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SingStar Dance
From SingStar
"karaoke" to SingStar Guitar (think Guitar Hero), we now have
SingStar Dance that merges the SingStar gameplay (karaoke) with the
PlayStation Move in order to allow the gamer to dance and sing like a
professional.
Allowing the
player or players to either sing or dance, the unique capabilities of
the PlayStation Move now give the player a chance to “bust a move” which
was actually quite a blast to test out. The game can be played solo
(either singing or dancing) or as a party game for that true party
experience… which is always better with a few beers.
Before I get to
the dancing, the SingStar component of the game is pretty much identical
to SingStar games of yesterday where you need to match your timing and
rhythm with the words display on the screen and you are awarded points.
It’s basically karaoke but with a point scoring system. The music video
is displayed on screen and you also have the option of using the
PlayStation Eye to display the action or embarrassing moments on screen.
You can even
save your performances or take snap shots with the camera and this can
be uploaded to your MySingStar profile to show the world. I do suggest
you check out some of these videos there because they are quite
hilarious.
The songs in the
game are quite diverse and it boasts 30 different tracks from a variety
of genres which really gets you dancing. The track listing of SingStar
Dance include;
'N Sync - "Bye Bye Bye"
Black Eyed Peas - "Shut Up"
Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
Chris Brown - "With You"
Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
Diana Ross and The Supremes - "Baby Love"
Gloria Gaynor - "I Will Survive"
Gossip - "Standing in the Way of Control"
Gwen Stefani - "What You Waiting For?"
Jamiroquai - "Cosmic Girl"
KC & The Sunshine Band - "That's the Way (I Like It)"
Kid Cudi vs Crookers - "Day 'n' Nite"
Kool and the Gang - "Celebration"
La Roux - "Bulletproof"
Lady Gaga - "Poker Face"
MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This"
New Kids on the Block - "Hangin Tough"
Outkast - "Hey Ya!"
Paula Abdul - "Straight Up"
Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)"
Reel 2 Real feat. The Mad Stuntman - "I Like To Move It"
Ricky Martin - "Livin' La Vida Loca"
Run DMC vs Jason Nevins - "It’s Like That"
Salt N Pepa - "Push It"
Shaggy - "Boombastic"
Sir Mix A Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em - "Crank That"
The Backstreet Boys - "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)"
The Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
The Pussycat Dolls - "Don’t Cha"
Not bad hey?
In terms of
dancing, you need to mimic the moves displayed on screen which is
detected by the move controller. This works for some of the songs but
for the more complex dance moves, it does become frustrating or that
could be my lack of coordination skills.
Mimicking on the
screen dancer only works so far and at times, you’re guessing what they
are doing. Kinect unfortunately does it better. However all Kinect
aside, the gameplay is relatively quite limited so don’t expect a career
mode or anything that complex. It’s basically pick the song, sing and
dance.
Calibration
plays a big part of this game and if you’re not calibrated correctly,
the accuracy does suffer. Spend the time moving your furniture and
tables and then calibrating, the game will be a much more enjoyable
experience. For a first attempt at a dancing game, the move does have
potential and I’m sure from here, we’ll see a whole wealth of new
dancing games get released on the PlayStation 3.
Graphically, the
music videos look decent on FULL HD are quite colourful and have deep
levels of black. No artifacting here. The in-game graphics are sharp and
compliment the experience well. The star of the game is definitely the
track listing and even though it’s only 30 songs, I’m sure Sony will
release more titles for this game plus downloadable tracks.
Conclusion
SingStar Dance is definitely a party game and if you have
a party coming up, this title would definitely be a winner and is
something fresh as opposed to SingStar which this game can still do.
Although in its infancy, the move controller has a little way to go.
Then again, you always have the option of creating funniest home videos!
Entertaining… definitely! |
