Product Description

Karaoke Revolution: American Idol lets you become an American Idol contestant! After you audition, you'll earn an invitation to Hollywood and perform in front of the crowd on center stage. Choose to sing from 40 all-new songs, including hits from the show, and receive verbal feedback on their performance from the judges. Build the perfect contestant with new skin tones, clothing, hair styles and accessories. Players can also import images of their face with the EyeToy USB camera brings you directly into the action. Karaoke Revolution: American Idol delivers an immersive Idol experience as players sing their way to victory.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7249 in Video Games
• Brand: Konami
• Model: 083717201472
• Released on: 2007-01-02
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .53" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .30 pounds

Features

• Compete in the new American Idol mode, which can be played in single or multiplayer
• Also features popular Karaoke Revolution game modes such as KR Challenge, Medley and Quickplay
• Up to 8 people can compete in head-to-head or team-based modes
• Players can sing together in Duet Mode to see who has the most star power

Amazon.com

Karaoke Revolution: American Idol lets you sing and perform using a USB headset/microphone as you compete through a fully recreated virtual season of the #1 TV show in America. Play the part of an American Idol contestant as you audition, earn an invitation to Hollywood, and ultimately perform on center stage at the finale. As you progress through the game your popularity with the crowd and comments from Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, both positive and sometimes outrageously negative, will affect whether or not you move on to the next round of competition.

Will you impress the American Idol judges?

The actual American Idol stage is available for performances. View larger.

Duets are back and are just as challenging. View larger.

Will the audience like you more than the judges? View larger.

40 songs from the hit show are available to choose from. View larger.

Karaoke, idol style!
Konami's latest foray into the culture of Karaoke mixes the fun of the typical sing-alongs with the star power of the hit TV show American Idol. Design an Idol contestant from scratch or use a photo of yourself (taken with the USB EyeToy Camera, USB Camera not included). Pick out your accessories and clothing but pick wisely- those sensitive-eared Idol judges will be watching and listening, as well as the vast audience who will be voting on your performance.

As in previous games in the Karaoke Revolution series, players sing into a USB microphone or headset while their selected song plays sans vocals. While a headset is not included with this title, players are free to use a microphone from a previous installment of Karaoke Revolution. Once players select a song the lyrics and pitch of the melody are displayed for them to follow.

If a singer can manage to keep within the margins of good pitch, they are awarded bonuses and multipliers for their song rating. A new twist on song rating, however, comes in the forms of the virtual American Idol judges, who will make quips and comments on your performance. The comments aren't just for show- they will actually directly influence your final song score. This is not unlike the actual American Idol show, in which the judge's running commentary can sometimes sway the voters towards a certain performer. The addition of the virtual judges is quite welcome, and it's great to see them congratulate you if you performed well, and equally as fun to see them give light insults to those performances that were lacking.

Over 40 songs
A number of the songs in the title are updated for a contemporary audience and have been used on the actual television show by notable contestants. The breadth and depth of the song list has always been a strong point in Karaoke Revolution games, and American Idol is no exception to this rule. From the strong, crooning passages of "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" to the fun pop sounds of "Build Me Up Buttercup," there's a track for everybody to enjoy. A number of tracks are especially good for beginners, and the judges will sometimes take pity on a first timers' performance and offer a few more pointers than criticisms. Sometimes.

The lengthy song list for American Idol includes:

All My Life
Alone
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
Be Without You
Breakaway
Build Me Up Buttercup
Can't Help Falling In Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Dilemma
Do I Make You Proud?
Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me
Don't You Want Me
Easy
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Flying Without Wings
Heartbreaker
Heaven

Hungry Like The Wolf
If You Don't Know Me By Now
It's Not Unusual
Just The Way You Are
Let's Stay Together
Love Will Keep Us Together
More Than Words
Photograph
Piano Man
Proud Mary
Rock With You
Saving All My Love For You
She Bangs
Stand By Me
Stickwitu
Straight Up
Sugar, We're Going Down
The Real Thing
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Unwritten
What A Girl Wants
You And Me
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

Customer Reviews

Singstar microphones not compatible
The game microphone requirements are not clearly specified. Microphones supported include Karaoke Revolution and Logitech USB.

We had Singstar microphones which are not compatible.

What about those who don't watch American Idol?
I confess, I am one of those people who don't watch the show (there are probably 10 of us in the entire country, LOL). Actually, I did only watch the first season.

I have every other disc in the Karaoke Revolution series, and I am having more fun with this one that I did with all of the previous ones (except maybe the first one because it was a novelty then). You do not need to know anything about American Idol to enjoy this game. The judges' comments are interesting but they tend to be very tough on you if you miss a few "great" ratings. You can play this game the exact same way as the previous discs, but the extra American Idol mode adds a new level to the game. The first time I played and won, I was literally jumping up and down as if I won the lottery or something-- it was that exciting.

I thought I wouldn't like the American Idol tv show video clips that can be unlocked but I have been watching them with great interest. Some are just hilarious clips of auditions, and others are performance clips. While I did play through the entire song list in non-competition mode and unlocked various characters, fashion items, and a few songs, I noticed that I did not really start unlocking a large number of video clips until I started on the American Idol competition mode.

While Paula Abdul refused to participate in this game by having her likeness and voice included as a judge (not a smart move, Paula), they do have one of her songs on the song list. I don't think her absence hurts the game any. There is a generic female judge named Laura who takes her place. Simon is still the star judge.

Konami has really outdone themselves with this disc, and if you only buy one KR game, let this be the one. Song list is terrific, and the true duets on this disc are more varied and interesting. The American Idol backgrounds are also wonderfully re-created. On the down side, there wasn't a lot of new development of non-American Idol-related graphics such as additional backgrounds and character hairstyles, clothing, etc. However, they did add the ability to adjust skin tone in the character creator, which I am very happy about.

Overall- 5 stars, and more if I could give 'em! Now just imagine how cool this game would be to those who really do watch American Idol...

American Idol Songs
Karaoke Revolution Presents American Idol is great fun for the whole family. Compete in the American Idol Competition and listen to the judges praise you or bomb you; either way, it's a lot of fun. The forty songs on this game are:

All My Life
Alone
(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
Be Without You
Breakaway
Build Me Up Buttercup
Can't Help Falling In Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Dilemma
Do I Make You Proud?
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Don't You Want Me
Easy
Every Rose Has It's Thorn
Flying Without Wings
Heartbreaker
Heaven
Hungry Like A Wolf
If You Don't Know Me By Now
It's Not Unusual
Just The Way You Are
Let's Stay Together
Love Will Keep Us Together
More Than Words
Photograph
Piano Man
Proud Mary
Rock With You
Saving All My Love For You
She Bangs
Stand By Me
Stickwitu
Straight Up
Sugar, We're Going Down
The Real Thing
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Unwritten
What A Girl Wants
You And Me
You've Lost That Loving Feeling