- Publisher: Microsoft
- Developer: iNiS
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Karaoke
- Pros: Nice presentation; Avatar Awards; great microphones; fun party game
- Cons: Only 250 GamerScore; disc swapping with first Lips; full price for only half a game
Lips: Number One Hits is a stand-alone music game, but it is clearly just an expansion pack for the first Lips. The Achievements for the game are interchangeable with the first Lips (as in, they are the same in each game and you only earn 1000/1000 between them) but #1Hits does have 250 GS of its own. Pretty disappointing that owners of both games can’t earn a full 2000GS. Heck, your Xbox 360 can’t even distinguish between the two games and just calls them both “Lips”.
Number One Hits does come with 40 brand new songs as well as a DLC code to download 5 more, so in terms of getting new stuff it isn’t bad. There is also tons of DLC available so you should be able to find a decent number of songs you like. One not so good feature is that songs from the first Lips are available to play in #1Hits, but to actually play them you are prompted to switch discs to the first game so you have to switch discs all the time which sucks. That aside, the music list overall is varied and players of all music preferences will find songs they like. Par for the course for most karaoke games.
The value of #1Hits is hurt a bit as the original Lips was $70 and came with two microphones and this new game is $60 and only comes with one. Considering the overwhelming “expansion pack” feel of it all, that is pretty disappointing.
Gameplay
The gameplay is pretty typical karaoke game fare. The words appear at the bottom of the screen as well as in a horizontally scrolling track in the middle of the screen that also has “tubes” which are where your pitch is supposed to be. Sing the words at the right time and keep your pitch in the tubes and you earn more points. Pretty simple. The motion sensitive microphones let you do things like add in tambourine shakes or drum beats as well as match movements in real life that your avatar performs onscreen. All in all, it feels roughly the same as the singing parts in other music games, so you can’t really complain.
Where Lips: Number One Hits has those games beaten is in the pick up and play nature of it all. You can set the game to just play music, such as during a party, and if people want to sing they just shake the microphone to activate it. Very cool. The way the microphones light up and make different sounds if you shake them or hit them makes the whole experience a lot more active and interesting than typical karaoke experiences. It is easy to get into and really fun given the right group of people.
Presentation
Lips: Number One Hits is a nice looking and sounding game. The menus are attractive and easy to use and selecting from the huge number of songs is quick and easy. I like that all songs – #1Hits, original Lips, and DLC – are all presented in one menu, easily differentiated from one another by different colored logos, and easy to pick from and play.
One additional presentation note is that this is the first game to have Avatar Awards. You earn some goofy looking hats and sunglasses and stuff, but it is pretty cool. My Avatar is rocking a big, tall, poofy top hat now and I couldn’t be happier.
Bottom Line
