Def Jam Rapstar

Def Jam Rapstar is a game that puts you behind the microphone to rap a lot of famous songs. You can capture your performance en share it online with other players. For the people that like rap and hip-hop, this is your heaven!

Demanding, but with a fine track list and immaculate presentation. [Jan 2011, p.84]

Grab your pimp cup and step up to the battle, and you'll find not only some serious karaoke, but the best online set-up for any music game yet. [Issue#51, p.104]

It's a skill-based game that manages to be surprisingly technical, but never at the expense of fun. It's hugely rewarding, too: after several extended spells on the game, Mr Gaston had the balls to perform Gold Digger on stage in a Croydon nightclub - and round there, they kill people who suck at karaoke.

The game is a perfect party game to play when friends are over. Factor in the community aspect, which is still being worked on and updated constantly, and you have yourself a sleeper hit for fans of hip hop.

Some of the trimming around the outer edges is shaky, but the core of Def Jam Rapstar is rock-solid, and the community video feature is sure to provide a lot of entertainment on its own.

Def Jam Rapstar may not have the ultimate killer presentation, and 45 songs may not be enough compared to the 80+ songs the Rock Band games carry, but it's a huge step in the right direction for Konami's musical approach, and we certainly hope more follow in their footsteps.

Def Jam Rapstar offers more than enough features to distinguish it from other karaoke games on the market, and most importantly, is a good time if you can overlook some of its problems.

For people who are not afraid to sing (or rhyme in this case), and are tired of Duffy and Britney Spears, give Rapstar a go.

If you like rap or hip-hop, this is the game you were waiting for.

Def Jam Rapstar has a nice tracklist that will keep you entertained for hours to come. No longer will you have to be ashamed when you want to spill some lyrics. Def Jam Rapstar is not the best karaoke game out there, but it sure is one of the most entertaining ones.

Is Def Jam Rapstar perfect? Hell no. Is Def Jam Rapstar fun? F--- yes it is! As just a party game I've had a blast with it. The censorship is annoying, and hurts the game more than the developers would like to admit.

While you won't see its name on a blimp, cool community features and a great songlist make Def Jam Rapstar a sure bet if you want to get your living room bumpin'.

Basically, Def Jam RapStar is a successful spin-off of the ageing music game genre.

If you want to bust out the rhymes of your favorite rap artists, DefJam Rapstar is your only option. By default this makes it the best game of its kind, but that doesn't mean its undeserved. While the package might not be a slick as other music games, the goods comes in the form of its precise rapping.

Def Jam Rapstar is the only music game that focuses exclusively on Hip Hop with more than 40 of the greatest Hip Hop songs available. For this reason it's not easy to play like other "karaoke" games. You can use your console camera to record your performances and share them with the fully integrated Def Jam Rapstar community at www.defjamrapstar.com.

Rapstar touches the musical bones other games can't reach. [Issue#199, p.98]

There isn't much to the game's career mode, but this game will certainly be a sure-fire winner at parties.

It has its flaws, but if you like rap or hip-hop, you'll surely have fun, especially in multiplayer.

A surprisingly fun karaoke game, with a strong community and good online options. Unfortunately, censorship in many tracks brings down the overall experience.

Overall, Def Jam Rapstar is an excellent entry to the rap karaoke genre and goes some way to achieving what fans would have been wanting from the game. With a little bit more fine tuning here and there, Def Jam Rapstar has the potential to be a very serious contender within the music game market.

While it may just seem like glorified Karaoke, there is more going on here than meets the eye and a sequel could be even more fun if they polish up the interface.

Thanks to Rapstar we now finally have a karaokegame that makes us rap instead of sing. The problem is Rapstar can't decide if its for the hardcore hiphop-fan or the mainstream listener. And why on earth is the foul language edited out?