Sheila Gallant-Halloran
Member
November 24, 2008 - The SingStar formula of karaoke games has generally -- and surprisingly -- gone uncloned for a while now. Most developers seem to use the Karaoke Revolution style of gameplay (as seen in Rock Band, Boogie, and Guitar Hero: World Tour). This holiday season there are two games coming out that use the SingStar format. The Xbox 360 has its console specific game Lips, while Disney Interactive has released Disney Sing It across all platforms. So if you've always wanted that SingStar experience on your Wii, but wanted less features and a catalog consisting mostly of Miley Cyrus in various wigs, your prayers have been answered.
Disney Sing It plays nearly identically to SingStar. It's a karaoke simulator. Players pick a song and sing along with the lyrics, trying to match their pitch with the bars on the screen while the music video plays in the background. The SingStar franchise is enormously popular worldwide, so if you're going to copy something, that's a good choice. The game is so similar to SingStar, in fact, that the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions even let you use the SingStar microphones.
The game plays just fine, maybe even a little better than SingStar because it has a small ball that shows your pitch in real time, making it easier to know where you're at and prepare for upcoming notes.
The interface for Sing It is simple and clean. It didn't go all zany and hot pink (though you can turn the menu pink if you want).
Sing It features a solid amount of gameplay options. There are single-player and multiplayer modes, both of which allow players to select up to five songs and sing them without stopping between. Really though the single-player mode is kind of useless as singing by yourself is just not fun, nor is it the point of these games. Multiplayer is by far the better option and features a vs. mode and a duet mode. There's also a team mode so you can have up to eight people alternating and playing together. The PS3 and 360 versions of the game support their respective USB cameras so supertars-in-training can watch themselves while they sing. However the game doesn't record anything, so you can't watch your performance or look at pictures. It also doesn't save your vocal performance. So overall the game has less features than a PS2 version of SingStar.
The biggest problem with Disney Sing It also happens to be its biggest selling point: It's all Disney Channel stuff. In that respect it should have been Disney Channel Sing It! Let's not trick people into thinking there might be some of the Oscar and Emmy winning songs from the many Disney theatrical releases.
It's not a problem in itself that the songs are based around the Disney Channel theme. Hannah Montana and High School Musical are immensely popular, so I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that would love to sing along to them. Granted it is a bit specific and inaccessible to some people since most of these songs haven't made it to the mainstream, but I consider it about the same as something like SingStar Country. Not everyone is a fan, but for those that are, great.
The real problem is that these aren't even the best songs from these artists. I'm not the biggest fan of any of these properties but I'm familiar with them. Yet none of the songs I know and like were included in this compilation (yeah I like some of the Disney songs, wanna fight about it?). I only know the biggest, most popular songs from these artists, so it's amazing to me that their most popular songs are not included. The Cheetah Girls don't have their theme song in here. Miley Cyrus doesn't have "7 Things" which is by far her most rocking track. Oh, and the High School Musical pool is not only lacking all the songs from the third film, but also doesn't have most of the good ones. "Fabulous" is a terrible song, yet that's in here? If you wanted a Sharpay song then "Stick to the Status Quo" would have worked. Plus "We're All in This Together" is pretty much a prerequisite for HSM fans and is noticeably absent.
There are two modes to Sing It that are actually unique to the karaoke series: You're on Your Own and Sing It Pro. Both are too vaguely named so let me explain. You're on Your Own is a pretty simple. It removes the scores and pitch bar from the game and just plays the video, letting you sing along without help. You're still graded on how well you did at the end. It's a neat feature, but one that would have been made way cooler with more camera support. Without the crap on the screen I could ham it up and make a cooler video to show off to people, but alas, no such option exists.
The other feature, Sing it Pro, is like a singing class hosted by the girl that plays Kelsi in High School Musical. It's a great ideas, especially for a game aimed at the younger crowd, but unfortunately it doesn't actually help much. Kelsi explains things you need to do, like learn when to take breaths to make sure you have enough air, and then the game has you practice, but it never actually instructs you. It should show you where to take breaths so that you know what kind of areas in a song to look for. It doesn't end up being particularly useful.
Closing Comments
Disney Sing It is a fun game for kids that are super into the Disney Channel. However it really is lacking in the song department, even for the subject matter. There are far more songs that could have been in here, and some of the biggest songs from these artists are missing. The game features fewer options than a PS2 version of SingStar. Honestly if you have a PS3 or PS2 and think your kid might have just as much fun singing songs by non-Disney artists, then get a copy of any SingStar game for them instead. For 360 and Wii exclusive owners, Disney SingIt is currently the closest thing to SingStar you've got.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/933/933466p1.html
Disney Sing It plays nearly identically to SingStar. It's a karaoke simulator. Players pick a song and sing along with the lyrics, trying to match their pitch with the bars on the screen while the music video plays in the background. The SingStar franchise is enormously popular worldwide, so if you're going to copy something, that's a good choice. The game is so similar to SingStar, in fact, that the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions even let you use the SingStar microphones.
The game plays just fine, maybe even a little better than SingStar because it has a small ball that shows your pitch in real time, making it easier to know where you're at and prepare for upcoming notes.
The interface for Sing It is simple and clean. It didn't go all zany and hot pink (though you can turn the menu pink if you want).
Sing It features a solid amount of gameplay options. There are single-player and multiplayer modes, both of which allow players to select up to five songs and sing them without stopping between. Really though the single-player mode is kind of useless as singing by yourself is just not fun, nor is it the point of these games. Multiplayer is by far the better option and features a vs. mode and a duet mode. There's also a team mode so you can have up to eight people alternating and playing together. The PS3 and 360 versions of the game support their respective USB cameras so supertars-in-training can watch themselves while they sing. However the game doesn't record anything, so you can't watch your performance or look at pictures. It also doesn't save your vocal performance. So overall the game has less features than a PS2 version of SingStar.
The biggest problem with Disney Sing It also happens to be its biggest selling point: It's all Disney Channel stuff. In that respect it should have been Disney Channel Sing It! Let's not trick people into thinking there might be some of the Oscar and Emmy winning songs from the many Disney theatrical releases.
It's not a problem in itself that the songs are based around the Disney Channel theme. Hannah Montana and High School Musical are immensely popular, so I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that would love to sing along to them. Granted it is a bit specific and inaccessible to some people since most of these songs haven't made it to the mainstream, but I consider it about the same as something like SingStar Country. Not everyone is a fan, but for those that are, great.
The real problem is that these aren't even the best songs from these artists. I'm not the biggest fan of any of these properties but I'm familiar with them. Yet none of the songs I know and like were included in this compilation (yeah I like some of the Disney songs, wanna fight about it?). I only know the biggest, most popular songs from these artists, so it's amazing to me that their most popular songs are not included. The Cheetah Girls don't have their theme song in here. Miley Cyrus doesn't have "7 Things" which is by far her most rocking track. Oh, and the High School Musical pool is not only lacking all the songs from the third film, but also doesn't have most of the good ones. "Fabulous" is a terrible song, yet that's in here? If you wanted a Sharpay song then "Stick to the Status Quo" would have worked. Plus "We're All in This Together" is pretty much a prerequisite for HSM fans and is noticeably absent.
There are two modes to Sing It that are actually unique to the karaoke series: You're on Your Own and Sing It Pro. Both are too vaguely named so let me explain. You're on Your Own is a pretty simple. It removes the scores and pitch bar from the game and just plays the video, letting you sing along without help. You're still graded on how well you did at the end. It's a neat feature, but one that would have been made way cooler with more camera support. Without the crap on the screen I could ham it up and make a cooler video to show off to people, but alas, no such option exists.
The other feature, Sing it Pro, is like a singing class hosted by the girl that plays Kelsi in High School Musical. It's a great ideas, especially for a game aimed at the younger crowd, but unfortunately it doesn't actually help much. Kelsi explains things you need to do, like learn when to take breaths to make sure you have enough air, and then the game has you practice, but it never actually instructs you. It should show you where to take breaths so that you know what kind of areas in a song to look for. It doesn't end up being particularly useful.
Closing Comments
Disney Sing It is a fun game for kids that are super into the Disney Channel. However it really is lacking in the song department, even for the subject matter. There are far more songs that could have been in here, and some of the biggest songs from these artists are missing. The game features fewer options than a PS2 version of SingStar. Honestly if you have a PS3 or PS2 and think your kid might have just as much fun singing songs by non-Disney artists, then get a copy of any SingStar game for them instead. For 360 and Wii exclusive owners, Disney SingIt is currently the closest thing to SingStar you've got.
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/933/933466p1.html