Wheel of Fortune (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.5 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Nicole Freeman
• Reviewed on: 12/28/1998
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 09/30/1998
• Originally published on GameSpot: Wheel of Fortune (PC) Review

Wheel of Fortune is one of America's most popular game shows. It's easy to see why. There's little or no skill involved, and your fate is usually decided by the spin of the giant wheel. Pat Sajak and Vanna White have become household names from sea to shining sea. Zillions of hapless Americans tune in regularly to see who will walk away with the brand-new car, luxury vacation, or fabulous yacht.

The premise of the game is simple. You try to guess a person, place, or thing by choosing consonants and buying vowels. If you're lucky, your spin of the wheel lands you on a dollar amount (ranging from $250 to $10,000). If you choose a consonant that's in the mystery phrase, you get the dollar amount you spun multiplied by the number of occurrences in the phrase. For example, let's say you spun $500 and picked the letter T. The mystery phrase has four Ts, so you get $2,000. Vowels are purchased at $250 a pop. The wheel is also loaded with Bankrupts, Lose a Turns, and Surprises. If your letter guess isn't in the phrase, the wheel passes to the next player.

The trick of the game is to figure out what the phrase is quickly, then keep spinning until the last possible moment. This strategy of sorts works well, unless you happen to land on a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn. All this activity and puzzle solving sounds exciting, right? And it is, if you happen to be playing the game in the Sony Studios and actually have a chance at winning money or a prize. It's less fun watching it on TV at home; but there's still some drama and excitement, wondering what each player will do and, of course, solving the puzzle before any of the morons on TV can.

Although there doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to bring a game show like this to the PC, Hasbro will definitely have an audience amongst people who dream of being part of the action of a big-money American game show. But beyond that, what does this game really offer?

The game sets out right from the get-go to be as much like the TV show as possible. An emcee asks you simple questions to get you started and puts you in control of the wheel. That vicarious thrill alone will sell hundreds if not thousands of copies of this game. Not to mention the appearance of the one-and-only Vanna White as the show's host. Hasbro has cleverly integrated her FMV image dialogue into the show. Of course, at times, it's totally silly (there's this smiling clapping thing she does that pops up randomly that's just hilarious). But the dialogue and mannerisms are exactly as they are on the TV show (I watched it a few times just to make sure). It's the lack of human interaction that makes her appear so much sillier on the PC.

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