The challenge was seemingly impossible: I, a singer of dubious merit, would challenge my friend Amie, a professional jazz singer, in a round of video game Karaoke. Would my savvy gamer instincts compensate for my single octave (if that) range? Or would Amie’s ability to sing on key prove an insurmountable obstacle? To find out, we sat down to play Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2.
The Basics: Sing and Be Judged
Like the previous American Idol Karaoke games, Encore 2 is a version of Karaoke Revolution with likenesses of the TV series’ judges critiquing your singing skills. Each player sings into a microphone to a song while the words are displayed on screen along with a graph indicating the pitch at which the note is sung and the pitch at which you are currently singing. If your pitch matches the song’s pitch then you get points, the audience goes wild and cutaways show the judges smiling and clapping. (Well, two of the judges, anyway; Simon always looks bored.) If you are having trouble staying in tune, the judges look restless and sometimes annoyed.
When the song is over, the judges critique you. Randy begins every comment with a variation of “How you doin’, man” such as “What’s goin’ down, man,” or “Yo, what’s up man.” Simon is somber and sometimes harsh, as when he said, “I hate you for singing that song; you murdered it.” Paula seems pleasant, although it would be entertaining if the game included some of the more eccentric comments that have led people to wonder about her mental state.
The judge’s remarks are generic overall, but the game does manage to keep track of some specifics. At one point Simon pointed out that I’d sung the first half of a song poorly before improving while Paula said it sounded like I didn’t know another song at all. They were both quite right.
The Graphics: Sub Par
The virtual judges look somewhat like their real-world counterparts, but they move more like marionettes from the TV series Thunderbirds or the movie Team America: World Police. Often their arm movements seem random and spastic, and at one point Simon inexplicably threw his hand out in what looked like a Nazi salute.
The visuals of Encore 2 are abysmal. Before singing, players choose from a selection of strikingly ugly avatars that mime the singing and dance marionette style during a song’s instrumentals. The few stages are all bland, and a handful of stiff figures mimicking an excited audience don’t help at all. When you are singing well you will see the audience sitting behind the judges doing the wave, but oddly enough I saw them doing the same thing while Simon was talking.
I’m not someone who chastises Wii games for not looking like Playstation 3 games, but Encore 2 is not a budget title, and it seems reasonable to ask the developers to make some improvements in a sequel rather than just offering the same game with a new song list. The awkward movements and bland atmosphere foil the game’s attempts to generate excitement with fireworks and cheering crowds. If I play an American Idol game, I would like to feel like I am wowing the crowd on a big stage under the bright lights, not like I am performing for stoners at a high school gym.
The Goal: To See if the Judges Can Tell a Singer from a Game Critic
While the game does the bare minimum in terms of presentation, it still has the solid gameplay of other Karaoke Revolution games. While it would be nice if the game used original recordings like Sony’s SingStar series, the cover versions they use are good enough to sing along with.
On the medium judging setting Simon and company are pretty forgiving, sending me all the way to the finals before tossing me out when I foolishly tried to cover Crazy in Love (not an easy song). Since the judges are more demanding for each successive round, doing one of the most difficult songs in the game as a finale could be seen as an error in my judgment.
Having played a number of karaoke games over the years, I arguably had a gamer advantage over Amie, but her musician credentials worried me. To understand what I was up against, listen to some of my songs here and then listen to a few of Amie’s. Except for my mom, most people would agree that Amie carries a tune somewhat more comfortably than I do.
(Many people will look at Amie’s photos on her site and wonder what kind of guy would invite a hot girl to his apartment and just play video games with her. But serious gamer geeks will think, “wow, a hot girl to play video games with; awesome!”)
I went first, singing R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion. Even though I stumbled on a part of the song that I didn’t quite recognize, the judges all told me I was a star.
Would that be enough?
And the Winner Is ...
I felt more confident when it turned out Amie’s knowledge of pop songs was virtually nil. One by one she browsed through Encore 2’s track list, shaking her head in puzzlement at The Sweet Escape, Hey There Delilah and Mr. Brightside. She perked up when she saw “Big Girls Don’t Cry” only to have her hopes dashed when it turned out to be the Fergie song rather than the Four Seasons classic.
Settling on Paint It Black, Amie set out to prove her worth. I thought she was doing quite well until the camera cut to Randy and Paula staring off into the distance with a glazed look. That’s when I realized I might have a chance after all.
Sure enough, Randy and Paula came down hard on poor Amie, although Simon said she was what the show was all about.
Amie didn’t know enough pop songs to keep competing, so a definitive, multi-song competition will have to wait until an American Idol game includes tunes from Edith Piaf, Bjork and Cibo Mater. But based on our brief contest, I was the clear winner.
Such is the beauty of video games. In the real world, I’m a guy who used to play local clubs and sell home made cassette tapes to an audience too small to fill up an elevator, while Amie has a couple of albums selling on CD Baby and recently jetted off to perform in Paris. PARIS! But in a karaoke video game, Amie is a wannabe stuck firmly in my shadow. Clearly, I could be a bigger singing star than Amie could ever hope to be, if only the world were populated entirely by marionettes.
