There have been more singing titles than buses recently and Nordic games have been behind most of the ones on the Wii. This is not a bad thing as most of the “We Sing” and “We Dance” titles have been pretty successful with the newest instalment in the series being: We Sing Pop. This title tries to get more players by appealing to the young and young at heart. There are 30 songs and all are popular and instantly recognisable. This game is very fun, especially in a multiplayer setting. Up to four players can play simultaneously using four mics which again adds to the enjoyment. The graphics are not that great and the videos themselves are not the sharpest but at the end of the day you want a “We Sing” game to be accessible, fun and easy to make a fool of yourself and friends.
The artists for this game include: Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Pussycat Dolls and The Killers as well as older ones such as: Wham!, Village People, Cyndi Lauper and Wet Wet Wet. As you can see there is pretty much a song choice for anyone out there. As you choose a song you have a few options to play with: you can sing the full song or half of it, sing all the vocals or just the main or the option of having the artists voice in the background as well as yours. As soon as you hold the mic in your hand you feel silly and when you sing, it’s pretty much all over.
Your voice resonates through the speakers of your telly and into your ears. As you begin to sing horizontal bars on the screen represent the various pitch and notes you should be singing which is accompanied by the lyrics on the bottom of the screen for your reading pleasure. This game is all about timing and how perfect you sing each word and the tone of your voice. There is also a vocal coach so you can practice first before your play in front of others.
Nordic Games has offered many different modes to try and spice things up. My favorites were the “Blind” and “first to X” mode. The blind mode removes the highlighting function of the lyrics which means that timing wise you’re on your own. The first to X mode is when you battle with other players and try to hit a certain score before the others do. Other modes are present which include: group battle (which is just that), versus, Karaoke, jukebox and even customizable backgrounds. The Karaoke mode is where the bars are taken off and your just singing with the lyrics as you would with a Karaoke machine. There is a lot here to play around with and all of it is fun. The 30 track list does run dry after a while however and more songs are needed.
There is another problem and that being the Wii only has two USB ports and if you want to play with 4 mics you need a USB hub. This is a minor issue as most people have them lying around their houses. The menus are fine and colorful, if you’re familiar with the “We Sing” and “We Dance” layout you will be at home here. It’s true that the overall polish of this isn’t as high as other singing games. The Wiimote signal is never lost and easy to navigate the menus and choose the songs you wish to butcher.
We Sing Pop!, does exactly what it says on the box. Lets you sing pop songs and have a good time whilst doing it. The track list is varied enough but sadly I feel it runs short on volume as you race through 30 songs pretty quickly. The graphics also don’t really compare to the other games but this is not the games fault, rather a hardware issue. The lack of USB ports is also a disappointing aspect but fixed easily with a USB hub. The fun factor is quite high as you make yourself and your friends look silly playing this. This is the perfect time for those smartphones to come out and start recording those embarrassing moments. As far as multiplayer is concerned this is a party starter and will give you a lot of laughs.
Score: 7.5/10
