This Sing-a-Long isn’t Fun for Very Long

americanidolyl2Before games such as Rock Band and Singstar hit the market, a series like Karaoke Revolution was easily considered one of the leaders in the Rhythm games genre. Despite using cover versions of every song featured in their games, the technology was innovative and fun, making for a fantastic gameplay experience. However, over time, much the same way the Guitar Hero series has shown signs of wear, Karaoke Revolution has become an obsolete franchise, appreciated only by cult fans who appreciate it for what it is: a solid party game that does what it’s supposed to.

While adding the American Idol license and a bunch of new gameplay modes adds more luster to this version of the game, KR: American Idol Encore is still light years behind the type of things being done in Rock Band, Guitar Hero 4 and Rock Band 2.

However, that doesn’t mean some fun can’t be had with this title.

Unfortunately, it’s hefty $69.99 price tag [with a microphone included] and lack of new content may scare off anyone new to the series.

Anyone already familiar with the series will be at home very quickly, as the control scheme and menu layouts are identical to the game released on the PS2 in early 2007 with the same name. As a matter of fact, other than the appearance of Paula Abdul in this version of the game, it’s virtually identical to it’s PS2 counterpart. For this reason, some hardcore fans of the series who were expecting something new may be disappointed, while others will find it that much easier to just jump into the game and start singing.

By matching the pitch of your voice to the vocal track in the game, Karaoke Revolution: American Idol can assess how well you are singing. Some gamers will even make the argument that by playing the game on a regular basis, you’ll also become a better vocalist. While that claim may hold some water, especially considering the multitude of different tracks available in the game and for download, the title ultimately caters to gamers that have some sort of vocal proficiency.

Gamers with no talent on the microphone will still be able to have a great time with it, as various gameplay modes make it ideal in a party atmosphere, but only those with golden tonsils will truly get the most out of it.

Despite the game’s ability to cater to a wide variety of players, it will be hard for most to shake the feeling that Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore was more of an attempt by Konami to make money off of a uber-successful license, rather than to create a solid game.

However, the new additions to the time-tested formula, such as the addition of online play and downloadable songs add more replay value to a game already chock-full of unlockables and modes of play. For that reason, this version of KR is perhaps the deepest Karaoke game ever released on a console. Like the other games in the series, its a blast in parties and has enough content to keep any aspiring howler busy for hours on end.

That doesn’t mean it will enthrall you though.

Most of the content in the game has been recycled from older games in the series and the majority of the song downloads too have appeared on other games in the series. Because of that, it’s extremely hard to recommend this title to fans of the series that may own some of the older KR games. There are 28 achievements to unlock in the game that many fans of the series may enjoy playing through, but again, it’s hard to justify paying for a game that doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

For fans of the series that never got around to buying the game on other platforms however, this “compilation” may not be as fun as Rock Band, but it does get the job done.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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