Pop Idol, Desktop Computer

The dancing game phenomenon, kickstarted in the arcades with the help of veteran developer Konami, has quickly spread to home consoles in several different forms. The Dancing Stage series has players tapping their feet in time with the music, whilst Koei's Gitaroo Man had gamers actually playing musical instruments to the beat of a soundtrack. Codemasters' Pop Idol for PC, on the other hand, has players singing their little hearts out. As with every other game of this type, gameplay focuses on the player's ability to hit buttons or stamp their feet in time with the music. In the case of Pop Idol, wannabe stars must simply sing in tune. On each performance level, there is a crosshair in the centre of the screen. As the music plays, directional arrows will approach on vertical and horizontal axis - your job, when the arrow hits the centre of the screen, is to press the corresponding cursor key. Doing so will boost your singing performance and broaden your vocal skills, which will in turn impress the judges and grant you access to the next stage of the game. If your timing is bad, the singer's voice will begin to fade, resulting in a disappointing performance and a tongue-lashing from the judges, including the infamous Simon Cowell. The game comes with 40 well known music tracks that include Baby One More Time, I Will Survive, Like a Virgin and Let Me Entertain You, and there are also several management aspects to the game, whereby players can outfit their aspiring stars with a variety of clothing, footwear and hairstyles. Aside from the main Pop Idol tournament, game modes include Party Competition, Singing Practice, Karaoke and Jukebox. It's a comprehensive game with plenty to do and one that will keep fans of the TV series occupied for, ooh, hours.

Buy Pop Idol for 2.99 GBP

Star Wars: Force Commander
Star Wars Force Commander is a real time strategy game for the PC that gives you control over the Imperial and Rebel Forces. During a massive and bloody battle, your commanding office is killed and it's down to you to take charge. The Star Wars universe is an ideal setting for a game of this nature. It gives you the chance to replay the films' scenes from a different perspective. For example, one ...
Enter the Matrix
The Matrix. These are two words that, ever since 1999, have been talked about by millions of cinema-goers, gamers, and even housewives. But what does it mean? To many of us, it is the greatest film release since Star Wars or Aliens. So it comes as a surprise given the recent onslaught of movie-inspired video games, that haven't we seen The Matrix on PlayStation or on Dreamcast. It turns out that S...
Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe
Take 2's Hidden and Dangerous and its Fight for Freedom expansion were excellent strategy games that immersed players in a thoroughly convincing first-person world. Well, a little time has passed now, and the two titles have been bundled together in a very attractive package at a budget price in Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe. Set in World War II, this mission-based epic has you take control of the S...
Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption
Unlike other horror titles, this eerie vampire game takes on a new role. Unusually, in Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption, you get to take on the role of a human-turned-vampire. In a quest to return to your former self, you have to track down the “big boss” as it were, and finish him once and for all. For an RPG there is a hefty amount of third person based play, whereby you must exp...
TRON 2.0
In 1982 a rather revolutionary film was released by the name of Tron - revolutionary because, a, it utilised state of the art computer graphics and b, it introduced the concept of video games to the world. Twenty years on, the world certainly doesn't need an introduction to the concept of video games, and most of us now have the technology to recreate those 'state of the art' graphics in real-time...
Cold War Conflicts: Days in the Field
You'd think with RTS games coming out of our ears that we would eventually tire of them. But no, the more we play, the more we want to play. Some genres have serious longevity, and the RTS game is one of them. So without further ado, we look at RTS game 10 billion and one - Cold War Conflicts. GMX's Cold War Conflicts is set in the historical period of the Cold War era from 1950 to 1973. Spread ac...