Minimum Requirements: 132MHz PowerPC, MacOS 8.1, 32MB RAM (virtual memory may be required), 25MB free hard drive space, 4X CD-ROM, display capable of thousands of colors at 800x600 pixels or greater
Network Feature: No
3D Support: No
Retail Price: $29.99
Availability: October, 2000
Know what was a good game show? That Gong Show. Chuck Berris, Jamie Farr, J.P. Morgan...and who could forget that Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine as he struted across the stage to Count Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside" while toilet paper, basketballs, prosthetic limbs and such rained upon him. You can keep your Bob Barkers, eligible bachelors and one hundred people surveyed, all it takes to create a successful game show is a big dancing guy and a comic with a paper bag over his head.
But sadly, I think it's a safe bet we'll never see a computerized version of The Gong Show. What we will see are the more conventional, time-tested games that have--for better or worse--become symbolic of American culture. "Who Wants to be A Millionaire" has been out for some time now, "Jeopardy" is not too far off, and "Wheel of Fortune" is closer than a couple of Ts in a Before and After puzzle.
Wheel of Fortune is another release from MacSoft as part of their deal with Hasbro, continuing their expansion of games marketed towards the casual gamer. Although I don't consider myself a casual gamer any more than I'd lable myself "hardcore," I came into this review having spent my share of lazy evenings in front of the TV, yelling at the idiots on screen because none of them seem to know the title "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken." Although it's no Gong Show, Wheel of Fortune is a fun way to pass a half hour. So the question is, does that fun translate to the computer screen? Sure, but so do a lot of the annoyances.
The developers of Wheel of Fortune have done an outstanding job of capturing the feel of the TV show. The announcer guy is in there, the sweeping video introduction is in there, Vanna White is in there...but Pat Sajak is not. Now this confuses me. Nothing against Vanna, but her role could be handled by Jim Neighbors and it wouldn't change the show much. But Pat, he's the guy who makes it interesting. He's the guy who takes the subtle jabs at the contestants and ties the whole show together. Yet for some reason the developers thought we'd rather have the overly concerned Vanna calling the shots.
And do you know what? She doesn't even do that correctly. Now I'm certainly not above the occasional grammatical error. But if I had a whole teams of developers, QA personnel and beta testors behind me, I'd sure hope at least one of them would say, "Hey, Hiner, 'There's three in this puzzle' is incorrect grammar. Your usage of 'three' is plural, so the correct sentence would be, 'There are three in this puzzle.' " And to think parents want to get rid of proficiency tests.
But again, the casual gamer--indeed, the casual human being--doesn't care about the English language. He/she cares only about color and sounds and fun, and Wheel of Fortune provides all of that. Gamers can customize the number of rounds or the time limit provided per game. They can also determine the number of human players, rounding out short numbers with computer contestants. This is actually where the computer game best replicates the show; the AI players are more annoying than a crack in a G4 cube. I consider myself to be a well-tempered, polite gamer, but I found myself swearing at and flipping off the computer players even moreso than the combatants in a session of Unreal Tournament. Any senator who claims that violent video games are responsible for the decline and fall of western civilization need only to play Wheel of Fortune for a few minutes against computer contestant number three to understand the true power of Satan.
There are also tournament and solo player modes, the latter of which pits only you against the puzzles, armed with seven free spins. Once you've used them all up after guessing incorrectly or landing on the accursed Bankrupt, the game is over. But your options don't end there. You can also select the location, choosing from exotic locales such as Paris, the desert and Hawaii. Sadly, the popular Twins Week, Celebrity Week and Scream Queen Week are not supported.
The implimentation of Vanna is oddly inconsistent. Sometimes she sounds as if she's sitting right next to you, while at other points she seems to be shouting her lines from the audience. She also spends the whole game rolling in and out of the screen inside a little wheel, making her more intrusive than helpful. She's like the teacher who keeps offering patronizing words of encouragement when you wish she'd just leave you alone and let you finish the test.
Aside from that, the gameplay is seamless and true to the show. When it's your turn, you can either spin, buy a vowel or solve. Oddly, there appears to be no way to control the strength of the spin. I'm not sure if this would really help, but I'd at least like to think all those Bankrupt spins were my fault. After spinning, you can select a letter by clicking on it or by typing it. The same goes for buying vowels. It does not go for solving the puzzle; when you type in a missing letter, the selector automatically advances to the next. This is fine, unless you type a wrong letter. You can't backspace, and you can't use the mouse to select the letter you want to change. Instead, you have to keep going and work your way back to the errant letter. And polite as she may be, Vanna's not much for patience.
But these are all just minor annoyances, the type that drive you crazy while playing the game, but that you quickly get over if you win, and that won't stop you from playing the game when you've got some time to kill or when friends come over. In all my years of computing, I've seen dozens of spin-offs of Wheel of Fortune. MacSoft's version easily comes closest to capturing the fun of the actual show. The colors, music and familiar voices (except Pat's, of course) are there, as are the puzzles (over 2,000) that always seem tougher than they really are. Fans of the show are going to love this game. So are Mac owners looking for something to do other than upload to iTools photos of their trip to Wisconsin Dells. But for the type of gamer who owns both Unreal Tournament and Quake III, you might want to wait for Deathmatch of Fortune, which is probably...thankfully...a long way off.
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Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune is another release from MacSoft as part of their deal with Hasbro, continuing their expansion of games marketed towards the casual gamer. Although I don't consider myself a casual gamer any more than I'd lable myself "hardcore," I came into this review having spent my share of lazy evenings in front of the TV, yelling at the idiots on screen because none of them seem to know the title "
But again, the casual gamer--indeed, the casual human being--doesn't care about the English language. He/she cares only about color and sounds and fun, and Wheel of Fortune provides all of that. Gamers can customize the number of rounds or the time limit provided per game. They can also determine the number of human players, rounding out short numbers with computer contestants. This is actually where the computer game best replicates the show; the AI players are more annoying than a crack in a G4 cube. I consider myself to be a well-tempered, polite gamer, but I found myself swearing at and flipping off the computer players even moreso than the combatants in a session of Unreal Tournament. Any senator who claims that violent video games are responsible for the decline and fall of western civilization need only to play Wheel of Fortune for a few minutes against computer contestant number three to understand the true power of Satan.
The implimentation of Vanna is oddly inconsistent. Sometimes she sounds as if she's sitting right next to you, while at other points she seems to be shouting her lines from the audience. She also spends the whole game rolling in and out of the screen inside a little wheel, making her more intrusive than helpful. She's like the teacher who keeps offering patronizing words of encouragement when you wish she'd just leave you alone and let you finish the test.
But these are all just minor annoyances, the type that drive you crazy while playing the game, but that you quickly get over if you win, and that won't stop you from playing the game when you've got some time to kill or when friends come over. In all my years of computing, I've seen dozens of spin-offs of Wheel of Fortune. MacSoft's version easily comes closest to capturing the fun of the actual show. The colors, music and familiar voices (except Pat's, of course) are there, as are the puzzles (over 2,000) that always seem tougher than they really are. Fans of the show are going to love this game. So are Mac owners looking for something to do other than upload to iTools photos of their trip to Wisconsin Dells. But for the type of gamer who owns both Unreal Tournament and Quake III, you might want to wait for Deathmatch of Fortune, which is probably...thankfully...a long way off.
