Genre: Karaoke

Reviewed on: PlayStation 3

Publisher: Sony

Rating: 12+ (PEGI)

The smoking ban is a good idea for many reasons, one of them being able to see properly through the pub air to watch people make fools of themselves whilst singing to karaoke. Because it’s not just the singing that’s normally so fun to laugh at, it’s the whole crowd that comes with it.

Normally up by the stage there will be the obligatory middle-aged divorcee, strutting her stuff in a manor that she thinks is sexy but just looks desperate and drunk. Her daughter will often be accompanying her, ironically giving her false reassurances that she’s not too old to be behaving in such a way.

Then there’s the muscle bound metrosexual that thinks he’s Robbie Williams who steps up to the microphone to belt out Angels but ends up sounding more like the Devil being castrated. But he can’t hear it, in his mind he’s great, winking to the women and looking like a complete muppet all the while.

Next up is the unsuspecting hairy lady not too dissimilar to Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent. Everybody has a laugh as she gets herself up on stage but by the time she’s finished, the floor cannot be seen through the amount of jaws that have dropped.

And then all of them, whether they were good or bad are totally humiliated by the Karaoke organiser that has a voice like Freddie Mercury in his prime. He’s bound to though – it’s no happy coincidence that this his job.

So why bother with the embarrassment? Why do it to yourself?

The obvious answer is alcohol. But there’s also a way for teetotalers and the more reserved of us to enjoy karaoke– SingStar.

The SingStar games are released on a regular basis and normally only bring a new selection of music to the table, it’s rare that anything else changes. But SingStar: Pop Edition on PlayStation 3 has seen the introduction to a brand new style of control.

The new voice control ability adds functionality for it’s users to just say the name of the song that they are after and then jump straight in. Even people that own the older SingStar games can get a taste of this new feature as it comes part of a free downloadable update.

Pop Edition does exactly what it says on the tin – it gives people an extra set of pop songs to add to their collection. From Kings of Leon Sex On Fire to Chris De Burgh Lady In Red, there’s something available for every type of pop music lover.

So it may be a little more anti-social than going down to the local boozer to belt out your favourite songs and you will miss out on an entertaining collective of characters, but you won’t wake up with a sore head asking yourself the same question over and over again.

‘I didn’t really get up and sing did I?’

SCORE: 7 / 10