Singstar: Pop

If I had a dollar for every SingStar game that came out, I’d have…what, about $20-25 right now? If you include all the various versions in different languages, of course. Still, I’m not complaining – our house has become some kind of monstrous SingStar hub. Even when we deliberately hide the microphones at parties, someone (hi, Lucy) manages to find them and start singing.

So the latest version to grace the PlayStation 3 is called SingStar Pop Edition, as distinct from, say, SingStar Pop for the PlayStation 2. As always, the only real difference between this and older versions is the lineup of songs – so read on for my own impressions, but make your own judgement based on the setlist below.

Of course, I say there isn’t any difference, but that’s not strictly true – Pop Edition ships with the new voice control ability, which effectively allows you to ditch your controller in favour of audibly telling the game what you want to sing. Thankfully, you won’t need to buy Pop Edition to get this feature – it’s a free update for all SingStar gamers who have internet access.

Onto the songs: this lineup is – in my opinion – certainly better than SingStar Vol. 3, and possibly a few others as well. Standouts include Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire”, The Killers’ “Human” (although good lord those lyrics are awful), Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer”, and Robbie Williams’ “Angels”.

Unlike some other collections, this one has a bit of depth to it, too – a lot of the “B” songs are fairly decent, so hopefully you find some that surprise you. Of course, there are also a fair number of stinkers, but I’m sure everyone will disagree as to which tracks are the worst.

So check out the list below and see if this one’s for you. It doesn’t try and please everybody as much as some collections, yet is still broad enough to appeal to both myself and someone who actually likes modern R&B.

Oh, and if you try to sing “Rehab”, resign yourself to the fact that you will sound terrible.

Alphabeat - 10.000 Nights Of Thunder
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
Black Kids - I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
Chris Brown - With You
Chris De Burgh - Lady In Red
Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
Gloria Estefan - Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown - No Air
Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss A Beat
Kate Nash - Mouthwash
Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow
Little Jackie - The World Should Revolve Around Me
N*E*R*D - Sooner Or Later
P!nk - So What!
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Robbie Williams - Angels
Robyn - Be Mine
Rockwell - Somebody's Watching Me
Sam Sparro - Black And Gold
Solange - I Decided
Sugababes - Girls
The Feeling - Rose
The Killers - Human
The Police - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
The Script - The Man Who Can't Be Moved
Will Young - Changes
will.i.am Feat Cheryl Cole - Heartbreaker
Yazoo - Don't Go