User Rating: 9.2 | Karaoke Stage PS2
What can I say about Karaoke Revolution that hasn't already been said? First off, for the gamer considering buying this (probably a nerdy-in-a-good-way sort, perhaps a fan of DDR as well), let me make one thing very clear: the song list will make or break your game experience. I happen to like a great number of these songs, so it's a blast, but if you're exclusively into speed metal and rap, "Hey Jealousy" isn't going to cut it. Second, if you are good at overcoming embarassment (or wish to develop the talent), this is the best party game I've seen since Super Smash Bros. Therefore, your game experience will be rather more pleasant if you have family or friends to play with (my dormmates will sing, albeit only when drunk... I'm looking forward to playing it with my sisters over Thanksgiving break). About the technical aspects: the graphics get the job done. The venues are cool and the effects are nice, and the scrolling pitch bar (how the game rates your performance) works well. The lyrics scroll rather fast, so it's best if you know the song. The models move like human singers and the lip-synching is surprisingly good, though all the male characters (with the exception of the unlockable fat redneck) look darn feminine. If you don't have a USB mic from SOCOM or another game, you won't go wrong with the Logitec headset bundled with the $60 version of this game. I had to adjust the gain up a bit, but after that it worked rather well. I chose to disable the headset's playing my voice in my earphone, but the various volume controls (headset volume, your own voice's volume, lead vocals, music, and extraneous SFX like clapping and cheering) let you customize to taste. The game, interestingly enough, allows you to sing up or down an octave, and still adjusts to measure for the pitch. Therefore, whatever vocal range you happen to possess, you should be able to rumble through any song on the easier, less-harshly-judged difficulty modes. It gets snippier on harder difficulties. Overall, while $60 is pricey for a game with such a small song list (after you unlock a few hidden songs, there's 36 in all) the inherent wonderful silliness of the game, as well as the tantalizing promise of future expansion discs, compel me to recommend this to anyone with the means. It beats the $150-300 required for a truly effective DDR setup, too.
