Karaoke Revolution

Karaoke Revolution, and its sequels Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 and Karaoke Revolution Volume 3, are Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox video games developed by Harmonix and published by Konami in its Bemani line.

Contents

Concept

The games are based on karaoke singing in which an amateur singer sings a popular song while it plays without vocals. The games are able to sense the pitch of the singer's voice and award points based on how well the singer matches the pitches he's supposed to be singing.

Karaoke Revolution requires the use of a USB microphone. A microphone headset made by Logitech is available in a bundle with the games and is also sold separately; Logitech also sells a hand-held karaoke microphone. [1] (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN%2CCRID%3D97%2CCONTENTID%3D7983) The game does not attempt to understand the singer's words; because it only senses his pitch, the singer can hum to a song or sing different lyrics without penalty. The game adapts to the player singing one octave higher or lower than the song, to accommodate players whose vocal range does not fit the song.

The songs in the game are covers (not performed by the original artists, but similar to the originals) of pop hits frequently sung in karaoke bars. This contrasts with the SingStar series from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which features only original artist recordings along with the music videos, where available.

American versions of the game are based on a public performance style (like American Idol for example). Versions sold in Japan are basically "karaoke in a box" (just displaying lyrics and videos).

Gameplay

The player is depicted as a character on-screen performing at one of several venues, such as a subway station, a carnival, or a football halftime show. The words to the song scroll right-to-left at the bottom of the screen, above a piano roll representation of the relative pitches at which they are to be sung (the game calls these "note tubes"). At the left end of this area, a "pitch arrow" shows the pitch which the player is singing and provides feedback on whether he's hitting the notes. A "crowd meter" shows the mood of the crowd as the player sings; if he does a good job of hitting notes on-pitch then the crowd will cheer more loudly and clap in rhythm with the song, and the scene will become more vividly animated. If the crowd meter falls all the way to the lowest rating, the audience will boo the character off-stage and the game is over.

Each song is divided into approximately 30 to 50 "phrases." A meter will fill up and turn from red to green for each phrase, based on how well the player sings the right notes; if the player can fill the meter to green, he will score more points, and getting several greens in a row will create a "combo" and award a 2x score multiplier until the player fails to make green on another phrase. The game can be set at higher difficulties which make this meter larger and require the player to hit the right notes more precisely to fill it to green.

Since maximum scores for each song are normalized around 50,000 or so, overall scores on songs can be compared. To achieve the gold record for a song, 12,000 points must be achieved. To achieve the platinum record for a song, 20,000 points must be achieved. Winning records will unlock additional characters, outfits, and songs.

Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 introduces a "medley mode" which challenges the player to sing a string of short clips from various songs.

Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 introduces "duet mode" which lets two singers play simultaneously.

Releases

Many expansion discs are available for the Japanese version of the game, including an anime song collection and several volumes of J-Pop.

The North American version of Karaoke Revolution was released in November, 2003 in a bundle with the Logitech headset attachment. The game was sold without the headset in February, 2004. The European version of the game, titled Karaoke Stage, is scheduled for release in March, 2005, although this is subject to change as previous release dates have been missed.

Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 was released in North America on July 13, 2004.

Karaoke Revolution Volume 3 was released in North America on November 9, 2004.

Song list

These songs are included in the North American release of Karaoke Revolution. Also listed are the original artists on whose versions of these songs the Karaoke Revolution covers were based (none of these artists themselves are heard in the game). Some of these songs are "locked" and require the completion of goals within the game to access them.

  1. Addicted - Simple Plan
  2. All You Wanted - Michelle Branch
  3. Are You Happy Now? - Michelle Branch
  4. Believe - Cher
  5. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
  6. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order
  7. Broken Wings - Mr. Mister
  8. Celebration - Kool & The Gang
  9. Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin
  10. Complicated - Avril Lavigne
  11. Crawling in the Dark - Hoobastank
  12. Don't Know Why - Norah Jones
  13. Every Morning - Sugar Ray
  14. Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon
  15. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
  16. Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms
  17. Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
  18. How You Remind Me - Nickelback
  19. I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
  20. It's the End of the World as We Know It - R.E.M.
  21. Kiss Me - Sixpence None The Richer
  22. Ladies' Night - Kool & The Gang
  23. Like a Virgin - Madonna
  24. One Week - Barenaked Ladies
  25. Red Red Wine - UB40
  26. Save Tonite - Eagle Eye Cherry
  27. Science Genius Girl - Freezepop
  28. She Talks to Angels - Black Crowes
  29. Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
  30. Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
  31. The Power of Love - Huey Lewis and the News
  32. Waiting for Tonight - Jennifer Lopez
  33. When a Man Loves a Woman - Percy Sledge
  34. Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
  35. You Really Got Me - Van Halen
  36. You're the One That I Want - Olivia Newton-John

These songs, also covers and some of them locked, are included in the North American release of Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.

  1. Baby One More Time - Britney Spears
  2. Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf
  3. Cry - Faith Hill
  4. Drift Away - Uncle Kracker
  5. Every Breath You Take - The Police
  6. Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
  7. Genie in a Bottle - Christina Aguilera
  8. Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
  9. Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
  10. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
  11. I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
  12. I Hate Everything About You - Three Days Grace
  13. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
  14. Irresistible - Jessica Simpson
  15. It’s My Life - No Doubt
  16. I’ll Make Love to You - Boyz 2 Men
  17. I’m With You - Avril Lavigne
  18. I’ve Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra
  19. Jesse’s Girl - Rick Springfield
  20. Lady Marmalade - Pink, Christina Aguilera, Mya, and Lil Kim
  21. Let’s Get It On - Marvin Gaye
  22. Miss You - Aaliyah
  23. My Girl - The Temptations
  24. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
  25. Perfect - Simple Plan
  26. Rich Girl - Hall and Oates
  27. Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss
  28. Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
  29. Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
  30. The First Cut Is the Deepest - Sheryl Crow
  31. The Joker - Steve Miller
  32. Toxic - Britney Spears
  33. Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai
  34. We Are Family - Sister Sledge
  35. White Flag - Dido

These songs are included in the North American release of Karaoke Revolution Volume 3.

  1. ABC - The Jackson Five
  2. Against All Odds - Phil Collins
  3. Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye feat. Tammi Terrell
  4. Beat It - Michael Jackson
  5. Burn - Usher
  6. California Dreaming - The Mamas & the Papas
  7. Careless Whisper - Wham!
  8. China Grove - The Doobie Brothers
  9. Come Clean - Hilary Duff
  10. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
  11. Flashdance... What A Feeling - Irene Cara
  12. Hold On - Good Charlotte
  13. I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher
  14. If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
  15. In the Midnight Hour - Wilson Pickett
  16. Joy to the World- Three Dog Night
  17. Killing Me Softly - The Fugees
  18. Leave (Get Out) - JoJo
  19. Love Shack - The B-52s
  20. Meant to Live - Switchfoot
  21. My Immortal - Evanescence
  22. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
  23. Oops!... I Did It Again - Britney Spears
  24. Respect - Aretha Franklin
  25. Shining Star - Earth, Wind & Fire
  26. Snake Eater (from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater) - Norihiko Hibino feat. Cynthia Harrell
  27. Someday - Nickelback
  28. Take My Breath Away - Berlin
  29. Thank You - Dido
  30. The Reason - Hoobastank
  31. Twist & Shout - The Beatles
  32. Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
  33. Under Pressure - Queen feat. David Bowie
  34. Waiting For You (from Silent Hill 4: The Room) - Akira Yamaoka feat. Melissa Williamson
  35. When I'm Gone - Three Doors Down
  36. Why Can't I - Liz Phair
  37. You're the One That I Want - Olivia Newton-John feat. John Travolta

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