Play Karaoke Studio Senyou Cassette Vol. 2 (Japan) Online

Plug in the mic, belt out Japanese pop tunes, and watch the NES ruthlessly judge your pitch with its janky little bar graph—it shouldn’t work this well, but it does.

File size: 256 bytes

Game Overview

Ever seen an NES game that comes with a microphone? Karaoke Studio Senyou Cassette Vol. 2 is this wonderfully bizarre Japan-only release where you plug in the mic (yes, it actually shipped with one) and start singing along to 8-bit renditions of Japanese pop songs. The first time I tried it, I couldn't stop laughing at how the game judges your pitch—it's hilariously strict for something running on 1980s hardware.

The song list is pure nostalgia fuel if you grew up with Japanese music, full of cheerful synth melodies and lyrics scrolling in katakana. It's not exactly Karaoke Revolution—more like watching your tone bounce between "good" and "terrible" on a tiny bar graph while the NES chirps encouragement. Half the fun is realizing this thing actually works, even if your neighbors might disagree.

If you've got the microphone and a soft spot for weird retro experiments, this is one of those games that makes the NES library feel endless. Just don't expect the scoring to make sense—sometimes shouting into the mic works better than actual singing.