By Anthony Swinnich on November 23rd, 2005

I’m not saying Karaoke Revolution Party has made me a believer in Karaoke; I still shake my head in disbelief when my friends tell me a Karaoke Bar is on the agenda for the night. However, I am saying that Karaoke Revolution Party is a good party game with enough content to keep your guests entertained, but only if everyone can find the courage to let loose and play along. Karaoke Revolution Party only gives back what you put in, so if you’re not into it, you’re not going to have a good time.

In order to succeed, the game doesn’t require that you know all of the words to the songs; it just requires that you sing the right notes, so as long as you sing, or even hum the right tones, you’ll be netting high scores with ease. It’s probably a good thing that it works this way, because I don’t know all of the words to these songs, and it’s likely you won’t either-- there are over fifty popular songs from a multitude of genres.

It’s very likely you’ve heard each song in this game at least once, so you probably know how to sing them. What’s surprising is how good the selection of songs is, especially considering none of the songs are the original recordings. Many genres are covered here, from oldies like "Uptown Girl," to 80’s favorites like "Material Girl," or "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" Fans of the movie "Old School" will be happy to see "Dust in the Wind" here, and Rock Star hopefuls can practice their vocals with classics like "American Woman," or modern hits like "Headstrong."

Now, it is possible to hum your way through this game, but where would the fun be in that? Karaoke Revolution Party is best when people are actually trying to sing through the songs with the proper lyrics; especially the ones they don’t know. Of course, the game scrolls the lyrics along the bottom of the screen, giving the player a fighting chance.

There aren’t many modes in Karaoke Revolution Party, but what’s here will probably be enough to get you and your friends through multiple parties. Players can compete for the highest score by singing more accurately than each other, sing duets, medleys, or plug in a dance pad to sing and dance at the same time. Those familiar with Dance Dance Revolution will probably get the most out of this mode (seeing as how they’d be the ones with the proper equipment). Rest assured performing on a dance mat while singing correctly ranks among the hardest feats in all of gaming.

There are two mini-games based on vocal pitch, but they aren’t very well developed and therefore aren’t much fun. A Pong-like volleyball mini-game is included, where the players move their paddle up and down by raising and lowering their vocal pitch. While playing it sounds like Frankenstein is trying to make out with a Novocain addict, and it’s good for a couple of laughs at first. After extended play, however, it just isn’t much fun. Come on-- it’s just Pong. The other one requires you to hit a note when a character stands on a certain part of a stage. It’s inaccurate, poorly executed, and not much fun at all.

Most of the songs are unlocked from the start, so unlockables mostly come in the form of new outfits or accessories for the on-screen characters, and meaningless trophies. None of these incentives will provide much reason to extend play, but Karaoke fans probably won’t mind as the initial song list is so huge. Customizing the on-screen characters seems mostly senseless; it doesn’t do anything for the gameplay, so it probably won’t matter to most players.

Players looking for the next Halo won’t find their fix in Karaoke Revolution Party, but if multiplayer gaming is your thing and your group of friends is open to new experiences, or enjoys being loud and obnoxious, you won’t find a better Karaoke game on the market. A large number of well known songs, accessible gameplay, and a number of modes make this one to buy if you and your friends enjoy warbling through "Time After Time."