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"Karaoke Revolution - American Idol: Encore 2" too similiar to first "Encore": THE NEXT LEVEL(Daily Oklahoman, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 2--"American Idol" returns to video games for a second "Encore," but the way the franchise is going, it won't continue to receive gamers' votes. The first "Encore" was less than a year ago, and not much has changed. "Karaoke Revolution -- American Idol: Encore 2" for Wii showcases 40 songs in a karaoke-style game play. Like previous "Karaoke Revolution" games, the player tries to sing the selected song as originally performed, by following along with the words and hitting the correct pitch. The Wii version of the game gets shortchanged from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation versions: There is no online head-to-head play and no downloadable songs. Up to eight players can compete, and the game did add a nonscoring "karaoke" mode. Songs include Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream," R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" and Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." There also are recent hits "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's and Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape." The graphics aren't great and are quite similar to the first "Encore." The commentary by judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson gets old after a few songs. The Wii version of "Encore 2" is suitable for a party game, as the singing mechanics are solid. But this game series won't be able to coast on the strength of the license indefinitely. Read Matthew Price's blog about comic books, video games and more at blog.newsok.com/nerdage To see more of The Oklahoman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsok.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |