SingStar Legends Review

Can you get as deep as Barry?

It hardly seems like a week has passed since the last SingStar release, but considering these budget priced song collections are doing big business for Sony, it's hardly a surprise that Legends is out in time for Christmas. Once again, it's really more of the same, but this time includes 30 classic tunes that will make even the most vocal karaoke haters join in, or at least hum along.

By now the SingStar series really doesn't need explaining, but just in case you've managed to avoid one of the huge success stories of the PlayStation 2 era, I'll give you a little explanation. SingStar is essentially a multiplayer karaoke game, in which you can battle against up to another seven people (although obviously not all singing at the same time). The game scores you based on your timing and vocal performance, and then you down another shot of whatever it is you're drinking (an option or necessity depending on your personal viewpoint) and load up another tune.

That is the SingStar way, unless of course you're too young to drink, in which case you probably won't mind making a fool of yourself in front of everyone anyway. Sony's previous release, SingStar Anthems, most certainly needed you to have a good few drinks before taking the mic. Its gay and female anthem focus was certainly fun, but not the ideal way to spend an evening unless you were firmly in its target audience. Legends, then, could really be called SingStar Dads, with perhaps the most male-centric collection of tunes put together for a SingStar title. Ladies needn't worry though, as there are a few that will put their voice boxes to good use.

What are some of these great songs for dads then, or for men in general? Well, how about some Paranoid by Black Sabbath? Follow that up with Life on Mars by Bowie and then Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, and you have a trio that have probably never been sang in succession before. Over 20 of the 30 songs feature a male lead vocalist and at least 15 of those could be considered real man songs. So, if you're a man who has felt let down by previous SingStar collections, and you're desperate to let your voice be heard, Legends will be perfect.

There are some good tracks for the ladies too

Women reading this, who don't think they can contort their voices to reach the deep tones of Barry White, can have a bash at some Whitney, Tina Turner, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Patsy Cline and a few more. If there's one song that's bound to make your ears bleed on Christmas Day afternoon it's Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love of All. Thankfully, you can score pretty well without actually having to perform that great - something Peter Crouch knows only too well.

As with all of Sony's non-gamer releases, there's very little about SingStar Legends that needs explaining. If you fancy singing along to some classic tunes or have grown tired of the tracks included on previous releases, SingStar Legends is an essential purchase. It is perhaps the most mature collection the series has seen so far, so might not please the pre-teen market, but if any of the artists mentioned earlier in this review are in your own music collection, your time has come.