Singstar Rock Ballads

7.0
Good

Gameplay	8.5	"A decent lineup of tracks for your singing pleasure. "
Graphics	6.0
Sound	8.0
Value	7.0

By Tristan Clark

They really are churning them out, now, aren’t they? Obviously unhappy with releasing a mere two or three versions of SingStar a year, Sony have been going pretty crazy recently, releasing several new iterations in the space of a couple of months. Still, I’m not complaining if they can maintain the excellence of ones like SingStar 90’s or – to a slightly lesser extent – SingStar Rock Ballads.

Oh so surprisingly, the latest SingStar has no new game features of any sort – instead, it floats or sinks based on its track list of 30 new songs. And while there are a few duds, Rock Ballads contains enough to please not only those of us who really appreciate a bit of Meat Loaf, but also those who don’t even think they’re into this kind of music.

Personally, there are a decent number of stand out songs, including Meat Loaf’s ‘Anything for Love’, Queen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’, Duran Duran’s ‘Ordinary World’, and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’. These are the sorts of songs that practically require a fair amount of drinking before taking them on – after all, no one wants to sing (or listen to) Meat Loaf sober, right? But beyond these classics, there are a surprising number of songs that you’ll swear you don’t know, but upon hearing them will go, ‘oh yeah, that song!’ For me, this meant I actually did know some songs by Roxette, Mr Big, Poisson, Tina Arena, and others.

While some additions are pretty darn dubious – I don’t think I’d want to put Avril Lavigne anywhere near the phrase ‘Rock Ballads’ – they at least mean those of a more pop-like sensibility can still get some enjoyment out of this collection, which wasn’t really the case for most of SingStar Rocks. Beyond that, this is more SingStar for the fans – so if you haven’t been turned off by the deluge of new versions, check out the tracklist below and figure out if it’s worth your time and money. Just remember: you will know more of these songs than you think.

Air Supply - All Out of Love
Alannah Myles - Black Velvet
Anastasia - Left Outside Alone
Avril Lavigne - I'm With You
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For A Star To Fall
Cutting Crew - I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Duran Duran - Ordinary World
Europe - Carrie
Heart - Alone
Jon Secada - Just Another Day
Lone Star - Amazed
Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
Meatloaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
Mr Big - To Be With You
Mr Mister - Broken Wings
Mr Mister - Kyrie
Nikelback - How You Remind Me
Nilsson - Without You
Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Queen - The Show Must Go On
Roxette - It Must Have Have Been Love
Roxette - Listen To Your Heart
Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now
Sugababes - Too Lost In You
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go
Tina Arena - Chains
Toto - Africa
T'Pau - China In Your Hands

NZGamer.com - Singstar Rock Ballads Facebook