Pop Idol (PS2)

The idea is simple. You create a singer and take them through the heats and qualifying rounds to the final. If all goes to plan, you get crowned the Pop Idol. If it doesn't, you get to suffer the acid tongues of the three judges, including the infamous Simon Cowell.

Clearly, a video game is going to have troubling assessing your vocal talents and that is a downfall. Instead, Pop Idol substitutes a simple rhythm-style game, not a million miles from classics such as Parappa the Rappa. Basically, symbols correlating to your control pad head towards the middle of the screen and you need to have the relevant button pressed at exactly the right moment. The more you get it right, the better you do. You're also assessed on your outfit, which you choose along with your song before every round.

It's ultimately quite a simple, straightforward title and one that could have been better, could have been worse. It's going to find favour more easily with the casual, less demanding gamer, though, and dedicated fans of the show. --Simon Brew

Obviously no effort has been put into this game. The graphics are awful, 2 dimensional and the people look like apes, and the gameplay is repetative and dull.

Its likely to be a lot of fun for a few days, but for a long-lasting worthwhile game that will keep you interested for more than a week, you're best trying something else.


Le Mans Fun Driving Game   June 12, 2004
 2 out of 21 found this review helpful

Buy this driving game, a Top Drive Sprinter Wheel,
or a Top Drive GT2 Force Wheel, 0r a Driving F0rce Steering Wheel by L0gitech Bett0r than T0ca W0rld T0uring Cars
Drive as Will Young, Michael Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and more


Bone Idol   March 27, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

No its not just a clever title. It should infact be the new marketing level for this series. The world is becoming bored of reality television and people are more aware when their pop stars are known to be factory made sound and look-alikes.
Bringing out a game in the midst of all this just makes it even worse. The game however is in fact filled with some great songs and a very well made playing format which is great for group play with friends. But the game lacks depth.

The main reason for the shallow happenings of the game is that the entertainment value of the POP IDLE series cannot be simply copied and pasted into a video game. Everyone knows that what they like to see in the series is to see people fail and to see them upset. The closest thing your character will come to to being upset is "Thanks for your comments" when Simon Cowell slags you off. Nobody in this game goes into a hissy fit and starts crying if you tell them they are the most talentless people in the uk. This removes the realism and completely ruins the game. That and the graphic detail. What you see in this game is substandard especially for a PS2 game. Its terrible.

The game consists of you chosing a character, a voice, a clothing set and even a head, then going on stage to perform... over and over and over again infront of an inscreasingly large amount of people. The songs as I said before are very good as are the voices that the game uses to sing them in. Pressing the buttons in sync with the beat is a very "dance-mat" orientated format but works extremely well. If you make press the wrong buttons or miss them completely, your characters voice goes in and out of tune. If you dont press them at the right time, the voice goes out of sync with the music. This can be a total barrel of laughs.

The scoring system doesnt seem to work that well. It seems to rely on what you wear and what you sing and how well you sing it. I went out on stage wearing brown cordroy trousers, a purple shirts and a white sports jacket. I got full marks for appearance. It doesnt really make all that much sense really. And if the scoring doesnt make sense what s the point in dressing your little friend at all? (no miss-communication intended) Sounds like birthday suit time.

I do admit i did enjoy playing the game, but its as shallow as my ex girlfriend. And yes, thats very.. very shallow. Having a game endorsed by a millionaire (Simon Cowell) doesnt make it good. (Microsoft know that). The game has been rushed and contains no real substance or gripping playability. Its a party game, nothing more, nothing less.