NOW That's What I Call Sing Review (PS4)

SingStar PS4 divided opinions when it first launched – it was missing a lot of important features, and seemed rushed out to capitalise on the success of Sony's new system. NOW That's What I Call Sing, a game that many of you probably haven't even heard of, aims to capitalise on the otherwise near-empty console karaoke market, and it does a good job of it.

Every good singing game must have a good set list, and this warbler is no exception. You won't be finding noughties or nineties hits in here, though – most of the songs were released in 2013 or later, save for James Blunt's You're Beautiful, which came out a grand 11 years ago. Feel old yet?

Despite the lack of release date variety in the songs, you'll no doubt find a song that suits you. If you're a pop person, then there's Jessie J, Meghan Trainor, and Lady Gaga – but if it's dance music that you're looking for, then Calvin Harris, Avicii, and LMFAO (remember that phase?) have got you covered. There's also Maroon 5, Sam Smith, John Legend, Bastille, George Ezra, Bruno Mars, and Leona Lewis, but if you're in the mood for testing how high your vocal cords can go, give Sia's Chandelier or Ariana Grande's Problem a go. Beware, you may want to warm up your voice for those ones.

Of course, there's always Let It Go, because it had to be in there, didn't it?

The amount of game modes is as varied as the song list: in addition to the Classic and Duet modes, you've got plenty of other variations that are fun to play. By Heart allows you to test your memory by completely omitting the lyrics from the screen – looks like those 10 viewings of Frozen will have paid off, after all – while Expert mode removes the visual cues to make your job even harder.

NTWICS is also a great game to play with friends – you can plug in up to four USB microphones – thanks to the Elimination, Pass the Mic, and 20,000 modes: Elimination gives each participant a quota of energy, which declines if you hit a bum note; Pass the Mic is exactly what you think it is, and; 20,000 mode tasks you with being the first to hit 20,000 points. All in all, the modes and tracks are varied enough to give this title plenty of replayability.

The gameplay is just as you would expect: music videos play on the screen, while the lyrics appear and light up as you're supposed to sing them. What makes this outing interesting is the addition of Golden Notes, which are special high notes that are hard to hit, yet reward you with extra points if you do. Still, if you just want to listen to the music but aren't interested in the singing, then that's fine, too – Jukebox mode plays all songs on the disc in an endless loop.