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Even though we spend the entire week together, staring at each other until your faces swim and blur, unbelievably some of the staff on this magazine still choose to socialise together. Fuelled by a heady mix of cheap gin and hope, we head for the nearest flat, and once we're done discussing advances in the real-time strategy genre and rapping about the hos, the lights dim and the microphones come out. "Well I guess it would be nice, oh, if I could touch your body..."

We're not making this up for the purposes of this review, either. It's real. We actually sing. Dreadfully, yes, but that's not the point. Well, it sort of is... but anyway, actual parties! So when SingStar Party arrived, text messages were hastily sent, comestibles purchased and leisurewear sported. Those of you familiar with the original need only glance at the new track selection. Whether or not you buy this update will be entirely dependent on how many of these songs you fancy murdering in front of your embarrassed-for-you friends.

Meanwhile, debutantes can expect 30 tracks of gorgeously presented karaoke. (Actually, Sony hates us calling it karaoke... someone explained why at some length, but the logic escapes us now.) The selection manages to be both populist and bafflingly eclectic. So you've got Bob Marley sat awkwardly next to Busted and Duran Duran staring lustily at Destiny Child. The obvious problem being that catering for the broadest audience possible means most players will hate at least half a dozen of the artists. Hello, Natasha Bedingfield and Jamiroquai.

Overall, we reckon SingStar Party's line-up is slightly weaker than its predecessor's. Personal faves include Take Your Mama Out (terrifyingly, your reviewer's range is almost exactly that of the Sisters' Jake Shears), I Think We're Alone Now and Gold. But, even accounting for taste, some of the choices are inexplicable. Like, why include a scarcely known Elvis track when his back catalogue's groaning with classics? Tutti Frutti simply doesn't work, either. However, where the game succeeds is with the new emphasis on duets.

Any song can be sung as a duet, but the best ones are proper call-and-response tunes like Don't Go Breaking My Heart and A Little Time. You can also insert the original SingStar disc to access its tracks as duets. Still, you can exhaust the entire roster in a single night, and Sony has also failed to iron out creases in the scoring that enable people to mumble through while racking up points. Example: two lads are singing Every Breath You Take; one sounds exactly like Sting, the other like a dying rhino, but at the end only 20 points separate their scores.

For that reason, we're dropping the mark by a point, but SingStar Party remains social gaming at its finest.

Graphics 80%
Exquisitely stylish menus plus proper videos.

Sound 80%
Kylie sounds like Kylie. What more do you want?

Gameplay 80%
Silly on your own, amazing in multiplayer.

Lifespan 70%
Once again, 30 tracks feels like too few.

Overall 80%
SingStar Party is a welcome addition to the SingStar family, but next time the answer has to be separate versions tailored to specific genres.