This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The crazy cats at Konami have done it again. The same company responsible for the Dance Dance Revolution series has created a series of karaoke games. Karaoke Revolution Party is the first of the series to appear on the GameCube, and while it succeeds at delivering an in-home karaoke experience on the ‘Cube, it doesn’t quite measure up to the versions of the game on the PS2 or the Xbox.

The best thing about the game is its novelty. Who would have thought a few years ago that gamers would be plugging microphones into their consoles and singing along to tunes and actually enjoying themselves? Well apparently someone did, and the results are fantastic. Watching one of your good gaming buddies trying to sing along to Madonna’s Material Girl is about as unique an experience as you’re going to find in gaming today. This is one of the best party games out there, since it’s just fun to watch people, especially those who aren’t videogame veterans, sit down and enjoy playing a game together.

What’s even more astounding is that the game actually works. As you sing there is a sort of musical staff on the page and lines appear telling the player how high or low the notes are and when they should be sung. When it’s time to sing an arrow appears on the screen and indicates how high or low the player’s voice is in relation to the melody that the game is looking for. Players gain points for keeping their own vocal cords on pitch, and the longer they manage to stay on tune, the more points are earned. Male gamers with low voices need not be concerned since the game can also tell if the player is on pitch an octave below the normal melody. Amazingly enough, the game is pretty good at determining when gamers are on tune, although those with trained vocal cords and a bit of vibrato may have to tone down their vocal quality for the game to register their singing properly.

The game also features a great deal of flexibility because there are several different gameplay modes to choose from. In addition to regular karaoke, there are minigames like Pong that allow the player to control the paddle using his or her voice, which can be mildly entertaining. There are also several ways to play karaoke, either with whole songs or abbreviated versions, alone or against other players. Players can have karaoke parties where they challenge their friends to see who has the best set of pipes, or they can work together to unlock new songs and outfits within the game. If players are fortunate enough to have Mario Party 6 with its accompanying microphone they can use two microphones in the game and play in duet mode (more microphones can also be purchased at Nintendo’s online store for $10). There is also a sing and dance mode if gamers have Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and its accompanying gamemat.

Character creation is also entertaining. There are several pre-made characters to play straight out of the box, and all of them are completely customizable. Gamers can change skin color, hairstyle, body type, clothing, and accessories on the avatars until they create one that fits their particular self-image. These avatars are then saved onto the memory card so gamers can choose their character each time they play the game. The character creation system has quite a bit of flexibility so it’s fairly simple to quickly create an avatar that looks at least slightly similar to anyone who sits down to play the game.

Last but not least, the variety of tunes available in the game is impressive. The songs run the gamut, from modern day to the 80’s (lots of 80’s), and even back to Frank Sinatra. Some of the artists featured include Madonna, Tears For Fears, Michelle Branch, Ashley Simpson, Hillary Duff, Incubus, and Queen. While the songs unfortunately don’t include the voices of the original singers, the covers in the game sound fairly similar to the originals and are pleasant on the ears.

While the game’s novelty is its strength, the novelty wears off quickly and soon gamers will want to look elsewhere for their entertainment. Even with the variety of gameplay modes gamers will tire of singing into the microphone for hours on end. The game begs to be played with other people, and while gamers can play alone to unlock more content, only die-hard karaoke fans will want to sit in front of their ‘Cubes and sing alone for any extended period of time.

Of the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube versions of the game, the GameCube is by far the weakest. The Xbox allows gamers to download more songs for a fee over Xbox Live, adding some new life to the game once players get tired of the song selection. The PlayStation 2 version is compatible with the Eye Toy, allowing players to insert their own likeness into the game. Both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions allow gamers to use USB headsets as microphones so Socom and Rainbow Six veterans out there won’t have to scramble to find another microphone for two-player karaoke action.

The game could also benefit from shorter songs. Most of the full length songs go on for about four minutes, which is a very long time to stand up and sing in front of one’s friends, especially when they are waiting for a turn. The game does allow gamers to shorten the songs, but only to about two minutes, which is still too long. Also there are only a few songs that will appeal to any particular gamer. The game’s variety is amazing, but unfortunately while it appeals to everyone, it only appeals to each gamer with a few songs.

Karaoke Revolution Party is Nintendo’s first foray into the karaoke scene, and it pulls it off pretty well. The game is especially entertaining the first time gamers sit down and play it. Unfortunately, unless gamers are fans of the karaoke genre, the game does lose its novelty quickly. Also, if gamers have a PS2 or an Xbox in addition to the ‘Cube, they are better off playing it on one of those systems since the ‘Cube doesn’t have as many peripherals or Xbox Live. However if gamers are limited to the ‘Cube and want a Karaoke game, Karaoke Revolution is a good choice (and the only choice for now). Getting a second microphone is highly recommended as it makes the game much more entertaining.

Karaoke on a console, and it’s actually fun!

The graphics are fairly primitive, but don’t detract from the experience.

The songs aren’t the originals, but are well done and sound good on the ‘Cube.

Four or more players + karaoke = REALLY good time.

The game will get old unless you get a second microphone or love karaoke.