SingStar Amped compiles a great set of classic and modern rock songs spanning four decades.

User Rating: 7.5 | SingStar Amped PS2
Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, the SingStar franchise has taken the world by storm since it's introduction in 2004. It has become a staple in casual gamer's libraries worldwide and shows no signs of slowing down. In North America the series was introduced in November 2006 and is already on it's fourth installment.

Released alongside SingStar '80s, SingStar Amped compiles 30 hit songs performed by their original artists, complete with their accompanying music videos when available.

As with all of the SingStar games, there are several ways to play. There is of course a standard single-player mode, however what sets the SingStar series apart from other karaoke games is the robust multi-player options.

Pass the Mic mode let's up to eight people play in teams. This is a versus mode and by far the loudest, craziest and party-oriented of the bunch. Within this mode you'll find further options to add variety to your sessions like Micro-Medley, First to the Post and Keep it Up.

The two-player options are also good, allowing you to either play against each other in Battle mode, or co-operatively in the ever-popular Duet mode. These two modes are also playable with up to eight players in teams.

There are three difficulty levels in the game however when playing any of the multi-player modes, players are all forced to sing at the same level. It would be nice to adjust each player or teams difficulty level individually.

The game play screen is simple yet effective. The "notes" are represented by the SingStar series' trademark rounded rectangles. There isn't a whole lot of visual flair besides some glittery effects when you really nail a vocal line. Of course, one of the big draws to the SingStar series is that where available, the original music video plays in the background as you sing. In the case of the Amped version there is only one track with no music video, David Bowie's "Changes". In this case, the background is a montage of album art and other imagery. It's not perfect of course, but it's much better than the series' previous attempts at doing this.

SingStar Amped does not do anything to change the core look or feel of the series, nor should it really. The series' interface is clean and modern with only minor colour scheme and theme music alterations in each installment.

The set list in SingStar Amped ironically has more rock tracks than the series' first game, SingStar Rocks!. Tracks range from 1970s classics to modern hits. Highlights include Boston's "More Than A Feeling", "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" by Fall Out Boy, Nirvana's "Come As You Are" and "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf.

There are also tracks by Foo Fighters, Judas Priest, Queens of the Stone Age, Ramones, Stone Temple Pilots and Yeah Yeah Yeas to name a few. Only the Talking Heads classic "Burning Down The House" seems a bit out of place here, perhaps better suited to the SingStar '80s edition released at the same time.

As with all of the SingStar games, Amped can be purchased as stand-alone software or in a bundle with the required, and surprisingly high quality pair of microphones. The fact that it comes with two microphones, offers so many multi-player options and has an great set list makes SingStar Amped a solid choice for anyone fond of karaoke parties and a penchant for rock music. Beverages not included.

--Brian J. Papineau - 09/21/2007