Reading time: 4 minutes SingStar, the karaoke game par excellence, is back and for the first time challenges you and your friends to the next generation singing duel. Compete with your friends on the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 at SingStar: Ultimate Party the latest part of the series by Sony Computer Entertainment. Published since 2004 Sony Computer Entertainment regularly new parts of his successful SingStar-Series. As the first part for the new console generation sets SingStar: Ultimate Party now new standards.
As with the previous installments, there are of course also Ultimate Party no real storyline or plot. Players insert the CD and compete in one singing duel after another. Till there’s no more voice to sing or the neighbors complain.
Party mode on?!
And as already known, you plug the microphones into the PlayStation and then sing happily away. Stop! Mikes? No, these are – if the players want it – a thing of the past. Everything you need now for SingStar needs is a modern smartphone, on which the SingStar-micro app must have installed. With this, any smartphone can be connected to the PlayStation 4 via WLAN. This also means that the game can only be played if the WLAN is stable. And if you don’t get mobile notifications, because those tend to shut down the app quite a bit. Who has no desire for the modern technology, can therefore continue to rely on classic microphones.
Then it is finally time and the singing duel can start. Two players sing a song at a time. Whoever hits the most notes wins. The song selection ranges from Lordes Hit Royals, via Fat bread with Forever Forever and Icona Pop with Love It, up to Pharrell Williams with Happy. If the selection of the pre-installed 30 songs isn’t enough for you, you can purchase additional songs for an average of 1.39 Euros in the PlayStationStore.
Let’s now start the popular party mode, which in all other SingStar-Sharing has brought so much joy and where you have to fight for victory with up to eight friends in duels, duets and fun games. Like the name SingStar: Ultimate Party already reveals, there is no longer this mode. Because what would a party game be with party mode? Yes, that would probably be complete nonsense, which is why Sony Computer Entertainment the feature that SingStar from all the other karaoke games, has simply deleted.
Instead, you can share videos made with the camera with your friends on PSN and such Sony’s "Advance "social network. Also the possibility to turn off the sound produced by the players, which is amplified loudly via the TV’s speakers, has been rationalized away.
design and sound?
For this Sony Computer Entertainment spared no expense and effort to give the series with SingStar: Ultimate Party give it a modern touch. The user interface is very fresh with lots of big pictures. All in all, this makes the game look very modern and reminiscent of contemporary websites. Unfortunately, the functionality suffers a bit under the design, because various settings can’t be found directly and are partly hidden in strange places. At least now you can see who wrote a song and who the lyrics are from.
Since the player is still responsible for the game sounds and synchronization, this depends strongly on the respective playing persons. As already mentioned, you can no longer muffle the sound from these.
A party without a party
For some reason Sony Computer Entertainment at SingStar: Ultimate Party taken all the components that a SingStar-Turn off game and raise this above simple karaoke and removed them from the game. What remains is a well-stocked karaoke database with a very nice design, which can be sung with smartphones instead of microphones. If you are in the mood for quite classic karaoke with modern pop songs, this game is very good for you.