Karaoke Revolution Volume 2

"I Believe In a Thing Called Love"

After calling just about every videogame-selling store in the county for a week, I finally got my hands on Karaoke Revolution: Volume 2 for the Playstation 2. It's not your run-of-the-mill videogame, as you probably have guessed; you have to sing to play this game.

For those who haven't played the original, Karaoke Revolution uses a microphone (you can buy one as a normal handheld microphone version, or as a headset that lets you hear yourself while you sing for better tuning) that plugs into your USB port on your PS2 to check the pitch of your voice. In order to play the game, you must sing along with the various songs and try to sing as closely in tune as possible. The better you do, the better the crowd reacts, and the higher your score rises.

You can do interesting things like select what type of singer you want to be (there are a few new characters to choose from in KaraRev2, also!) and what place to sing at (called a venue).

You can play the game alone by going venue-to-venue, singing a song out of the selected four and trying to pass your way to the top. Of course, you don't have to play this mode, and you can just sing whatever songs you want for fun.

You can play with friends to compete for score, or in a mode in which each player casts a secret vote for each other to play by who is the most entertaining to their friends.

New to this version is a "Medley Mode" in which you can pick three to five songs and they will create a medley in which you sing short parts of each song without breaks between the parts. It's very interesting and fun.

Another new feature is the "Quick Play" mode in which you can quickly set up a song and sing instead of waiting through a whole game and setting it up. This is fun for playing many players when you really don't feel like competing or playing in order. Just for fun (although you still get your score and such.)

One of the most important things about the game is the music selection. Karaoke Revolution 2 has a great songlist, with many different song types from Britney Spears to Elvis, from Christina Aguilera to Marvin Gaye. For the song list, you can check out the official Karaoke Revolution 2 site (from Konami USA's site).

I spent countless hours playing this game with my friends, and even if you're bad at singing, it's good fun for anyone who likes to sing along to their favorite songs in the car or at home. It makes a fun game with groups of friends, and it's even fun to play alone. Hey, you could even improve your singing skills (or worsen them, if you don't know what you're doing!)

If you enjoy singing, regardless how good you are at it, I'm sure this game will be fun for you, and I highly recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/04