Patriotism in games is not a new concept; many of our favourite titles have set us as the defenders of our respective countries, fighting valiantly to defend our homes from ruthless foreign invaders. Well, Just SING! National Anthems has none of that, instead it features a more ‘at home’ style of patriotism, letting you choose from a collection of various national anthems and sing to your heart's content. So does belting out your favourite national anthem (because we all have one) make for a good video game?

At its core Just SING!: National Anthems is a rather simple karaoke experience. The game only asks that you sing, nothing more. It will keep track of your pitch and volume, but these only go towards calculating your final score, so you can sing completely off key and still beat the track. In fact, it is impossible to fail at a song, so in the end you’re just playing for a high score. It’s a very shallow experience that lacks the bells and whistles that other music games on the platform have made standard.

Also, the game has no multiplayer mode whatsoever (something that could have been easily implemented via the DS' local wireless) making this karaoke a strictly solo experience, which for a karaoke game is a definite nail in the coffin. Not being able to share the fun (term used very loosely) with friends should, in this age of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, be a definite no-no for any music game hitting the scene, even one that deals with national anthems.

However, the most damning strike against the game is the fact that the entire experience revolves around singing national anthems, which makes not only for a very boring time but also makes it nearly impossible to get the songs right. We all should know our own national anthem, but if I asked you to sing the Japanese national anthem, with the correct tone and pitch, and in Japanese, would you be able to do it? Let alone have fun while you're at it. 

On the visual side of things, Just SING!: National Anthems doesn’t fare much better. Boring, simplistic menus are paired with an un-inspired generic background (the game only has one) that loops over and over as you sing your song. It makes for a game that’s not only a bore to play, but also a pain to look at. The game only features one avatar, and he’s a white male with dark hair. Now, lucky for me this suits me, but players who don’t fall into this category (like women) might feel strangely disconnected from the game, especially when the male avatar is singing in a high pitched female voice.

Now, like any music game on the market, the audio comprises a crucial part of the experience, and in this regard (surprise, surprise) Just SING!: National Anthems falls flat on its face. The very first thing the game will have your hear is a generic national anthem-‘sounding’ track of such poor quality that you can actually hear the pops and cracks in the recording. Once you get into the game itself it’s your voice that controls the show; there are no recorded words to help you keep the beat, a little bouncing ball is all you get. The musical piece will play in the background, but it plays at such a low volume that even with my DS speakers pushed to their limit I still couldn’t make it out clearly.

For the entry fee of 200 DSi Points ($2) you get to chose from five national anthems, including the American, Japanese, Argentinean, Brazilian and Australian (no Canadian, eh?) of which only two are in English, so you better brush up on your Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish if you want a chance of even making it onto the high score board, which is all the game offers in terms of replayability, so even for a measly $2 I cannot recommended this game to anyone.

I was very tempted to fill this review with better uses of your $2. A list which would have included a bag of your least favourite potato chips, 40 of those five cent lollypops, or a one dollar lighter to burn the other dollar. Not only would you feel better about your purchase, but you would probably get more entertainment out of it as well. Consider this a public service announcement: avoid this game at all costs.