PlayStation 2 Review
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol

American Idol, the hit reality TV series on FOX, began its sixth season at the beginning of the year. With the series averaging 31 million viewers, it’s no wonder they have decided to make a game based on American Idol. The game is being published by Konami, who also published the other Karaoke Revolution titles. Do you think you can be the next American Idol? Now you can, without leaving the comfort of your home.

The game is bundled with a nice USB microphone and will also work with the USB headset (sold separately). The microphone is more realistic to immerse yourself in the gameplay. The person singing has to keep the microphone close to their mouth or sing loudly and confidently, otherwise the game won’t pick it up. Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol can also be used with the Eye Toy to put a model of yourself on screen as you sing to enhance the overall experience. You can play with another person to do a duet or you can go against a friend to try to be American Idol.

The game detects the contestant’s pitch and rhythm. Judgments are based on that. You are rated by two judges, Simon and Randy; as well as, given a popularity rating from the crowd to determine if you are able to move to the next round. You will probably get some good comments and negative comments (from Simon as usual). The voice acting for Simon and Randy are done by them, so it seems more authentic.

You can go through the American Idol contest, or do a quick mode, or practice one particular song at a time (with or without judging). American Idol mode allows for either short, medium or full rounds; 8, 13, and 18 respectively. When you compete, it gets more challenging as you progress.

First, you choose a character or create one yourself. It does take a while for the character models to switch. Then, in quick mode, you can choose one particular song to practice and either do the short or full version of the song. It’s nice that they preview the songs for you before you pick the actual song, allowing you to choose just the one you want. There are various venues to choose from to sing, ranging from a beach party, to the audition room, to various club environments. The graphics are sufficient for this type of a game.

Forty new songs are packed into Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol, including recent hits, in addition to familiar classics. Songs include: “Always Something There To Remind Me”, “Breakaway”, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, “More Than Words”, “Sugar, We’re Going Down”, “Stickwitu”, “The Real Thing”, “What A Girl Wants”. Songs have one to three music notes next to them indicating difficulty. There is the traditional length version of the song along with a shortened version, should you prefer that.

The ESRB gives it a rating of E 10+ because of lyrics.

If you like the idea of a game similar to Guitar Hero, except with singing instead of guitar playing, here is the game for you. Even if you aren’t the best singer out there, this game can, nevertheless, be fun.

Overall: 8/10

By: Jason Leyanna (2007.07.29)