Karaoke Revolution (2003)

Mixing a great single-player game and a variety of multiplayer events, Karaoke Revolution is a cool, original, and distinctive party game.

The game's voice recognition works great and enables you to switch from a low baritone to high falsetto without confusing the judging. Unfortunately, it doesn't distinguish whether you’re actually singing the correct lyrics, so you can get by with just "na, na, na'ing" it when you’re in trouble.

Another musical gem from Konami, the type of game that transcends videogames. Its pick up and play nature ensures that anyone can get into it and it's a great party game.

Not a deep game nor should it be. It's more like Karaoke Plus and does its job well.

Though expensive and gimmicky because of its headset peripheral Karaoke Revolution’s pitch/length interface is forgiving enough (depending on the selected difficulty) to let even those of us cursed with shitty voices get into the virtual act and carry a tune.

Players that can't carry a tune or adapt to the in-game renditions will be hampered, and the novelty can quickly grow stale after a few hours. If you like singing, you'll definitely want this game.

The main problem with Karaoke Revolution is one of range, and the list of over 30 songs throws in only a few old favourites among a lot of curveballs. Nevertheless, the technology that drives this is absolutely spot-on and, save for a few niggles, this is a unique gaming experience that shows promise for the future. [Jan 2004, p.121]