SingStar is a constant in a house populated with teen-aged girls and those almost in their teens. Friends come over, the mics come out, and the racket begins to swell. Sometimes on key, many times way off, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the fun is evident.

So what happens when the next iteration of the Pop title comes out, it is loaded, and after a quick run-through, the disk is taken out and put aside in favor of older releases? Well, that says that the latest in the franchise’s barrage is not that thrilling.

SingStar Pop Vol. 2 has released and changes little except for the song list. For those who do not know what SingStar is, it is a karaoke game. Two mics allow players to participate in a variety of ways from solo singing, to duets to battles to a game called Pass the Mic. Bars scroll across the face of a music video with the words underneath. The bars represent the pitch. Sing the words, nail the pitch meter and you score well. If you fail to score well, the game lets you know afterwards with its rating system.

It is a formula that has been successful. Few things, though, have changed. So, with Pop Vol. 2, you get a new song list. Let’s cut to the chase … Here is the song list:

• 3 Doors Down - "When I'm Gone"

• Lloyd - "Get it Shawty"

• Ashlee Simpson - "Boyfriend"

• Maroon 5 - "Makes Me Wonder"

• Avril Lavigne - "My Happy Ending"

• Matchbox Twenty - "How Far We've Come"

• Boys Like Girls - "The Great Escape"

• Michelle Branch - "Breathe"

• Cartel - "Lose It"

• Nelly Furtado - "Promiscuous"

• Colbie Caillat - "Bubbly"

• Norah Jones - "Don't Know Why"

• Dixie Chicks - "Not Ready To Make Nice"

• P!nk - "Who Knew"

• Duran Duran - "Ordinary World"

• Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"

• Evanesence - "Bring Me To Life"

• Plain White T's - "Hey There Delilah"

• Fall Out Boy - "Thnks Fr Th Memrs"

• Rihanna - "Umbrella"

• Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry"

• Santana feat. Chad Kroger - "Into The Night"

• Gwen Stefani feat. Akon - "The Sweet Escape"

• Steriogram - "Walkie Talkie Man"

• Jennifer Lopez - "Jenny From the Block"

• Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"

• Lifehouse - "First Time"

• The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom"

• Lily Allen - "Littlest Things"

• The Outfield - "Your Love"

There are actually some songs in here that were once enjoyable. The problem with any SingStar title is that, sooner or later, you start to see beyond the melodies and see what the lyrics truly are. For example, Norah Jones’ Don’t Know Why only makes sense in a vague way … in other words, what the heck does this all mean? This mix does seem to, on paper, have a nice mix of songs. But on paper the Oregon Ducks should have killed Boise State a couple of weeks ago in an NCAA football game. That didn’t happen. And the variety on this selection isn’t happening either. That’s really too bad.

There are better Matchbox Twenty tunes, and if Duran Duran is included, why not dip into the 80s and 90s for some of the monster pop hits. Sure it is a matter of licensing, but anything worth doing is worth doing well, and Pop Vol. 2 just feels a bit stagnant. Couple this with the fact that the game has not evolved in any manner and you are left with a less-than-stellar outing for the franchise.

It is obvious that the SingStar franchise still has life, but Pop Vol. 2 does not do much to advance the titles.

Gameplay: 7.0
Nothing has changed here – it’s still the same game modes. Only the song list has changed. The formula still works, but it is starting to get a little thin.

Graphics: 7.5
Nothing has changed here – you get solid music videos overlaid with the pitch bars and words.  

Sound: 6.8
The sound is decent; the song list is not that strong.  

Difficulty: Medium
Not too much here that will really stretch the vocal cords.

Concept: 6.0
The song list leaves a little to be desired. There are some good songs here, but nothing to get really excited about.  

Multiplayer: 7.5
This song list may have limited appeal, but you can still have fun with friends.

Overall: 6.8
After the initial work-through, this iteration has been largely ignored by the SingStar fans in the house. That speaks volumes. The SingStar franchise needs to rethink song lists. There are some new titles upcoming that might offer more variety than this one does.