Singstar Country review

There are four Singstar games coming to PS2 this fall: Pop Vol 2, Legends, ABBA, and Country (dammit Sony, where%26rsquo;s the Bollywood pack for the US? We%26rsquo;re not kidding. The UK got it and we want it too). We%26rsquo;re going to use the same review text for all three. Not because they aren%26rsquo;t good %26ndash; they are. And not because we haven%26rsquo;t played all three of them %26ndash; we have. Rather, it%26rsquo;s because there%26rsquo;s just no more to say about the Singstar series on PS2 that we haven%26rsquo;t already said. This franchise has honed its hit-making craft for several games now and stubbornly refuses to deviate from its established formula.

If you%26rsquo;ve played ANY of the previous Singstar games on PS2 (Pop, Rocks, Amped, %26lsquo;80s, %26lsquo;90s, and more in the UK) you know what to expect: Karaoke, and lots of it, with the videos playing onscreen. And it%26rsquo;s good.

The usual bells and whistles are all here as well, with the caveat that this is a PS2, so the tech is dated. For instance, there%26rsquo;s no downloadable stuff, but you can swap the disc with other Singstar titles without rebooting. And the EyeToy support enables you to save low-grade video replays of your performance %26hellip; to a memory card. Bleh. Especially when compared to the PS3%26rsquo;s giant online store of individual songs, this feels ancient and archaic. Granted, we can%26rsquo;t really fault the games for the fact that the PS2 is old enough to be in second grade now, but it feels like someone at Sony HQ isn%26rsquo;t even trying any more.

At any rate, your best bet is to choose your game by track list. Country%26rsquo;s 30-track lineup is listed below. It%26rsquo;s fairly strong, though we%26rsquo;d prefer more classic country from Waylon Jennings or Hank Williams and Patsy Cline or Loretta Lynn and less of the empty-headed modern artists like Kellie Pickler, Jessica Simpson, and Bucky Covington. However, it does avoid the series%26rsquo; typical sin of trying to appeal to fans of too many genres.

Alan Jackson %26ndash; Chattahoochee
Alan Jackson - Good Time
Big %26amp; Rich - Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)
Blake Shelton %26ndash; Home
Brad Paisley %26ndash; Online
Brooks %26amp; Dunn - Boot Scootin' Boogie
Brooks %26amp; Dunn w/ Rebe McEntire - If You See Him/If You See Her
Bucky Covington - It's Good to be Us
Faith Hill - Red Umbrella
Gretchen Wilson - Redneck Woman
Jessica Simpson - Come on Over
Jewel - Stronger Woman
Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line
Josh Turner - Another Try
Keith Urban - Days Go By
Kellie Pickler - Red High Heels
Kenny Chesney - Big Star
Lady Antebellum - Love Don't Live Here
Martina McBride - A Broken Wing
Miranda Lambert %26ndash; Kerosene
Montgomery Gentry - My Town
Montgomery Gentry - What Do Ya Think About That?
Rascal Flatts - Bless the Broken Road
Sara Evans - Born to Fly
Taylor Swift - Our Song
Terri Clark - Girls Lie Too
Trace Adkins - Honky Tonk Badonkadonk
Trace Adkins - You're Gonna Miss This
Willie Nelson - Pancho and Lefty

Nov 7, 2008