SingStar Abba

Thank you for the music?

It's probably no coincidence that SingsStar Abba has appeared in a puff of festive magic recently. Not only are we knee-deep in the run up to Christmas, a time when parties a-plenty will be relying on Sony's karaoke evergreen game to keep guests entertained, we're also seeing DVD's of Phyllida Lloyd's Abba musical Mama Mia flying off the shelves at a rate of knots. What better way to jump on the festive Abba bandwagon than a dedicated SingStar disk that almost feels like it should be sold as a package with the film such is their natural cross appeal.

Now, I wouldn't class myself as a huge Abba fan but a quick scan of the track listing on the back of the box showed that I could, at the very least, hum the tune to about 75% of the songs without having to think too hard which has to be some kind of record for SingStar considering the somewhat mixed selections usually found on the normal disks.

In fact, if I was to ask you to name an Abba song I'd bet most of you would find your choices on here (Abba obsessive intent on naming obscure album tracks can expect to be disappointed however). All the classics, as well as some you'll probably not have heard for a long time have found a home here making this a pleasingly complete 'greatest hits' package. To run a few past you there are songs like Mamma Mia, Waterloo, Chiquitita, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), SOS, Take A Chance On Me, Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, Thank You For The Music and The Winner Takes It All to warble your way through. All are complete with vaguely embarrassing videos to laugh at when you're not holding a mic as well as all the normal SingStar bells and whistles thrown in for good measure.

There's a cloud on the horizon however, for reasons best known to themselves Sony have decided against releasing SingStar Abba complete with the duel microphones. This means anyone new to SingStar and tempted by an Abba overload is going to have to fork out big bucks to buy one of the other existing SingStar PS3 titles, complete with mics, as well as this to be able to play. I know SingStar Abba is probably seen as an expansion rather than a full title but since it plays like a standalone game would it seems a little unfair to force added expense on the consumer like this.

If we're thinking hard looking for problems it's also a little disappointing in a way that SingStar Abba even warrants a whole release on its own. Since the packaging is forcing you to buy, or already own, an existing SingStar game to play this it begs the obvious question about why these tracks aren't up on the SingStore as downloads rather than sat all together on a disk. I'm sure the answer is money related (although no doubt there are also a few people without online PS3's) which is a shame since the SingStore is such a fantastic feature and this feels a little like Sony ignoring its own perfectly good invention in the interests of earning a few extra quid.

As you'd expect, any existing SingStar niggles still exist here (oh for the ability to rip songs to the hard drive to avoid disk swapping) but that's missing the point to a degree. There's simply no denying the pure sing-along-ability of Abba, no matter what the age group or musical tastes of your party it's almost guaranteed that most people will know the words to a big chunk of the track listing and be happy to pick up a microphone even before the effects of the festive drinks have kicked in. If you're a SingStar fan then this is probably the most essential add on disk to be released for years. It's a little sneaky that you can't buy the game complete with microphones but the chances are most people interested will already own a pair; otherwise this is as close to a sure thing as you can get with SingStar. The winner does indeed take it all...

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By Paul Newcombe