Britney Spears: American Dream - is it 1999 Britney or 2007 Britney?

It may be less than two years since Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was released, but in that time we've seen three very similar games grace our screens.

However while the latest release, Britney Spears: American Dream, may be the same game at its core, it's also the most refined and enjoyable version yet.

With cleaner menus, a more streamlined approach, and some interesting additions to gameplay, it feels like Glu has finally managed to nail the genre it created.

One more time

The story will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played a previous Glu celebrity game – you're working a crummy job, when suddenly you impress Britney Spears with a song and are instantly given a shot at the big time.

What this actually amounts to is travelling to various locations and completing tasks, which you do by tapping a button a few times to fill up a bar, at the cost of some energy.

Fill enough bars and you complete the task, earning you money, experience, and fans, all of which will help you progress further in your career.

Did it again

So yes, you don't technically do anything in the game. In fact, most of your time will be spent waiting for your energy bar to refill so you can tap some more buttons.

This time around, however, there's extra customisation involved. You can dress up your character as you want, and, as in Katy Perry Pop, you can name your songs when you record them.

The songs are a little deeper now, though. You can also choose your genre, which affects the lyrics you'll sing in sometimes unintentionally hilarious ways, and design your own single covers.

There's tons you can do with the covers, like add text, change the background, drop in characters you've met, and so on.

It's not essential, but it's a fairly neat system. And once you're happy, you can upload it to the Singles Feed, where other players can give it a like and boost your in-game sales.

Isn't she lucky?

You can also now start your own Record Label, which is essentially the Britney Spears answer to guilds, where you can chat with your friends and help boost their fans.

It's all small additions on top of an already well-polished game engine, but these new social elements help raise the game to a higher standard than anything that came before it.

Couple that with the cleaner, clutter-free menus, which make travelling simpler and objectives easier to find, and you've got yourselves a hit.

Crazy

At the end of the day, Britney Spears: American Dream won't be for everyone. Gameplay is limited, and you'll be bogged down by wait timers more often than you'll actually be playing.

But for fans of the genre, this is the best version there's been to date. It's accessible and fun, with clever customisation options and a lot of heart poured into it.

Britney Spears: American Dream - is it 1999 Britney or 2007 Britney?

It's not for everyone, but American Dream is the finest example of a celebrity-led game yet
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Ric Cowley
Ric Cowley
Ric was somehow the Editor of Pocket Gamer, having started out as an intern in 2015. He hopes to take over the world the same way.