Video Gamer is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more
PlayStation Move hasn’t been blessed with the best launch titles, and TV Superstars isn’t going to change anyone’s opinion for the better. What you have here is a competitive mini-game collection in the guise of a game show, where you aim to become as famous as possible. While some of the included activities are good fun, far too much time is spent watching loading screens and listening to the awful in-game TV presenters.
You begin by mapping a picture of your face to an in-game avatar. It’s almost impossible to create characters that match the pre-made ones for the various TV hosts, but the poor quality of the PlayStation Eye in even average light conditions means that you end up with hilarious freaks of nature or burn victim lookalikes. You can also record your own catchphrase, which your character will blurt out at every opportunity – the more obscene the better.
The set-up is perfect for some good fun multiplayer gaming, with the avatars and catchphrases ideal for party play, but the game seems to go out of its way to frustrate. The most annoying problem is the loading, which happens a lot and takes far too long. Hanging around to play a short mini-game very quickly starts to feel like it’s not worth the effort. The general tone of the game is somewhat misguided too, with the stereotypical presenters very quickly getting on my nerves.
There’s the incredibly camp fashion show host, the sexual innuendo obsessed female DIY show host and, worst of all, the gangster rapper cooking show host. It’s quite embarrassing at times, especially when the rapper starts performing a little ditty about eggs and makes you dance along by making gestures with the Move controller. It’s a shame, as the cooking mini-game is one of the best, asking you to prepare and cook pancakes. You have to make the mixture, stir it, cook it in a pan, chop bananas and then present it on a plate. True, it’s not a gaming masterpiece, but as far as Move-enabled mini-games go it’s good fun.
The Total Wipeout-style show is the best on the disc. This series of events sees contestants performing in a variety of situations, firing into targets and running on a spinning wheel. The target shooting is most interesting as you’re required to hit them with your avatar, fired out of a cannon. Each target has a drawing that represents the position your body should be in: head first, side-on, toes first, star shape and more. With the bulb on the Move controller representing your head, the mini-game makes for some funny moments of controller contortion.
Other examples include decorating a room (sawing wood to a set length, painting walls and stripping paint – done with a hammer, oddly) and posing on the catwalk by swinging the Move controller around in time with on-screen prompts. If that isn’t fun enough, you also get to perform in a series of commercials, although your acting is limited to mimicking actions and triggering events.
Compared to Start the Party and the other Move mini-game collections, TV Superstars has clearly had more time spent on creating a nicely put together package. This wannabe-famous game features far superior production values and more complex mini-games, but all the extra decoration does get in the way of playing.
Fun at times, dull and slow at others, TV Superstars fails at being a consistently enjoyable party experience. The set-up is interesting, but the execution isn’t nippy enough for a mini-game collection. More creativity has gone into this than a lot of other generic Move titles, but chances are you’ll get bored before you’ve seen all the game has to offer.
