LIPS: I LOVE THE 80S

Another month and another 40-track standalone add-on disc for the Xbox 360's Lips karaoke game.

This time it's a trip down memory lane to the decade that taste forgot with Lips: I Love the 80s. The 1980s was the decade that gave us the music video. These ego-fuelled, avant-garde celluloid mishaps are a perfect complement to the catchy but nonsensical lyrics from a more innocent time; a time before we knew that George Michael was actually carelessly whispering to dudes.

It's all leg warmers and lip gloss (and that's just the blokes) as we are treated to the likes of Soft Cell's 'Tainted Love', Frankie Goes to Hollywood's controversial 'Relax' and Madness' 'Our House'. The disc pulls no punches in featuring top tracks from The Police, Culture Club, David Bowie, The Cure and too many others to mention. The disc also immortalises one-hit wonder Toni Basil's less-than-stellar performance of 'Hey Mickey'.

But hey, it's the 1980s, when style over substance was made an art form. Being a karaoke game, basically, you sing and depending on how close you get to the right pitch, you'll score points.

There are extra rewards for streaks of pitch-perfect notes. Lips isn't really judging your singing, so you needn't worry if you are no songbird. If you give it a good go you'll be rewarded. Lips is very accessible; you just pick up a microphone and sing. But it doesn't stop there.

As with the other Lips games, you can also use your own music collection, connected via iPod, memory stick or your PC, to sing along to. The game also has a selection of minigames and versus modes that add a bit of depth to the proceedings. Lips: I Love the 80s is an essential purchase for Lips fans.

While the tracks may be unfamiliar to younger players, the 1980s music is classic karaoke fare and not to be missed.