The whole
karaoke genre has, more or less, stagnated. The same mechanics are used time and
again, and the only thing that seems to change are the menu interfaces, the song
lineups and the corresponding videos.
Disney has
entered the scene with Sing It, a collection of tunes that might seem perfect
for the younger teens, but really might have greater appeal to a younger crowd …
you know, the Hannah Montana faithful. Why? Because in addition to the Cheetah
Girls, Hannah Montana is featured in the collection of songs, as are several
selections from the first two Disney flicks bearing the High School Musical
moniker.
Since the game
is all about the songs, here is the list of the 35 selections available:
The Disney Sing
It set list includes:
-
Aly & AJ: “Like Whoa,” “Potential Breakup Song,” “Chemicals React”
-
Hannah Montana: “Best of Both Worlds,” “Life‘s What You Make It,” “Nobody’s
Perfect,” “Rock Star” -
Miley Cyrus: ”G.N.O” (Girl’s Night Out),” “See You Again,” “Start All
Over” -
Everlife: “Find Yourself In You,” “Real Wild Child”
-
Jordan Pruitt: “Jump to the Rhythm,” “Outside Looking In”
-
Billy Ray Cyrus: “Ready, Set, Don’t Go”
-
Jesse McCartney: “She’s No You”
-
Corbin Bleu: “Push It to the Limit”
-
Vanessa Hudgens: “Say OK”
-
The Cheetah Girls 2: “Dance With Me,” “The Party’s Just Begun”
-
The Cheetah Girls: One World:
“One World” -
High School Musical: “Breaking Free,” “Get’cha Head in the Game,” “Start of
Something New” -
High School Musical 2:
“Bet On It,” “Fabulous,” “What Time Is It,” “You Are
the Music in Me” -
Camp Rock: “We Rock,” “Start the Party,” “This Is Me,” “Gotta Find
You,” “Play My Music,” “Hasta La Vista,” “Here I Am”
As with most of
these games, the music video plays in the back with the pitch bar and words
scrolling over the top. The idea is to select a difficulty setting (which
determines how precise the game will judge you) and then hit the pitch bars to
rack up points. There are leaderboards to show your standing on your effort.
Sing It also
has a couple of multiplayer modes as well as three single-player modes. In
single player, you can play Sing It Pro, which acts as a way to brush up your
skills, or hop into the gig mode (a live concert-type effort where the final
score is averaged from the five songs you sing), or take on the challenge of
You’re On Your Own – no lyrics or pitch bars to guide you. In multiplayer there
is duet and versus, team play and gig mode.
The graphics
and sound of the game are solid. The only problem is that this game might seem
to appeal to those in the 12-14 age group but it might skew younger. The
14-year-old girl who tested it thought some of the songs were Ok, but said this
was mostly a game for younger singers. The 12-year-old girl who tested it went
through several songs, then hopped over to SingStar.
Fans of the
Disney movies and TV shows might find this fine though. It certainly does not
bring anything new to the genre, and really retreads familiar ground in terms of
gameplay.
|
Gameplay: 6.0
If you have played a
karaoke game before, you know what is waiting here. It’s the same old thing with
a Disney brand on it.
Graphics: 8.0
Solid elements here
with the ability to personalize the menu theme.
Sound: 8.0
The sound is solid
and presented well.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 5.0
Nothing new is
offered here.
Multiplayer: 6.0
Limited appeal will
hurt this game, but generally speaking, these elements are familiar to most fans
of the genre
Overall: 5.0
The age appeal is
very young and thus a bit limited. The game gives the impression that teens
might be interested, with the High School Musical songs, but the appeal was
below the interest level of a 14-year old teen girl. Still, the production
values are solid and younger singers may enjoy this game.