"Ah yes, the memories of grades 4 & 5"

The Apple II is a machine that will forever be etched in my mind. It's the first computer I ever laid hands on, and it was a truly wonderful experience... at times. As many of you remember, there were classes where all you would do was sit at your Apple II and do typing exercises. Remember how boring those were? The teacher would put that cassette in the tape player and some annoying woman's voice would recite sentences that had to be typed as the tape progressed. I swear, if I ever run into the woman who supplied the voice for those tapes, I will jam a splintered 2x4 into her hip! We were kids back then, and we wanted to play games. To hell with typing, bring on the games!

Luckily, there were times where the teacher would reluctantly open the game cabinet. One of my favorites was the Jeopardy! disk. There's no Alex Trebek, but who cares? Why pay for personalities? It was the game I wanted!

GRAPHICS- 9
Back in the day, these graphics were great. Of course, by today's standards they look rather primitive, but let's think 1986, okay? The main area where graphics are concerned is the player selection menu. Unlike many Jeopardy! games today, the Apple II version allows you to select a character to be your contestant. This features eight characters for you to choose from; four women and four men. Each has their own distinctive appearance, clothing, hairstyles, etc. The animation is quite good; when characters miss a question, they get a flare for the dramatic and the some of the reactions are quite funny. One guy appears like he's got a migraine as he lays his head on the platform with his hand hanging off the side. One particular woman clinches her fists in front of her chest as if she's going to snap and kill off the other two contestants. It would've been even more fun if she did that, but hey, it's a game show. Good job in this category.

GAMEPLAY- 9
My parents watched the real game show on TV, and it never appealed to me as a kid with the kinds of trivia that were employed. Statements like, ''Deoxyribose nucleic acid strands make up this form'' would really baffle a regular kid in the fourth grade. To combat this, separate Q&A disks could be inserted into the drive to create an easier challenge for younger kids. My favorite disk was the science disk. The questions were just right; not too easy, and not too hard. There were also math disks, social studies disks, and history disks. The best part was that two of my fifth grade buddies could also play against me. The competition was intense, believe you me! The Jeopardy! disk itself comes with its own set of Q&A trivia aimed at an adult audience. So if adults played this game, there was no need to insert another disk.

SOUND- 8
What can I say? There are few sounds in the game but they are effective... wherever they are. One set of sounds comes when you select your character. It resembles the basic game show sound, so no fault in that. There's also sounds for correct answers, incorrect answers, daily doubles, and the Final Jeopardy! sequence. They're all your typical computer game sounds and I like'em... kinda' nostalgic in a way.

RENT or BUY?- Buy (or download)
If you own an Apple II or have the means to get one, buy the Jeopardy! game... if you can locate it. Ebay is an excellent source for historic gaming goodies like Jeopardy! and other titles. For an easier way to obtain this game, just download an Apple II emulator, then do the same for the Jeopardy! file.

OVERALL- 9
What a break this was from the typing exercises, especially when me and my friends would double and triple up. Jeopardy! is presently one of the games I play. Even after all these years, it still brings about a fairly good amount of challenge, and very great amount of pleasure. Jeopardy! is indicative that nothing beats a good ole' fashioned game of trivia!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/02, Updated 10/13/02