Shop Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore with Microphone Nintendo Wii at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee. For Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore on the Xbox 360, a GameFAQs message board topic titled 'Full Song list'.
| System: PS2 | Review Rating Legend | |
| Dev: Blitz Games | 1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid | 4.0 - 4.4 = Great |
| Pub: Konami | 2.0 - 2.4 = Poor | 4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy |
| Release: January 2, 2007 | 2.5 - 2.9 = Average | 5.0 = The Best |
| Players: 1 - 8 | 3.0 - 3.4 = Fair | |
| ESRB Rating: E +10 | 3.5 - 3.9 = Good | |
It's an obvious pairing: the leading video game franchise for all the karaoke enthusiasts, Karaoke Revolution, and the number one television show in America for the superstars in all of us, American Idol. Blitz Games and Konami thought the same thing with this outing of Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol. Karaoke and PlayStation 2 fans, rejoice at the opportunity to be scrutinized by the judges without the embarrassment of being on national television. However, with five editions already out, is there any reason to add this latest installment to your karaoke collection? Let's look at the results and find out.
The basic premise of the game is just like the show. You compete with other star clamorers for the top spot without the record deal and superstardom of the nation, of course. The judges, Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell, and a character mockery of Paula Abdul named Laura, critique your singing voice by how well you are able to perform. You can choose from 40 popular classics and contemporary hits to exercise your vocal chords.
Raise your star through all 18 rounds of American Idol or do a short competition of just eight. Having this option is one of the many attributes of the game. While the American Idol mode is essentially the career mode of the game, you will compete against past performers like Kelly and Bo to name a few. You also can choose to do an American Idol quickplay in addition to the regular quickplay. The difference is that you can receive the judge's sarcastic, although sometimes positive, reaction on the songs you perform.
A lot of the Karaoke Revolution trademark features are present: Duets, KR Challenge, and Medleys. Like previous editions, strength lies in numbers. The party mode brings out the competitor in all of us. Adding the capability for multiplayer in the American Idol mode only adds to the antics your friends will go to win the game. The character creator has been refined and tweaked, adding more characters and accessories for you to pick and choose from. If you have the Eyetoy attached to your PlayStation 2, you can also take a digital mapping of your head to really put you in the game.
Like the other versions of Karaoke Revolution, the mechanics of doing well in the game are simple. Scoring is equally simple, achieving a gold record at 20,000 points and a platinum record at 50,000 points. Doing well on each song assists you in unlocking some cool features throughout the game such as video clips of past performances of the Idols themselves or even some of the laughable auditions from past seasons. You can also unlock certain songs, even 'Straight Up' by Ms. Abdul herself. There are character models and other accessories to change the look of your characters, which are unlockable. Matching the note bars is as simple as raising your voice higher or lower. However, on certain songs, the words at the bottom streamline a little faster than the others do, making it nearly impossible to stay caught up with a song, especially if you do not know all of the lyrics.
The character models are smooth and are a small improvement from the previous installment, though the model for Randy Jackson looks a little contrived and blocky, which is a let down considering the other characters look pleasingly well. Background environments give the sense that you are actually singing on the final stage of American Idol. While watching your character dance and move to the music might make you laugh and break your concentration on the song, it is nonetheless believable.
While the voiceovers of Cowell, Jackson, and the Paula wannabe, Laura, quickly become trivial and bland, the real reason you will buy this game is for the song selection. With such great classics like 'Can't Help Falling in Love,' 'Stand By Me,' 'Total Eclipse of the Heart,' show favorites 'Buttercup,' 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me,' and contestant achievements 'Do I Make You Proud,' 'Flying Without Wings,' and 'Breakaway,' Karaoke Revolution Presents; American Idol has a song for everyone. Unfortunately, the game will not assist you if you don't know the original artist of a song and, consequently, can't find the song you want. This is one aspect that should have been different. Even if Cowell and company become stale, you will still enjoy the flip-flop critique they will usually do. Therefore, if you moderately stink at a song, they will tell you did great and horrible at the same time.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol is a truly welcomed addition to the franchise. Incorporating several elements from the show, Simon's unabashed criticism being the best, and mixing it with the phenomenon that is karaoke makes this version a welcomed addition to your library, even if you do not like to sing. So, call your friends and family, and tell them it is time find the next American Idol.
By Matthew Walker
CCC Freelance Writer
Features:
The judges individually rate your performance and provide verbal feedback. 40 all new songs featuring classic favorites and contemporary hits. Updated character customization options. New venues, characters, and accessories. Includes popular Karaoke Revolution game modes like Duets, KR Challenge, Medley and Quickplay. Supports up to 8 players for head-to-head and team games.
Requires a PlayStationێ compatible USB headset or microphone. 480i Resolution (Standard).
|
A match made in karaoke heaven and self-esteem hell by D'Marcus Beatty
Every year without fail, Konami has presented gamers with a new (but fun) opportunity to embarrass themselves. The Karaoke Revolution series has undeniably been at the forefront of music gaming since Parappa the Rapper retired. For their latest game, Konami has decided make the sensible and nearly inevitable union with American Idol, giving players the chance not only to embarrass themselves in front of friends, but in front of a virtual Simon Cowell as well.
The Karaoke Revolution series enables players to sing their way through the game. Using either the microphone or the headset, each game has judged the player/vocalist on their pitch and where their pitch should be, both of which are displayed on an onscreen indicator. The quality of the singing doesn't matter as much as the pitch, which makes for some interesting and humorous performances whenever a Karaoke Revolution game is played.
Karaoke Revolution has injected new life into the game by adding something new each iteration. Some of these include the ability to duel with another singer, the ability to perform a duet, and including a DDR dance pad to dance and sing simultaneously. This year, the addition of the American Idol theme seems to be one of the best additions to the gameplay formula as well as the most logical.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol makes the union between the pitch-based scoring of the Karaoke Revolution series with the auditions and performing of American Idol, giving the game a true venue and a story for the first time. Now, your player is (obviously) an aspiring singer trying to earn his/her celebrity by proving they can sing. The player begins the game in the American Idol auditions, and, based on your performance, can make their way to the television program, performing in front of millions of virtual adoring fans.
One of the best (and most expected) additions is the inclusion of the judges from American Idol. Although Paula Abdul won't appear, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson both lent their voices and likenesses to the game, making the experience feel more authentic. Adding also to the authenticity, both of the judges comment on your performance, appearance, and overall presentation. Ryan Seacrest even hosts, providing his voice to announce the results of each round. Hopefully, Simon's characteristic sarcasm and snarky comments will make the translation to the game intact.
Playing through the game and performing songs well unlocks new costumes, songs, characters, and even video performances. New costumers, songs, and characters all help your scoring, as Randy and Simon judge you on appearance as well as performance, and the videos are past American Idol contestants' performances, from the stellar and greatest all the way down to Willy Hung's rendition of 'She Bangs'. Players can also use their EyeToy to place their own likeness in the game and personalize their character. Gameplay will also likely include all of the modes from the pervious games, including duets, head-to-head competitions, practice modes, and versus mini-games.
To create the authentic American Idol experience, the developers have re-created the competition round for round, going through 18 elimination rounds total. They've even re-created the actual venues as accurately as possible. By adding an actual story and goal to the game, Karaoke Revolution now has needed focus, as before there was no reason outside of just singing for the sake of singing.
The song list is as diverse as ever, comprising songs from all different genres and eras, including songs like 'Saving all My Love For You', 'More Than Words', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', and even the William Hung mangled 'She Bangs'. There are forty songs included, with the possibility of more hidden tracks, ensuring that there will be songs to appeal to any gamer.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol seems to be shaping up nicely for fans of the genre. While the gameplay to all the previous versions was always fun, there wasn't anything to tie the gameplay together. Now, with an actual story and a goal combined with the American Idol theme, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol should be even more fun. Look for the new Karaoke Revolution to hit store shelves in early January, at around the same time as the new season of American Idol.
By D'Marcus Beatty
CCC Assistant Site Director
Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was created by Scott Hawkins and Sneaky Rabbit Studios.[1] Technology and concepts from the game were subsequently incorporated into Harmonix's game Rock Band.
The Japanese versions of the game are developed by Konami themselves. The gameplay also differs significantly. Rather than a game per se, it is merely a karaoke system for the PlayStation 2, with no judgments.
The game does not attempt to understand the singer's words, but instead detects their pitch. As such, singers can hum to a song or sing different lyrics without penalty. The game adapts to the player singing in a different octave than the song, to accommodate players whose vocal ranges do not fit the song.
The songs in the game are covers of pop hits frequently sung in karaoke bars. This contrasts with the SingStar series from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which features only original artist recordings along with the music videos, where available. However, the 2009 remake of the game (titled Karaoke Revolution, just like the original) features all master tracks.[2]
Gameplay[edit]
The player is depicted as a character on-screen performing at a public location. The words to the song scroll bottom to top at the bottom of the screen, above a piano roll representation of the relative pitches at which they are to be sung (the game calls these 'note tubes'). At the left end of this area, a 'pitch star' shows the pitch which the player is singing and provides feedback on whether they're hitting the notes. A 'crowd meter' shows the mood of the crowd as the player sings; if they do a good job of hitting notes on-pitch then the crowd will cheer more loudly and clap in rhythm with the song, and the scene will become more vividly animated. If the crowd meter falls all the way to the lowest rating, the audience will boo the character off-stage and the game is over.
Each song is divided into approximately 30 to 50 'phrases'. A meter will fill up and turn from red to green for each phrase, based on how well the player sings the right notes; if the player can fill the meter to green, they will score more points, and getting several greens in a row will create a 'combo' and award a 2x score multiplier until the player fails to make green on another phrase. This blue meter resembles how long you should hold the note for and at what pitch. The game can be set at higher difficulties which make this meter larger and require the player to hit the right notes more precisely to fill it to green.
Since maximum scores for each song are normalized 50,000 regardless of difficulty, overall scores on songs can be compared. To achieve the gold record for a song, 12,500 points must be achieved. To achieve the platinum record for a song, 20,000 points must be achieved. Winning records will unlock additional characters, outfits, and songs. In Karaoke Revolution Party, Karaoke Revolution Country, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol, and American Idol Encore, 50,000 points (a perfect score) earns a diamond record. In Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 the point system was changed so that 60,000 points gives a platinum record for a song and 100,000 points is a perfect score (diamond record).
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 introduces a 'medley mode' which challenges the player to sing a string of short clips from various songs.
Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 introduces 'duet mode' which lets two singers play simultaneously. It also revised scoring so that perfect performances result in exactly 50,000 points (with the exception of the Jackson 5's 'ABC').
Karaoke Revolution Party features minigames, support for the EyeToy camera, and a 'Sing and Dance' mode which utilizes the dance pad controller.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol utilizes American Idol judges, commentary, and stages.
Releases[edit]
Many expansion discs are available for the Japanese version of the game, including an anime song collection and several volumes of J-Pop.
The North American version of Karaoke Revolution was released in November 2003 on PlayStation 2 version in a bundle with the Logitech headset attachment. The game was sold without the headset in February, 2004. The European version of the game, titled Karaoke Stage, was released on April 22, 2005. 'Karaoke Stage 2' contains the same songs as 'Karaoke Revolution Party'. The Xbox version was released in November 2004 featuring four more songs that were present in Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 and 10 exclusive Motown songs which are the original non-cover versions. The Xbox version also supports Xbox Live for downloads of more songs.
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 was released in North America on July 13, 2004 on PlayStation 2.
Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 was released in North America on November 9, 2004 on PlayStation 2.
Karaoke Revolution Party was released in North America on November 8, 2005 on PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The Xbox version was the only version to feature downloadable songs.
CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country was released in North America on March 28, 2006 on PlayStation 2.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol was released in North America on January 2, 2007 on PlayStation 2.
- Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Ryan Seacrest lent their voices and allowed their names and likenesses to appear in the game, but Paula Abdul did not and was replaced by a judge named Laura who was voiced by voice actress Kenna Kelly.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore was released in the North America on PlayStation 2, Wii, and Xbox 360 on February 5, 2008, and was released to Canadian retailers on February 17, 2008, with the PlayStation 3 version released in North American on March 4, 2008. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were the only ones that featured downloadable songs. On May 14, 2008, there are no more new downloadable songs for either PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version. New downloadable songs will continue with the sequel, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2.
- In addition to Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul's name, voice, and likeness appear in this title for the first time. Ryan Seacrest did not return to voice himself as the host. He is replaced with a lesser known voice actor Johnny Jay to voice as the host of American Idol for this game.
- The PlayStation 3 version is the only one that has all downloadable songs available on the PlayStation Network marketplace. The Xbox 360 version has six songs discontinued from the Xbox Live marketplace for undisclosed reasons. On November 18, 2008, the downloadable song 'I'll Make Love To You' became available again in the Xbox Live marketplace.
Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States on PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. This is the final Karaoke Revolution game to use the American Idol likeness and features. Konami will no longer use anymore American Idol likeness or license for upcoming future Karaoke Revolution sequels after this game. Songs downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace for the first Encore game on Xbox 360 are compatible with Encore 2. The previous downloadable songs for the first Encore game on PlayStation 3 downloaded from the PlayStation Store will be automatically imported to Encore 2. Recently for the first time, Konami has released 5 new downloadable songs that never appeared in any of the previous Karaoke Revolution series before. However, these songs originally appeared from one of Konami's other musical game Rock Revolution.
In 2009, Konami released a new version for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 as a reboot of the franchise. It features enhanced career and multiplayer modes, the ability to record footage for venues with the Xbox Live Vision and PlayStation Eye cameras, and a soundtrack with 50 tracks, all original versions rather than the covers used in previous versions.[2]
Four different microphones were released for the game:
- The original microphone included with the first Karaoke Revolution game is a headset model, and is compatible with the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360.
- An updated microphone model was included with future Karaoke Revolution games, and is also used for Karaoke Stage, the European edition, and is compatible with the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is a standardized microphone that is also compatible with other games (such as Rock Band, Boogie, and High School Musical: Sing It!).
- An Xbox-compatible microphone was included with versions of Karaoke Revolution for Xbox. It plugs into a memory card/headset port on the controller.
- A GameCube-compatible microphone was included with Karaoke Revolution Party for GameCube. It plugs into the memory card slot. It is a standardized microphone that is also compatible with other games (such as Mario Party 6).
The SingStar microphones are not compatible with Karaoke Revolution; however, unofficially, the SingStar microphones works on the PS3 version of the game.
Reception[edit]
| Game | Game Rankings[3] | MetaCritic[4] |
|---|---|---|
| Karaoke Revolution (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution (Xbox) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Party (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Party (Xbox) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Party (GameCube) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution: American Idol (PS2) | ||
| CMT Presents: Karaoke Revolution Country (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (X360) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (PS2) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (PS3) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore (Wii) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 (X360) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 (PS3) | ||
| Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 (Wii) |
IGN called the 2003 game the 99th best PlayStation 2 game due to the involvement of Harmonix.[5]
American Idol Wii Song List
References to other games[edit]
In Karaoke Revolution Party, if a Platinum Record rank is earned in Sing and Dance mode on Expert, the 'Feet of Fury' trophy is earned. The font that is used in the trophy description is an exact duplicate of the logo of the unlicensed Dreamcast dance game, Feet of Fury. The same Wavegroup version of 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' was later used in another Harmonixgame, Guitar Hero. Wavegroup recorded another version of 'Toxic' for another Harmonix title; Dance Central 2.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^http://www.mobygames.com/game/ps2/karaoke-revolution/credits
- ^ abFahey, Mike (April 21, 2009). 'Konami Readies A New Karaoke Revolution'. Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ^'Rankings'. Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^'Search Results'. Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
- ^'Karaoke Revolution - #99'. IGN. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
External links[edit]
- Karaoke Revolution game detail page on Xbox.com
- Karaoke Revolution Party game detail page on Xbox.com
- Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore game detail page on Xbox.com
American Idol Wii Iso