After the annoying success of that Boots "Here come the girls" commercial, it was perhaps inevitable that women would try to reclaim the rock-oriented music genre. U-Sing Girls Night claims to be the first all-girl music game, but is in fact a semi sequel to U-Sing U've Got Talent, neatly targeting the teen-fem market with a 30-track listing featuring only female artists. You can either buy the game on its own, or with two plug-in mics for an additional £20. If you don't already own one, these are matt black, nicely proportioned and balanced and, of course, essential to play the game properly.
So, is it worth the effort? Well, if you've seen one of these games you've basically seen them all. Each track is accompanied by the "real" star performing it on video and an onscreen "karaoke-bar" that previews the lyrics and notes as they are sung. Hit them at the right time and in tune and you score points – the more accurately the better. Normally this would be it, but U-Sing does at least try to throw a few curve balls in the shape of Battle Mode, where one singer can hold a note to throw random obstacles at their opponent such as missing onscreen notes or lyrics. Obviously, you'll need both mics to use this feature.
Track-wise, it's a clever mix; sprinkling old favourites like Blondie and Tina Turner with younger upstarts like Duffy, Katy Perry and the omnipresent Lady Gaga. Other tracks can be downloaded from Wi-Store for 200-300 Wii points each – which equates to a surprisingly pricey £1.40-£2.10. Whether you go for that option depends on how much you like the basic pack or, indeed, the Jukebox mode that allows you to dispense with onscreen scoring to concentrate on just singing along.
If you wanted to quibble, you could say that the rhythm-scoring is a little restrictive – particularly with artists like Amy Winehouse, who rarely sings precisely on the beat, meaning you can copy her almost perfectly and still fail to score well. However, U-Sing does exactly what it sets out to; combining familiar singalong shenanigans with a decent track listing and a bumper shot of oestrogen. As a middle-aged male, I'm hardly its target market – but, if I were, I'd probably make some noise about it.
