FreshPlanet
SongPop 2
Rating:
5 Stars
The original “SongPop” came onto the scene back in 2012 and took the mobile gaming world – as well as Facebook – by storm. Capitalizing on the “Name That Tune™” formula, it was difficult to imagine that anything could go wrong. That is not to say that it did not have its quirks but, then again, nothing is perfect. If success proves anything, it proves that “SongPop” was a fantastic title that people just could not get enough of it. So when the announcement came in mid-February that FreshPlanet was working on a sequel, it did not come as too much of a surprise. However, it did leave the question of: “What exactly could be done to improve the formula?” As it turns out, “Song Pop 2” could be a pretty fantastic answer to that question.
The Fun Stuff:
Everyone loves the “Name That Tune™” gameplay. Whether it be watching one of the incarnations of the television show that spanned nearly half a decade, the rare arcade game, board game, or even just playing with your friends. “SongPop” let you put that game in your pocket and take it anywhere you wanted to go. You could challenge friends via Facebook or even play strangers. It had a lot of popular songs from a wide variety of genres, allowing the music collection to appeal to a diverse audience. All in all, it was a great experience.
“SongPop 2” only builds upon that further by expanding its already massive collection to a staggering 100,000 songs. Better yet, veterans from the original title can carry over the playlists they have purchased and use them in the new game. That is what we like to call “Fan Service 101.” The music library continues to expand with weekly updates ranging from artist-specific playlists to top R&B songs of the 1990s, all of which can be purchased with in-game currency. This means you are not penalized if you do not want to shell out some extra cash.
The standard styles of play have returned and function as expected; but a new Party Mode has been added to the mix. Party Mode is kind of liking playing a standard round of the game, except you are playing against the entire world at the same time. After you finish the ten question quiz, your score gets posted on the weekly leaderboards where you can earn rewards and fight for the top spot. Also, playing daily earns you rewards – including free playlists. You get more game content free just for playing the game. If you feel like your skills are not up to par yet, you can always utilize the new Practice Mode. Practice mode allows you to sharpen your skills while playing against the computer. It also provides an excellent opportunity to brush up on the music collection.
The one thing that did receive a major overhaul is the graphics. Richard Perez, a highly acclaimed author and illustrator who has worked with the likes of Pinterest and Coca-Cola, put his signature style on the game. You may not recognize him by name, but you will instantly recognize his iconic look that every project he has his hands in receives. From top to bottom, the game is adorable, and Perez compliments the game’s addictive and fun gameplay with a perfect presentation.
It also seems safe to assume a lot of behind-the-scenes work has been done to ensure a smoother operation across the board. Most of it cannot and will not be witnessed by players. There is, however, one very subtle, yet very noticeable change that is the perfect cherry on top of this perfectly wrapped-up-game-package of an ice cream sundae. In the original “SongPop,” while taking your music quizzes, the song would start playing, and your four multiple choice options would pop on screen for you to make a choice. At face value, nothing sounds wrong there. The problem is, every once-in-a-while, you would have a bit of lag and this would delay or inhibit your choice. Regardless of the cause, that delay is frustrating in a game with a scoring system centralizing on how quickly you can answer a question. To solve this problem, FreshPlanet has made it, so the song choices pop up just a split second before your audio clue starts playing. This allows for even faster reaction times as you have already had a brief opportunity to survey your options. Now, the original “Song Pop” had already received this tweak, and it is a tiny change, but it has a massive impact that creates a lot of satisfaction while playing.
The Frustrating Stuff:
“SongPop 2” had the advantage of being built from an already solid base product. Sometimes, screws can get loose while you are making an upgrade. Fortunately, that is not the case in the event of this sequel. Structurally speaking, “SongPop 2” is solid and glitches, bugs, or force-close errors are never an issue. The game does have some faults, though.
It has come to be expected with any modern mobile game, but the constant nagging for social media integration is tiresome. While I have no qualms connecting my Facebook account to find people to play with, there are many people out there who just don’t want to do it. Asking them over and over and over again to do it will not solve the problem – it just makes them want to stop playing your game. It is fine to ask, but perhaps add the option to silence and remove those prompts at some point?
It is awesome that “SongPop” and “SongPop 2” are free-to-play. Unfortunately, the sequel takes a step back when it comes to the paid version of the game. With the original title, you can download and play the game entirely for free. If you want, you can buy coins with real world money which you can then use to get more playlists or power-ups, and that is fine.
Then there is the VIP Status. For the original “SongPop,” VIP Status: removes advertisements, bumps your simultaneous game limit to 100 games (unlimited for Facebook friends), gives you longer audio clips, higher sound quality, allows you to challenge from any profile, and see your “best match” (based off of playlist mastering) profiles’ pictures. For “SongPop 2,” you also receive unlimited chat, unlimited “best matches,” the ability to challenge your friends’ friends for free, and the ability to use a power up to challenge on any playlist. Between the two games, it is kind of like a… premium music service and music-based dating app rolled into one. This will cost you $1.99 per week, $4.99 per month, $12.99 for three months (“SongPop 2” only), or $39.99 annually. Now, to be fair, that is about ¼ the price of an annual subscription to Apple Music, Zune / Xbox Music / Groove, Google Play Music, or Spotify Premium. That being said, you can also listen to whatever you want, whenever you want with one of those streaming services. Having a subscription service for those things just really doesn’t make sense. Then again, dedicated players will buy it, so it does make sense from a business standpoint. However, the free version of “SongPop” was complimented by “SongPop Plus” which gave you all of those features, minus the profile picture, at the cost of a one-time, $1.99 purchase. “SongPop 2” does not have a comparable option, and that is too bad. But hey, they have instigated four weddings!
One huge missed opportunity is with the power-up system. This carried over from the original title and, sadly, stayed exactly the same. There is but one lone power up for the standard single-player experience. While playing, you have the option to remove two of the choices, resulting in a 50-50 chance. With the addition of Party Mode, it received its own set of power-ups; however, there are still only two from which to choose. You can receive a score boost for answering correctly within 3 seconds or receive an overall XP boost for your match.
These options are not terrible, but it would have been nice to see some more creativity across the board. Adding the score boost power up for speedy answers seems like a no-brainer for the standard single player experience. It might need to be tweaked slightly to keep the game balanced, but it does not seem far-fetched. Why stop there? Perhaps receiving a sneak peek at your answer choices for each question could be negotiated via power-ups. If you find yourself in a playlist you do not know as well, give yourself a slight edge by getting a one-second sneak peek at the audio clue before the scoring system engages. You could throw down a bulk of power-ups to overrule a playlist selection, give yourself the chance to put in two guesses for each question, slow down the song clips and timer to receive a give-and-take style power up, or even fire back at an opponent by distorting their audio or distracting them with a live-audience style feedback applied to the music. The possibilities are endless! You could even offer an additional “game mode” by having a vanilla no-power-up match alongside the all-out gauntlet of power-up-infused gameplay.
Bottom Line:
“SongPop 2” is the perfect example of a sequel done right. You do not always need to be revolutionary; sometimes you just need to focus on what you have going for you and refine that. Then, your product moves from what you actually released to what you had originally envisioned. While it suffers the same bane of micro-transactions that many other games have succumbed to; it is hard to blame any developer for participating in a trend that is becoming almost necessary for survival. Still, they are completely optional and don’t harm or hinder those who wish to avoid them. “SongPop 2” does not have anything “game-breaking” and, while it does have some minor faults, it is nothing that could not be tweaked with future updates. Even if it does not change at all, it will still be a must-have app for music and game show lovers everywhere.
“SongPop 2” was developed by FreshPlanet. It was released in North America on July 16 for free to iOS with plans for Facebook and Android versions coming at a later date. This review was based on a copy of the game downloaded on the release date.
