Does Microsoft Have It's Own Singstar?

Author's Rating:

Pros: Videos do look good, as close as to Singstar as you'll find on the 360.

Cons: Lacking community elements, lacking interface, fewer download-bale songs than Singstar.

The Bottom Line: 
The game is fine for get-togethers, and does include two well made microphones that now can be used in other music games.

Author's Review
As somewhat of a guilty pleasure, I do enjoy karaoke games, even though I really can't sing worth crap. Though regardless whether or not you can sing, it's still fun to sing along with music, and earn achievements while you're at it. Before Lips, the only real karaoke offerings came in the form of Konami's Karaoke Revolution series, which up until 2009, were American Idol branded installments consisting of cover songs. The other option was Rock Band, which did offer master tracks, but wasn't really dedicated to just singing. For years, Sony had this covered on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 with the Singstar series, but Microsoft really had nothing until the release of Lips. So, does Microsoft have it's own version of Singstar? Pretty much, but it's nowhere as robust as the said franchise.

Lips ships with two wireless microphones and the game software, which is pretty much the same as you would get if you purchase the Singstar bundle for the PS3. The wireless microphones are really well made, and respond pretty well. I know that this is not a review of the microphones, but since they do come with the game, they're worth mentioning. Between the Lips microphones, and the ones that come with Singstar, I actually prefer the Microsoft wireless microphones, and not just because they flash pretty lights. The feel really good to hold, and even have some motion sensing capabilities.

Now, on to the game itself. Lips is fairly similar to the design of Singatar, which if you've ever played that game, you have an idea what to expect. But if you haven't, the idea of the game is simple: pick a song, then sing said song. The interface is decent, with a fairly easy to navigate menu, but compared to the interface used in Singstar, it seems a bit dull and lacking. There really aren't many ways to play other than sing a partial or whole song, either alone or as a duet, one song at a time. It's too bad that Inis couldn't have taken the opportunity to add some sort of tournament options to add a bit more gameplay of the game. Singstar also has the same issue, and if Lips included some kind of feature like that, it could have offered something more unique to the design. There's no online multiplayer option either, which is something that Karaoke Revolution: American Idol actually did feature.

Speaking of online, Lips doesn't really feature any of the community aspects that Singstar did, and the method of purchasing music isn't nearly as attractive as that game, either. Singstar allowed players to record videos, record audio and take pictures, and upload them onto the Singstar community. Lips has none of those features, even though the Xbox does have a camera available. There really isn't a music store to be seen, either. Sony created a nice and well designed space for purchasing music through the SingStore, where you can preview the video before purchase. On Lips, be lucky you can get audio, that is, when the list refreshes quick enough to bring it up. And, it terms of down-loadable music, there are seven times more available videos/songs through SingStore than Microsoft has made available for Lips.

So, what advantage does Lips have over Singstar? The ability to use your own music from an MP3 player or your hard drive. Despite the fact that you won't get a video or lyrics for your own songs, you can increase the amount of music you want to use from external sources. Another thing that Lips does differently are the motion gestures that you can perform using the microphone, which activates an event to enable you to gain stars. It's gimmicky, sure, but it does offer a little more to the game than just straight up singing.

So what about the music that's offered in game? Like Singstar, the music tracks span across all genres in an attempt to appeal to everyone. While the game does contain classics from Duran Duran and Johnny Cash, there are also modern tracks from Duffy, Leona Lewis and Rihanna. But the game also contains some tracks you might have never heard, or songs that people will probably forget a few months after it came out. Seriously, does anyone remember "Lip Gloss" from Lil' Mama? Is anyone over the age of 14 willing to sing it? Probably not. While the 40 or so tracks seem like it's a little low, remember you can import your own music, or buy tracks from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

I'm not going to say much about the visuals, because the consist of menus and music videos. The videos are of a decent resolution, but do show a little bit of attracting. The text for the lyrics are easy to read and follow, though it would have been a bit better if it were lower on the screen like Singstar. The audio is good, and it's nice to hear the music in surround sound.

In the end, Lips is as close to Singstar as you can get for the Xbox 360, but it lacks the online community features or even a decent marketplace for the down-loadable content. The ability to import your own music is nice, but the novelty does wear off after some time. Lips is probably best served as a party game, as there just isn't a hell of a lot of content to keep solo players happy for a long period of time.