Not Exactly A Review: Sing Party

Mat Paget
(Wii U [REVIEWED?])

Editor’s Note: Some games aren’t great, but there are some really great, talented people that work on them. People need to work to live. It’s as simple as that. We want to make sure that everyone knows that we are not poking fun at the people who developed this game. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the following article!

There’s a fine line between an awesome time, and an awkward time, when it comes to karaoke. An awesome time can occur when the crowd of people at your local pub are having a great time and cheer for the people who may not even have the best singing voice, but are enjoying themselves nonetheless. An awkward time can occur if the crowd of people aren’t cheering or even trying to have a good time, and the person up at the microphone is left with nothing but an awkward silence after they’ve finished their song — and it doesn’t even matter if they’re an exceptionally-talented singer, or not. That’s definitely one way to have an awkward time singing karaoke. Another way? Well, just play Sing Party.

I’m no stranger to the karaoke nights of Western Canada. I usually go at least once a week, and I’ve had my fair share of good and bad nights. I’ve met some of my best friends at karaoke, as well as some of the biggest assholes I had the great misfortune to meet. There needs to be a lot at play for karaoke to work in a great way, and it doesn’t necessarily work fantastically well when it comes in the form of a videogame. Especially when YouTube has more karaoke videos than you can count, and a microphone goes for less than half of Sing Party’s price of admission.

She’s right. This is crazy.

But let’s talk about the actual game. The game has a good selection of songs, from songs that older generations know and recognize, to a bunch of the most popular songs from today — the people who put together the song list did a really great job. After choosing a song and getting into the actual game, however, it just falls apart. I’m not sure if the microphone included with the game just doesn’t pick up your voice well enough, or the game just doesn’t want to amplify your voice, but it doesn’t give the proper feeling of karaoke by letting you hear your voice over the song.

I might also go with the former, however. In Sing Mode, it plays sort of like Rock Band, or–if you remember those games–Karaoke Revolution, except it doesn’t always show the cursor that represents the pitch of your voice, and it’s never super clear as to why; most of the time, you’re confused, as you’ve been doing the same thing for the entire song. And the way the game presents itself just makes it look incredibly bland when compared to some of the karaoke-videogame alternatives.

And then there’s Party Mode, which is actually kind of cool and unique, but I couldn’t see anyone other than small children participating in it — I know I wouldn’t. In this mode, you sing the words off of the Wii U Gamepad’s screen, while the people around you follow what the TV tells them to do. This includes singing along, dancing, or even holding each other and waving back and forth — try getting your group of friends to do this with you. I honestly don’t know what’s more awkward: walking in on your parents having sex, or your friends having a Sing Party.

Here are some possible scenarios for this picture: – They’re really, really drunk – There’s a man with a gun standing just out of shot – They’re paid to look like they’re enjoying themselves

I know I’ve poked fun at Sing Party, but it’s mostly because I have no idea what purpose it serves. In an age where YouTube is a thing, and where relatively cheap microphones are available, I don’t see the benefit of spending $60 on a game that is going to give you a lesser experience. Forget the fact that you might not have any form of amplification for your voice, because this game doesn’t do much to amplify your voice anyway. The only people I could suggest this game to are children who have friends that are as willing to participate in this game, as families in commercials are.