes and features, meaning you can sing solo, with a friend, or in party games involving up to eight people. Songs can be sung as battles or duets, and high-score tables will once again encourage a good deal of competition amongst you and your friends.”
- SingStar Rocks! review:

So I hope it’s clear now that the tracklisting is the most important part of each new SingStar, and that your enjoyment of Pop Hits will hinge entirely on whether or not you like extremely poppy songs from the last few years. Here’s the full set of songs:

All Saints -- "Black Coffee"
Jennifer Lopez -- "Jenny From the Block"
Avril Lavigne -- "My Happy Ending"
Jojo -- "Leave (Get Out)"
Ashlee Simpson -- "Boyfriend"
NE-YO -- "Sexy Love"
Britney Spears -- "Baby One More Time"
Lily Allen -- "Littlest Things"
Cascade -- "Every Time We Touch"
My Chemical Romance -- "Helena"
Corrine Bailey Rae -- "Put Your Records On"
Nelly Furtado -- "Promiscuous"
Daniel Powter -- "Bad Day"
Norah Jones -- "Don't Know Why"
Dannii Minogue -- "I Begin to Wonder"
AKON -- "Lonely"
Evanescence -- "Bring Me to Life"
Pussycat Dolls -- "Beep"
Fall Out Boy -- "Dance Dance"
Rhianna -- "SOS"
Girls Aloud -- "No Good Advice"
Scissor Sisters -- "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"
Goldfrapp -- "Ooh La La"
Sugababes -- "Push the Button"
Gorillaz -- "Feel Good Inc."
Travis -- "Sing"
Jamelia -- "Beware of the Dog"
Will Young -- "Switch It On"
James Morrison -- "You Give Me Something"
U2 -- "Beautiful Day"

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