SingStar '80s [PS2]

Sony's singing game takes on the MTV decade with this collection of songs from the eighties. If you haven't played SingStar before, it's basically a karaoke game where you sing along with music videos and get graded on your performance. As in previous versions, players can sing solo, duets, or battle it out by singing a song at the same time or passing the mic. The game also uses the EyeToy camera to take pictures of you during your performance.

The interface remains the same as before, so veterans will know what they're doing from the get-go. It's slick and easy to follow, offering up a jukebox-style rotisserie of album covers for you to select songs from. Naturally, the thirty tracks included here (see below) are all that really matter though, and there's a diverse selection of artists including MTV darlings Madonna and Tears for Fears. There are some glaring exceptions though, such as Michael Jackson and Prince. There's a bit of filler too, and songs like Starship's "We Built This City", would have been better left to the past.

While not a perfect set, most of the songs are classic hits and are well-suited to wanna-be stars having a go at them. The original videos are often funnier, and cheesier, than memory recalls as well, so they definitely add to the entertainment as players botch their performance by laughing at the on-screen action. This is a solid addition to the series, and while it's not for everyone, retro pop fans will have a blast.

8/10

Tracklist:

Billy Joel "Uptown Girl"
Billy Ocean "Caribbean Queen"
Blondie "Heart of Glass"
Culture Club "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?"
Cyndi Lauper "Time After Time"
Dead or Alive "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
Dexys Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen"
Duran Duran "Rio"
Erasure "A Little Respect"
Europe "The Final Countdown"
A Flock of Seagulls "I Ran"
Foreigner "I Want to Know What Love Is"
Kim Wilde "Kids in America"
Madness "Our House"
Madonna "Material Girl"
Men at Work "Who Can It Be Now?"
Nena "99 Red Balloons"
The Pretenders "Brass in Pocket"
R.E.M. "Stand"
Run D.M.C. "It's Tricky"
Simple Minds "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
Soft Cell "Tainted Love"
Squeeze "Tempted"
Starship "We Built This City"
Survivor "Eye of the Tiger"
Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Thompson Twins "Hold Me Now"
Tina Turner "Simply the Best"
Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It"
Wham! "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"