By Ned Jordan

The SingStar series of games is still going strong on the PS2, the latest of which is SingStar Pop, Vol. 2. Each release of the game has left the gameplay itself untouched, essentially using each new release as a substitute for the lack of support for downloadable content on the PS2. This is not really a bad thing, because the core gameplay certainly does what it does well enough - provide a fun way for friends at a party to enjoy a little video karaoke. It's more of an issue with us game reviewers, who dread having to come up with six or more ways to describe the gameplay each time a new iteration in the series is released. Well, I finally give up. I will from now on take the easy way out and direct those new to the series to my review for SingStar Pop where you'll be able to learn everything you want to know about how the game works. In this review I'll focus specifically on what Pop, Vol. 2 brings to the party, and that begins and ends with the song list. So without any further ado here are the tracks included in the game:

3 Doors Down - "When I'm Gone"
Ashlee Simpson - "Boyfriend"
Avril Lavigne - "My Happy Ending"
Boys Like Girls - "The Great Escape"
Cartel - "Lose It"
Colbie Caillat - "Bubbly"
Dixie Chicks - "Not Ready To Make Nice"
Duran Duran - "Ordinary World"
Evanesence - "Bring Me To Life"
Fall Out Boy - "Thnks Fr Th Memrs"
Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"
Gwen Stefani feat. Akon - "The Sweet Escape"
Jennifer Lopez - "Jenny From the Block"
Lifehouse - "First Time"
Lily Allen - "Littlest Things"
Lloyd - "Get it Shawty"
Maroon 5 - "Makes Me Wonder"
Matchbox Twenty - "How Far We've Come"
Michelle Branch - "Breathe"
Nelly Furtado - "Promiscuous"
Norah Jones - "Don't Know Why"
P!nk - "Who Knew"
Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"
Rihanna - "Umbrella"
Santana feat. Chad Kroger - "Into The Night"
Steriogram - "Walkie Talkie Man"
Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"
The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"
The Outfield - "Your Love"

One of the issues that I had with the first SingStar Pop was that the track list was all over the place. In trying to please everyone it succeeded in pleasing no one. Over releases in the series have been better focused, but Pop, Vol. 2 returns to this scattershot track selection approach and manages to be even more schizophrenic than its predecessor. Here's a disk that comes with Jennifer Lopez, The Dixie Chicks, Evanescence, and The Outfield all on the same list. Unless you have a group of friends that likes singing tracks from widely divergent genres or are a SingStar collector looking to own the most tracks possible, it's hard to recommend this particular SingStar game. Even if you want to provide your karaoke parties with the most tracks possible, the tracks in this list aren't really the kinds of songs that you'd expect people at a party to be clamoring to sing. If you're interested in SingStar or in adding a karaoke game to your collection, I'd recommend starting out with one of the other titles with a more focused track list.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 68%. A weak track list sinks this SingStar.