You ever had that crazy night where you’re having the time of your life and then your friends mess it all up because they want to make the night even more “amazing” by proposing to go to a karaoke bar? Yeah… well, I have, and I must say I’m glad I’ve found a cheaper solution to make myself “less ridiculous” or even better, “less publicly ridiculous” … Here’s SingStar Celebration to the rescue!
Sony has released several SingStar editions to the public to bring some cheaper karaoke system to the homefront. It was the perfect way to have some “cheesy” fun and bring your friends together. SingStar made the singing experience a bit more competitive than your usual Karaoke experience but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I believe that era has passed…
“Yes, the app is convenient, but it does take away the “popstar” feeling.”
The SingStar Celebration edition is one of Sony’s latest addition to the PlayLink series. It’s a feature that some of the current PS4 games have. It’s all about “Bringing the experience closer to you” by adding a Smartphone app which allows you to interact with some of these Playstation 4 games. It’s ideal when your friends come over to play some party games, such as SingStar Celebration. No more extra Microphones to buy, just download and play. Sounds like an incredible idea, however, it’s a bit disappointing. The app allows your friends to come over and just play the game but just like Guitar Hero, a game where your “fake” guitar controller is part of the game, it should be the same for SingStar. Yes, the app is convenient, but it does take away the “popstar” feeling. I played this game with my girlfriend and it just didn’t feel appealing to use your phone as a Microphone. Even though, you know that you’re not the best singer, it takes away your “singing” appetite before the game even starts. A phone just doesn’t feel that comfortable in your hand while singing, even though it’s an all-day apparatus. If you have compatible PS4 Microphones, use them and it would be a whole other game. The only thing the app does correctly is opening the opportunity to make your own playlists of songs. This will make sure your favorite tunes won’t go unnoticed.
The game’s software is all right but it does lack in consistency. SingStar was always fun because it was open for every single talent out there because the game offered you a way of reaching those notes exactly right, even by humming the right tune. This would make even the worst singer, the best “scorer”. However, this app just works too well in a way of “getting all the environments sounds along with your voice” and this causes problems with “scoring points”. Your friend could be too close to you and the app will register his/ her sound as your own which is something you really don’t need.
Another thing that I noticed, was the fact that the “showed lyrics” are slower than the singing artist, this means that they’re not synched correctly which is odd, especially in a SingStar game. This is the worst problem you could have since it won’t register your tunes correctly which causes often a loss of very important points. If you know the lyrics to a song perfectly, this is a minor bug but when you’re singing a song that’s a bit harder and you don’t really know the lyrics perfectly, you’ll definitely score less than the average person. The “coloring lines” are perfectly synched with your tunes, so that’s positive.
The major problem I have with this game is the lack of tunes. This is a problem that each SingStar has. The game consists of 30 songs and they’re varied but it’s just so “limited”. I looked for songs with the help of the online store, but I quickly turned away, one song costs a lot of money and I don’t find the price worth it. This is sad because even though 30 varied songs are a “normal” amount, you’ll quickly sing through them and just like any other music fans, you’ll want to sing a lot more. If you have the money and you’re willingly wanting to spend money, you’ll have many songs to choose from. The current Playlist of SingStar Celebrations has songs from Avicii to Abba, so some of the classics are actually there but these songs were selected by its popularity so some of these songs won’t be your cup of tea. Normally, the online store has a lot of songs to choose from but it’s been a year since the store has been updated, so I wouldn’t hope for a lot more songs in the future. The latest update has even eliminated 600 songs…
Conclusion:
SingStar Celebration isn’t perfect and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, except for the PlayLink feature which is a cheaper option to prepare yourself for parties with friends, but it does take away the “Popstar” feeling when you’re limited to a phone to sing in. It’s not fun and a bit awkward. You can have a great night with a playlist that consists out of 30 songs but that’s it… Not every song will be easy to sing and if you’re planning to expand your Playlist with some other songs, be sure to bring some cash to the party because the online store is expensive and it’s dying piece by piece every single year.
