Even if you've never seen either of the two Disney movies it will take a will of iron to get the upbeat pop-laden songs out of your head after a few listens through. Likewise, the music is enjoyable enough to sing along to without having ever heard it before. It does help to be familiar with the songs since there are many moments where you'll find yourself stumbling to keep up due to the absence of solid cues on when it's your turn to sing on some tunes.

If you're too embarrassed to fully belt-out the words, it is possible to play through the entire game by humming in the correct pitch. Some may consider this cheating, but it will help younger players be able to enjoy the game as well. A helpful lyric booklet is included with the game for those who do want to master the songs through and through. If you're on the sidelines and don't feel like singing, you can use a controller to play a variety of percussive instruments while someone else croons. Unfortunately, this feature is awful, and it's basically only useful for keeping an annoying sibling pacified while you play through the game.

For all the entertainment value singing along to High School Musical tunes may hold, the game suffers from a few drawbacks which hamper the overall experience. Sing It! on the Wii has slightly better graphics than the PS2 version, however, the vibrant tones and energetic presentation don't completely make up for the game's overall lack of visual detail. The cel-shaded style works well but it doesn't attain the level of eye-candy.

Another area where the game falls up miserably short is in its actual length. The story mode primarily features songs from the first film and it's over in about 30 minutes of straight play time. The narration and photos in between songs is like High School Musical lite, which will be fine for players who want to skip right to the singing action, but it would have been nice to work the game's other tunes into the story presentation. To access the extra songs and other un-lockables you'll have to reach scoring benchmarks by replaying the game to get higher scores. The extras menu lets you track the different characters, outfits, tunes, settings, and other extras you've unlocked. The additional play modes make it fun to play with friends, yet they don't entirely round out and balance the shortness of the story mode. Quick Play lets you skip the fluff and get right to the singing, and Party Mode is good for holding singing competitions with friends as you battle for high score.

Sing It! is a title that can easily be enjoyed by a wide audience, however, playing the same short game over and over again for a high score to get at the bonus features gets old fast. Ultimately, the missing depth and short length make it a hard sell for the price of the package. Still, the gameplay is solid and it is an entertaining experience while it lasts.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Freelance Writer

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