Time for more GAMES!
That post title would mean something if you'd seen the George Hamilton audition for TPiR. Yikes.
Two new software titles quietly hit shelves this summer. Wheel of Fortune Deluxe and Concentration. I'll review 'em both.
Wheel Deluxe is basically the download-for-a-fee Wheel game available via the Sony site, but on a CD-ROM. It's a mixture of good, bad, and meh.
The good - they included some of the stuff sorely lacking from the other releases this decade. Toss Up Puzzles, Jackpot, $10,000 wedge, and Mystery Round are all here. The puzzle categories reflect the newer variety of puzzles we see today. The wheel matches the current version (circa 2006) to a T, and the music has been updated to reflect the current mix. The bonus round reflects the 2001 rule change, complete with escalating cash amounts (I think only "cash" can be won).
The bad - they took out some of the things the older games did have in there, namely special wheel prizes, speed-up rounds, and, mysteriously, the entire fourth round. As far as I can tell there's no way to get to a $5,000 round whatsoever in this game. Vanna (or a generic replacement) is completely missing, so the contestants are basically playing the game by themselves. Kinda creepy, especially in the bonus round. The wheel graphics are good, but the wheel spins unbelievably slow, and when you are playing with two (dumb) computer players, the rounds can take forever, as the computer players like to pick every letter in the puzzle and all the vowels before trying to solve.
The meh - There's a puzzle of the day that at least shows you the game knows what day of the month it is. You can play different city themes, something the last Hasbro version had as well I believe. Graphics are decent, if not spectacular.
Score: 7/10. I like the additions, but I can't figure out why they paid such attention to detail in some places and a total lack of detail in others.
Concentration was quite a surprise. The show hasn't aired in any capacity in 14 years. This is actually a pretty solid game with some fun twists. The game is played completely like the "Classic" version, complete with the colored Takes and Wild Card. Two out of three rebuses win the game and go on to play the car game, which uses real car types and believable car values. Even at 35 seconds, the car game is a cinch to win.
Graphics are good, and a voice over host moves the game along at a nice clip. You can customize the color of the tiles on the board, which includes a "classic" option that makes it looks very much like the '80s version. The tile open sound effect is even the same from that version.
The one detractor is that the puzzles are a complete joke. Usually only three or four individual elements to guess, and nothing ambiguous like you would sometimes see on the actual show. Skill level wise it winds up playing more at an early teen level. Also, the box indicates that there are only over 100 puzzles, which means repeats would quickly be an issue.
One other funny note - due to NBC's ownership of the game, certain prizes are branded with the GE logo!
Score (8/10): Great framework, graphics, and gameplay, just need to increase the number (and difficulty) of the puzzles, as well as the bonus round.
Two new software titles quietly hit shelves this summer. Wheel of Fortune Deluxe and Concentration. I'll review 'em both.
Wheel Deluxe is basically the download-for-a-fee Wheel game available via the Sony site, but on a CD-ROM. It's a mixture of good, bad, and meh.
The good - they included some of the stuff sorely lacking from the other releases this decade. Toss Up Puzzles, Jackpot, $10,000 wedge, and Mystery Round are all here. The puzzle categories reflect the newer variety of puzzles we see today. The wheel matches the current version (circa 2006) to a T, and the music has been updated to reflect the current mix. The bonus round reflects the 2001 rule change, complete with escalating cash amounts (I think only "cash" can be won).
The bad - they took out some of the things the older games did have in there, namely special wheel prizes, speed-up rounds, and, mysteriously, the entire fourth round. As far as I can tell there's no way to get to a $5,000 round whatsoever in this game. Vanna (or a generic replacement) is completely missing, so the contestants are basically playing the game by themselves. Kinda creepy, especially in the bonus round. The wheel graphics are good, but the wheel spins unbelievably slow, and when you are playing with two (dumb) computer players, the rounds can take forever, as the computer players like to pick every letter in the puzzle and all the vowels before trying to solve.
The meh - There's a puzzle of the day that at least shows you the game knows what day of the month it is. You can play different city themes, something the last Hasbro version had as well I believe. Graphics are decent, if not spectacular.
Score: 7/10. I like the additions, but I can't figure out why they paid such attention to detail in some places and a total lack of detail in others.
Concentration was quite a surprise. The show hasn't aired in any capacity in 14 years. This is actually a pretty solid game with some fun twists. The game is played completely like the "Classic" version, complete with the colored Takes and Wild Card. Two out of three rebuses win the game and go on to play the car game, which uses real car types and believable car values. Even at 35 seconds, the car game is a cinch to win.
Graphics are good, and a voice over host moves the game along at a nice clip. You can customize the color of the tiles on the board, which includes a "classic" option that makes it looks very much like the '80s version. The tile open sound effect is even the same from that version.
The one detractor is that the puzzles are a complete joke. Usually only three or four individual elements to guess, and nothing ambiguous like you would sometimes see on the actual show. Skill level wise it winds up playing more at an early teen level. Also, the box indicates that there are only over 100 puzzles, which means repeats would quickly be an issue.
One other funny note - due to NBC's ownership of the game, certain prizes are branded with the GE logo!
Score (8/10): Great framework, graphics, and gameplay, just need to increase the number (and difficulty) of the puzzles, as well as the bonus round.
posted by Brad @ 11:45 PM 1 comment(s)