SingStar Amped [PS2]

Fans of Sony's singing game that prefer their music to rock a bit harder than most should take a look at this release. 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. The tracklist (see below) spans a wide range of hard rock and heavy metal from the past few decades. Anthems such as Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" and Quiet Riot's cover of "Cum on Feel the Noize" are offset by more mellow tracks like Nirvana's "Come As You Are" and Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper".

There aren't many tracks here that rock fans are going to pass over and the only additions that I would make would be almost any of Queen's hits and maybe Joan Jett's "I Love Rock N' Roll". It should be noted as well, that these songs are all sung by male vocalists, so guys who find too many "chick songs" in the other SingStar releases should have an easier time with this one. The high end of your voice will still get a workout during Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart" though. This is the best Sony's done so far at sticking to a genre, and it's good to see a collection that's on the harder end of the rock spectrum.

9/10

Tracklist:

Alice in Chains "Would?"
Audioslave "Cochise"
Blink-182 "I Miss You"
Blue Öyster Cult "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
Boston "More Than a Feeling"
Cheap Trick "I Want You to Want Me"
David Bowie "Changes"
Fall Out Boy "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race"
Foo Fighters "Best of You"
Free "Alright Now"
Iggy Pop "Real Wild Child (Wild One)"
Judas Priest "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
The Killers "When You Were Young"
Motörhead "Ace of Spades"
Nickelback "Savin' Me"
Nirvana "Come As You Are"
O.A.R. "Love and Memories"
Pearl Jam "Alive"
Poison "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
Queens of the Stone Age "Go with the Flow"
Quiet Riot "Cum on Feel the Noize"
Radiohead "Creep"
Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
Steppenwolf "Born to Be Wild"
Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
Sublime "Santeria"
Talking Heads "Burning Down the House"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Gold Lion"
Yes "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
ZZ Top "Gimme All Your Lovin'"

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"

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80's [PS2]

This new iteration of the guitar game seems aimed at old-schoolers who want to rock out with the tunes they were listening to back when they were "playing Atari".

The core game hasn't really changed, with players trying to match the on-screen riffs using the specialized guitar controller. It's a bit surprising this isn't simply an add-on disc with more songs, but perhaps they figured they may as well make it a standalone game for those few holdouts who haven't bought the earlier versions. As in GH2, there's a multiplayer mode that allows players to compete or play together, with one player on lead, and the other on bass or rhythm guitar. The difficulty seems bumped up slightly as well, even on the medium setting.

The main attraction here, of course, is if you're interested in the tracklist. While including songs like "I Wanna Rock", "Round and Round", and "Holy Diver" were no-brainers, a few surprises like Accept's "Balls to The Wall" show up as well. There's also a good chunk of new wave, with tracks like "I Ran (So Far Away)" and "Turning Japanese" breaking things up nicely.

While it's more substantial than an add-on disc, it's less than a true sequel, and players will have to wait until the fall for Guitar Hero III if they want to see something more than a new tracklist. It's still a great game though, especially if you're partial to metal's classic days.

8/10

Hot Shots Tennis [PS2]

After PlayStation consoles have hosted several iterations of the Hot Shots Golf series, Sony have finally decided to bring the same style of gameplay to the tennis courts, and it's long overdue.

New players will want to have a run through the Training Mode to get the hang of the controls, especially to practice their serve, before starting the Challenge Mode. The challenge here is to play singles and doubles matches against CPU opponents in order to increase your rank and unlock new characters, outfits and courts to play on. The difficulty increases slowly at first, and somewhat unevenly, as later opponents will occasionally be slightly weaker than their predecessor. This adds an unexpected touch of realism, though. As you win, you'll move up in rank, but also unlock new opponents at lower skill tiers. This gives players the option of an easier win if they're having trouble with a certain match, and usually results in winning an unlockable as well.

The controls are, as expected, easy to learn. The left analogue stick controls both your player and the direction you want the ball to go. By pulling back, you can hit the ball with less power, playing close to the net. Lob, slice, and topspin shots are all possible with the face buttons and combined with the stick or proper timing, players can also perform drop shots, smashes, or volleys. The game also has a multiplayer "Fun Time Tennis" mode, where up to four players (using a multitap), can play singles or doubles matches. The various characters have different strengths, allowing for some handicapping of better players as well. There's no online play modes though, which is a bit of a surprise.

While the game features family-friendly graphics, there's enough depth here that most players should find a good challenge. Developer Clap Hanz have created a new franchise that should easily appeal to casual players, but also satisfy fans of the real-life sport. Hopefully we'll see them take on more sports at some point.... Could that soccer ball that bounces through one of the courts be a clue?

8/10

GTA Vice City Stories [PS2]

Of all the regular GTA games, Vice City has been my favourite so far, so I was looking forward to spending more time in the cheeky, 80's-inspired city. This time around, you play as Vic Vance, a regular joe at the local army base with bills to pay. After taking some bad advice, Vic is out on his ass and needs to build up his own empire if he's going to survive.

The game follows the usual drill, with short quests at the beginning that get more compicated and take you to more locations and more violent interactions with local gangs as the game progresses. All the over-the-top elements that made the original Vice City a blast are here, from the rampant drug use, to the cheesy radio DJs. The game does feel scaled down in some ways though, as the graphics definitely don't have as much polish, being a port from the PSP, and there are generally less people and cars around.

The game is still fun, though it's simply not as substantial as the original. If you did play the PSP version, there's no reason to bother with this one, but players who haven't been to Vice City for a few years should certainly consider a return trip. [3/5]

Lumines Plus [PS2]

The killer launch title for PSP owners finally comes to the PS2. The basic idea is to stack two-by-two patterned blocks and make them disappear while listening to techno music and trying not to get distracted by the trippy visuals in the background. The play area should take up more of the screen though, and internet play would have been nice as well. It's definitely starting to show a bit of wear after four versions in only two years, but is still a must-have for puzzle game fans. [4/5]

Ghost Rider [PS2]

Based on the comic books, Ghost Rider doesn't try for much of a plot, but focuses on action instead as you travel through different areas of Hell and Earth to save Roxanne. The action is fast and there's a good number of on-screen enemies to contend with at a time. As you dispatch them back to Hell, you collect souls to cash in for power-ups, and also build a ranking that earns you bonus souls at the end of the level. You'll also ride the Hellcycle quite a bit, avoiding obstacles and fighting off enemies in a sort of Zaxxon-meets-Road Rash style. Both gameplay styles work well and keep things more interesting than either would be alone. The graphics look alright, but seem like they were probably kept simple to reuse on the PSP version. There are places where everything on the screen is either red, orange, or black as well, which gets rough on the eyes and makes cycle jumps harder to time and some repeated locations give a somewhat cheap feel. Speaking of which, there are a couple of pretty cheap boss fights as well, so be forewarned. The game makes occasional reference to the film during the comic-styled cutscenes, where Mephisto(pheles) looks similar to Peter Fonda and on the power-up menu, where a movie still of The Caretaker (Sam Elliott) provides the background. The alternating beat-em-up and driving action and array of power-ups make this Teen-rated clone of God of War better than it could have been, but not worth more than a rental for fans. [5/10]