So why ask me to review a game that is of no interest to me? After all my Bollywood knowledge goes as far as knowing that celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty stars in some famous productions of which I cannot name. I’m English and not Indian so naturally a game created and sung in another language shouldn’t be enjoyable.
Contrary to belief however, SingStar Bollywood is some of the best fun I’ve had in ages! When you haven’t the native Bollywood tongue it makes for an entertaining sing-song and best of all listening back to your meagre attempts!
It is of course particularly daring for Sony to go down the niche market route with such a SingStar instalment. A friend of mine works in a well known Game store (says it all really!) and they sold one copy of the game within its first two weeks on sale. That said although this store is located in a primarily White British location, it is certainly a bit of a profit loss for Sony at this early stage. However it perhaps proves that games companies want to appeal to different markets and those from different cultural backgrounds and a big pat on the back for Sony trying to do this.
Bollywood is all about the bright colours and vibe from the locations and costumes and the big song and dance that goes with it and SingStar Bollywood does not disappoint in this aspect. Most of the songs come from some world famous Bollywood movies with an emphasis on the more recent releases including Kaal, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and Don: The Chase Begins Again.
The tracks are surprisingly quite catchy and you can have great fun saying the Hindi as it is spelt phonetically on screen for those of us who don’t fancy learning a brand new language. The music is pretty much cinematic soundtracks with a handful of dance and disco influenced music thrown in for good measure.
The usual SingStar format applies to what is possibly the final SingStar release on the PS2 and all the familiar multiplayer modes return, which can be quite entertaining after a few drinks down the pub! If you are Indian and into Bollywood then you’ll certainly have many hours of fun and even if you aren’t it’ll provide you with some light entertainment during the small hours. Sony is potentially opening up gaming to a brand new culture that has never really experienced gaming before and this can only be a positive thing for the industry.
Top Game moment: Listening back to you belting out a bollywood song and attempting Hindi.
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