Review of Interactive Karaoke: Chart Hits Volume 2

Introduction

Karaoke and rhythm action games are fast becoming big business. The success of television shows such as Pop Idol has re-ignited interest from the public and has a lot to answer for. There are more dancing and karaoke videogames on PlayStation2 coming out too so there`s a growing market for it. ILC know this hence its wide range of InteractiveKaraoke DVDs.

It doesn`t matter what age or ability, whether you sing like a screaming cat or are tone deaf, karaoke was made for everyone, and sometimes this can be a problem...have you seen some of those dreadful auditions on those TV shows?

Chart Hits Vol. Two has songs such as Complicated (Avril Lavigne), Ketchup Song, Like a Prayer and Papa Don`t Preach. For someone like me who doesn`t listen to chart music, I`ve heard some of these songs before. The Ketchup Song has a particular resonance...

La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaa.......can you hear me at the back?

Video

Presented with a fullscreen video transfer, the video is clear enough throughout with no discernible problems. While singing you get a choice of three screen backgrounds. Angle 1 has the lyrics while we move forward down a texture-mapped tunnel in the background. It reminds me of that old Psygnosis game, "Microcosm". Each song has the same tunnel effect but with different textures. Angle 2 removes onscreen lyrics and instead just features some pretty looking graphics, again all pre-rendered with textured surfaces and colour cycling. Angle 3 is a blue screen with onscreen lyrics. Angle 1 with the animated backgrounds and lyrics seems to work the best. It gives people watching something to look at.

Audio

Presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack, there are no technical problems with the sound that I could hear. There are multiple audio tracks on the disc and picking a different one will remove drums, bass, vocals, guitars or drums. The enclosed lyric book informs you of the options that you have for each song. Changing this while the songs are playing works well enough, though the audio balance on some of the tracks sounds odd with too much bass or too much guitar coming in to drown out the vocals. As you might expect, these aren`t the actual artists singing though some sound like they could be.

Features

Chart Hits has easy to navigate static menus with no extras on the disc itself. Included in the slim DVD keep case is a lyric book with all the song lyrics. This in itself is what`s required, but all the lyrics are bunched up and there are no breaks to indicate chorus or breaks in the songs. This makes it a bit difficult to read. In addition, there are typos or inconsistent spelling of song titles. "Papa (pappa?) Dont` (Don`t?) Preach" being an example where it`s spelled differently depending on where you look.

There`s also a DVD catalogue enclosed with a myriad of other karaoke discs available. 3 points for the lyric book, but it could be better.

Conclusion

"Friday night it`s party time"
"Feeling ready looking fine"

*Cough*, ahem.

These kinds of discs are invariable enjoyed more in a party atmosphere and with Christmas only around the corner, I suspect that this is when this DVD will sell in larger quantities. The songs are competently produced with the DVD doing exactly what it sets out to do. The three video angles here can liven up an otherwise static screen and distract your onlookers, while the various audio modes to remove musical instruments works fairly well.

Some of the tracks here sound better than others with the previously mentioned audio balance problem only occurring on a few of the songs. Another little gripe I have with the onscreen lyrics is the timing on some songs. The lyrics disappear off screen before they`ve been sung and I`m left making things up as I go along. It doesn`t happen much and is a minor niggle, but I expect a karaoke disc to time its lyrics better.

The DVD is easy to use and you don`t need any other equipment either. With the lyrics in front of you, you suddenly see what the words are and some are complete nonsense, but are still fun. That damn Ketchup Song…The songs on this disc are known chart tracks, with Chart Hits going right up to volume 7 including more recent songs like Madonna`s "Die Another Day" and "American Life" as well as songs from Norah Jones, Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain and others. Chart Hits, it would seem, is the more popular choice in the range so far.

I`ll admit that I did have a bit of fun with this DVD but it`s short lived and of novelty value. Therein lies the problem. It is a novelty item so I`m not sure how much reply value you`ll get out of just the one disc after the party. If you`re into the music and have a family gathering around the telly at Christmas time, why not have some fun and plonk on one or two of these DVDs? It`s harmless fun, until the singing starts.

If you`re on your own however, you can just sing along to any of your own CDs without shelling out on this. At around £12.99 from Play, there are loads of other discs in this range available and something to suit most tastes including 80s, Classics, Disco, R&B, Love Songs and TV Idols.

"I said a hey ha hey hey"
"In Heaven boogie…"