We got jiggie with Dance Dance Revolution. Drum Mania had us banging out sounds for hours. Guitar Freaks -- I'll never forget how many dollars it took from my wallet. (Seriously, it just reached in and took them. No joke!) Konami is the king of arcade music games. After years of waiting and hopeful anticipating, GameCube players have the chance to experience one of their most addictive and most innovative music titles, developed exclusively for home consoles: Karaoke Revolution.

Coming to the Cube in the form of Karaoke Revolution Party (KRP), this is the fourth edition in Konami's vocally enhanced series. As you can imagine the absence of the number "four" and its replacement with the word "party" points to a new feature of some kind. That assumption is correct. KRP takes the calorie-burning fun of Dance Dance Revolution and combines it with the joy of singing for a new mode that shows why pop stars lip-synch while dancing: it's hard!

How does it work? I asked myself the same question and am still baffled by how well the game measures our vocal performance. Using lyrics, a pitch arrow, and phrase markers (straight lines that go up and down to follow the highs and lows of the song), the game picks up your vocals and turns it into a score.

This doesn't mean you have to be on par with Lionel Richie to be considered a star. In every circumstance the game measured my attempt at singing, not my actual performance. The goal is to hold your notes and attempt to sing the song as it originally was. Do that and you'll at least be able to pass the song. Scream it out, or recite the lyrics with little conviction and you won't get anywhere.

That sounds like too much work I'm sure, but if we gave up every time a game presented a new challenge we'd still be playing Pong. And DDR would have flopped. Can you imagine how awful our world would be then? I repeat, you don't have to be a rockstar to be good at this game. It takes practice, a glass of water, and knowing when to take a break. Singing's hard work, believe it or not.

KRP is jam-packed with a new song lineup:

•  (I've Had) The Time of My Life

•  (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

•  Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

•  Ain't Too Proud To Beg

•  Always

•  American Woman

•  Brick House

•  Call Me

•  Crazy

•  Crazy in Love

•  Do You Really Want to Hurt Me

•  Drive

•  Dust in the Wind

•  Endless Love

•  Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

•  Everybody Wants to Rule the World

•  Everywhere

•  Fame

•  Fly

•  For You I Will

•  Headstrong

•  Greatest Love of All

•  Here I Go Again

•  I Don't Wanna Be

•  I Left My Heart in San Francisco

•  I Love Rock and Roll

•  I Will Always Love You

•  If You Could Only See

•  I'll Be

•  Material Girl

•  Me and Bobby McGee

•  Pain

•  Pieces of Me

•  Play That Funky Music

•  Start Me Up

•  Superstition

•  Sweet Caroline

•  Take On Me

•  Takin' Care of Business

•  That's Amore

•  The Game of Love

•  Time After Time

•  Truth Is

•  Turn The Beat Around

•  Unforgettable

•  Uptown Girl

•  Waiting For A Girl Like You

•  What I Like About You

•  Who Can It Be Now?

•  You're My Best Friend

None of these songs are performed by their original artists. Before you start to fret, let me assure you that these covers, while terrible as MP3s, are more than acceptable as karaoke tracks. I suspect Konami did this because they needed tracks that could be edited and tweaked for interactivity. Doing that with the original artists' performances would be much harder (and much more expensive). As a bonus it makes those of us who aren't rockstars sound better. I feel much more secure going up against an unknown vocalist than I would going up against Steven Tyler.

The new Sing and Dance mode is a challenge to your feet as well as your mouth. While following the lyrics (more than half of which I didn't know) and doing my best to keep my voice aligned with the phrase marker, I had to spot arrows and step on the dance pad at the right moment. Early songs are easy, and if you want to keep it simple you can lower the difficulty setting. If you want to make it really easy you can play the classic karaoke mode where your only goal is to have fun. No phrase markers present!

But to sing and dance as intended you're going to need to whip out your DDR skills or spend some time practicing. Crank the difficulty to its highest setting and brace yourself for a challenge that increase in confusion with each song you don't know. That's another thing that helps: learn the lyrics. There's nothing more humiliating than going to a karaoke bar and choosing to sing a song you don't know. As well known as KRP's music collection is, I only knew every lyric for about 5% of the songs. And some of these are songs that I loved when they were released. But if I don't buy a CD I'm unlikely to retain lyrical information.

Christmas is just around the corner. With family and friends bombarding your house, why not take advantage of the moment by whipping out a console and a copy of Karaoke Revolution Party? It's a must-have music game for any console you own, whether it's GameCube, Xbox, or PlayStation 2. Everyone loves to sing, even those shy types who say they wouldn't sing in front of people if their life depended on it. Karaoke Revolution Party proves that they will sing in front of people and for a lot less than life dependency.

Gameplay: 8.5
Who knew that karaoke could be turned into a video game? And a good one at that? It sounds like some cheesy infomercial. "For just three easy payments of $19.99 you can get this awesome, unbelievable, fully-interactive karaoke machine!" What that infomercial stated is true except for one thing: this game is anything but cheesy. Karaoke Revolution Party is an addictive blast. You'll sing till you're hoarse, finally answering the question, "If games could be played with a body part other than your thumbs, would it get sore too?" You bet. Just like sore thumbs, this is a pain you'll hardly think twice about receiving.

Graphics: 7.0
Not much has changed since the first game. You have more control over your character's appearance, but the overall look of the game is the same.

Sound: 8.0
Acceptable covers from professional vocalists. Nowhere near the quality of the originals, but it's not like we want to compete with Jim Adkins or Brandon Boyd.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
The learning curve is half the battle. Once you've figured out what the game interprets as successful highs and lows you'll be on your way to becoming a rockstar (in a virtual sense).

Concept: 7.5
The Sing and Dance mode, as cool as it is, isn't exactly innovative. It's a great melding of two completely different types of games, adding to the difficulty (which was already pretty high) while adding to the fun.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Duets, team games, head-to-head battles – is there anything this game doesn't have? You and your family, and/or friends, will be entertained for hours. This is the kind of game you'll come back to whether you think you've mastered it or not. It's so much better than traditional karaoke, but if you want that, there's a mode that lets you sing without the stress of having to put on a decent performance. As far as mainstream party games go, you won't find a better title – not even the great Super Monkey Ball – than Karaoke Revolution Party.

Overall: 8.5
Want to have so much fun that you feel like singing? Then play the only game for GameCube that lets your exercise your vocal talents (or lack thereof) while having the time of your life. To say that this game is addictive would be an understatement. To say that it's infectious would be one as well. Crank your TV speakers and sing a few of the top 40 hits and a couple 80s classics and your whole family will want to join in. "I love that song!" "Give me the mic." "Is it my turn yet?" "Hey, he cut!" "No I didn't!" "Mom, they're hogging the mic!"