The PlayStation 2 isn’t short of a peripheral or two when it comes to novelty games. EyeToys and dancemats aside, there’s one title that uses an even simpler device for interacting with your console – a microphone. All the party hosts with the most will be aware of the phenomenon that is Singstar, the game that lets you sing along to music. Of course, being a videogame this is one up from your average karaoke machine. It rates your performance based on pitch and timing, adding a whole new dimension to a time honoured way of making a fool of yourself.
Given that it’s only the more, ahem, mature of us that can really get stuck in to looking like buffoons, the latest edition in the Singstar range is a stroke of genius. Singstar 80s, you see, includes songs you might actually remember and like, featuring, as you might have guessed, a selection of songs from the ages.
Forget that you were probably a gawky, awkward young thing in twentieth century’s most opportunist, glamorous decade, and immerse yourself in a glittering world of supercars, shoulder pads, big hair and ballads. Belt out classics from (probably) the decade of your youth, including such hallowed anthems as Starship’s We Built This City, Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine, Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby and Simple Minds’ Don’t You Forget About Me. The line-up really is an absolute dream selection of 80s tune, all officially licensed and probably the strongest line-up yet seen on any game’s music score ever. And unlike GTA: Vice City, you don’t have to beat up prostitutes and flee the cops while you’re listening to it. If you enjoyed the first Singstar, heck, if you remember the 80s, you’ve got a PlayStation and you have some friends, this is an absolute must-buy.