For Those Who Can Only Dream of Being Singers

I'll admit it. I'm a terrible singer. Just awful. Unfortunately for those around me, I love to sing. To give you some kind of idea about how bad my singing is, my own parents encouraged me to never sing, instead opting to get me a guitar.

But this review isn't about me, but rather about Karaoke Revolution 3. How do we start? Well, let's start with basic mechanics. KR3 (sorry, I'm too lazy to write the full title over and over again) is, as the title suggests, a singing game. You can buy the game with or without a mic (I would personally suggest paying the extra ten bucks and getting the one with the mic if you don't already have one), and you sing close to thirty songs.

You're probably asking yourself why you would buy this game when you get a karaoke machine; because a karaoke machine doesn't grade you. To be more specific, you have to sing in front of a virtual audience and hit the right notes, both low and high, to fill up a meter. If you fill up the meter, you're great. If you fail to fill up the meter, or only get it halfway, you'll be penalized. If you're good, you'll get a high score (obviously), but if you do badly enough, you get booed off the stage, and then you're done. The goal is to get either a gold or platinum record, so you can unlock things from new characters to new songs. For anyone who's played Dance Dance Revolution, think that with singing, and you've got the idea.

So let's talk graphics, shall we? The graphics in KR3 are what they should be. The character that you pick, and customize if you wish, looks good and glossy enough, as does the audience, but this game wouldn't be recommended if it was based solely on graphics. But graphics are not the issue in a singing game. Sound, however, is.

The sound is really dependent on how much of a music afficianado you are. The songs in this game are not performed by the original artists, but rather by random people hired to copycat, and most of them do an admirable job. Think of it as singing a cover song.

Now for the control, such as it is. Your primary control is the mic, though you use the PS2 menu to scroll through the menu. The mic, though it can be adjusted somewhat, can be a bit iffy. Sometimes it's not sensitive enough, then sometimes it's too sensitive. Also, I take issue with some of the songs notes. Some of the songs have low notes where they don't seem to belong, and others have notes that are entirely too high for the song. That adds challenge, I guess, but hinders authenticity.

Of course, what fun would karaoke be without friends? This is the first KR game to feature duets, in which you and a friend team up for the best score. These are fun because the songs are split up, so you don't have to sing the entire song, giving your pipes a much needed break. There's also a sing off mode, and a knockout, so if you have a friend who just can't sing (like me), then they're knocked out quickly and you don't have to listen to them.

The game makes a fine attempt at being well rounded, with both modern and classic hits, and everything in between. I'll just give you the list:

ABC
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Beat It
Burn
Careless Whisper
Don't You (Forget About Me)
I Got You Babe
If I Ain't Got You
Leave (Get Out)
Love Shack
Meant to Live
My Immortal
New York New York
Oops!...I Did it Again
Respect
Take My Breath Away
The Reason
Twist & Shout
Unchained Melody
Under Pressure

There's a few more, but those are the highlights. If you don't know any of the above songs, or know only very few of them, this probably isn't the game for you. The game's much more fun when you're at least familiar with the song.

Here's the Deal: This game can be a blast when you have a bunch of your friends over, and can either be wowed by their vocal skills, or laugh at tone deafness. If this game didn't have a multiplayer, I can't say that it would be unplayable, but it would be pretty close. This is a multiplayer game, and should stay that way. The game is addictive, and is something that can be played at almost any time if you can't think of anything else to do. Before you think that it's childish to buy a singing game, I can say that I've had lots of friends who don't like this kind of game that have enjoyed it. So grab the game, grab a mic, and play rock star for a while. You'll enjoy it.

Parent's Note: KR3 is rated E, and pretty deservedly so. Some of the song's lyrics might be a bit suggestive, but they're nothing that can't be heard on the radio. But I never really realized how suggestive Respect is.