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> Karaoke Revolution: Volume 2: Written by:
Michael Anthony
 Publisher: Konami Price: 39.99 (w/o mic) Genre: Karaoke Rated E for Everyone
Konami has lavishly produced Music and Dance simulations throughout
frequent years. From Dance Dance Revolution, to Karaoke Revolution, each title is innovative, but the very best
feature that all of these titles feature is a profuse amount of... fun. That’s right, although sequels may come quickly,
quality and new ideas keep on coming with each installment. What does Konami bring to the table with Karaoke Revolution: Volume
2? Some new modes, songs and characters... but does it truly live up to the hype of the first game?
Karaoke Revolution: Volume 2 allows
you to choose from 35 new songs, which include: Drift Away, Perfect, Toxic, [Sittin’ On] The dock of the Bay, Heartbreak
Hotel, White Flag, Born to be Wild, Here without you, Genie in a Bottle, My Girl, Papa don’t preach, Hot stuff, We are
family, The first cut if the Deepest, along with tons of others. The song collection is better then last year’s game,
and the variety of new characters is amazing. There may not be a story-mode with any of the Karaoke Revolution games, but
each character really shows off a unique personality (most of which you can relate to).
Karaoke Revolution
once again rates your performance on pitch. In order to earn points, your voice must stay in tune with the song, verse by
verse. If you miss too many notes, some of the crowd members may begin to grow bored, and leave. If your Crowd Meter gets
below the redline, then that’s your cue, that you will most likely be kicked off stage unless a dramatic change occurs
in your performance. Since the game measures your pitch, you can... however cheat. If you wish, you can skim your way through
most songs by humming... but what would be the fun in that?
Karaoke Revolution: Volume 2 brings back all of the original Karaoke Revolution modes, along with the new “Medley
mode” (which allows you to combine songs together to make up the total song score) and an all-new Quick-play mode as
well. Unfortunately, there really aren’t many changes. Although the Medley and Quick-play modes are a great addition
to the game, there’s really nothing different about the game’s overall feel from the first. However being like Volume
2's predecessor isn’t such a bad thing... at all.
Playing the multiplayer mode was the best part of the first game, however when you are playing
with a large crowd of people, it usually took at least 30-40 minutes just to get through one round. Thankfully, Konami has
fixed that problem. Not only can you choose the multiplayer medley mode (which allows each player to select a certain amount
of songs) but you can now use the new “Short Song mode” which cuts each song in half (or a third depending on
how many people are playing). Although it may not seem like much, it’s definitely a treat to those who enjoyed the multiplayer
mode in the first game as much as I did.
Hands down... Karaoke Revolution: Volume 2 is exactly like the first
game. For some reason Konami decided to flop the whole “Expansion Pack idea”. However, that would have been perfect
for this game. The only addition is the new characters, songs and levels (same levels, with about four new ones). Why couldn’t
they squeeze it all into an expansion disc instead? Sure Konami would lose profit due to the fact that Expansion discs don’t
retail at no more than 35,000 yen (as appose to the regular MSRP), but the number of copies sold would increase. However,
that doesn’t abolish the fact that this game is so darn great.
Graphics are very attractive and realistic and the “cartoon-like” characters are no exception. I may have missed
it in the first game, but each character does a perfect job of lip singing. Each and every character’s mouth moves precisely
to the words of each song. My one and only complaint (graphic wise) is that the camera (which sways in randomly in numerous
directions to create an American Idol-like feel) focuses too much on the character singing. It’s nearly impossible to
get a full view of the audience. Although they may be fake... seeing them dance to your song gives you the confidence boost
that you need, along with a realistic touch to the game. Of course, you still see the crowd momentarily, but the camera is
mostly directed toward your character 97% of the time as appose to 86% of the time. It’s not much to worry about, but
looking at your character does tend to get boring for your poor eyes. However the beautiful detail in this game make up for
this problem.
The song collection in the first game (although good) wasn’t much to be proud of. It seemed as if songs were randomly
selected by throwing darts at a wall. Now the Wave Group has definitely made improvements this time. You may be scared away
by noticing not one... but (get this) two Brittany Spears songs in the game... but awesome rock tracks like “I hate
everything about you” make up for the lackluster seven year-old songs. Overall, the song collection in Volume 2 is great,
and better than the first game. However, singers selected to re-record the original song sometimes don’t capture the
full emotion of the real artist (i.e. Toxic). That’s not the case fortunately with most songs. Some singers sing the
song so well; it’s hard to tell the difference...however it just makes the game feel somewhat generic. Sure, it would
have been nice to see the real Artist/Song writers sing to their actual song, but with 34 different artists... Konami would
have to pay a fortune for each artist to sing (which may take away from our precious Metal Gear 3 development).
The only time you’ll need to worry about using a controller is when navigating through screens, but other then that,
you’re singing most of the time. However, when it comes down to it, controls are very responsive and tend to react quickly
for the impatient group of players.
Karaoke Revolution: Volume 1 was very addicting. Replay value lasted for months, and Volume 2 will suck you in regardless
of minor errors. Even though higher difficulties are boasted in most games, there’s none that can compare to Karaoke
Revolution. Difficulty settings in this game (and it‘s predecessor) are very accurate. Testing your strength with higher
difficulty levels is only half of the challenge. There’s plenty of unlockables scattered throughout the game as well,
and finding them adds to the challenge.
If you enjoyed the first Karaoke Revolution, then you will without-a-doubt enjoy everything about this one. However, when
it comes down to it... it’s the same game. You get the same levels & characters (with a few new ones). The new song-list
is what truly makes this Karaoke Revolution different from the first. So if you got bored with the first game, or just couldn’t
get into it... you will not find joy in this game. However, fans of the series should definitely check it out nonetheless.
Graphics: 8.7 | Sound: 9.2 | Control: 7.0 |
Replay: 9.0 | Overall Game Score: 8.5/10
           
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