"Come on down! You, too, can win this fabulous prize from Rears. Or, how about a brand new Seco game system!"

Come on down! You're the next contestant on...

The Price Is Right!!!

One of the greatest game shows of all time is, incredibly, not very well supported in the home game versions. GameFAQs lists an Atari 2600 version. (I do not believe it, though. An Atari cartridge isn't big enough.) There was also an advertisement in the back of some NES manual for a coming NES TPIR game. (I think it became vaperware.) There may have been a couple board game versions. Then, there is this one, for both the IBM, Apple and Commodore 64 computers. It was made by GameTek in 1990.

The game plays out exactly like the game show, despite the age of the home game. The game supports one to four human players and substitutes AI's for the other players. Once you set up the Human player(s) stats (Name/Sex/Image.) with a very basic tone rendition of the game show's tune beeping away in the background, your first stop will be in Contestant's Row. Where all Human and/or AI players place bids on the presented prize. Closest bid that does not go over the actual price of the prize wins. Then, next Contestant's Row will have another AI replace the previous winner's spot. Each contestant has a goofy looking graphic of a small selection of men and women. Since this game was made by GameTek, you get the general idea if you have ever played any of the NES Wheel or Jeopardy games. There are six Contestant Row's per game session, just like in the game show.

Once a player gets out of Contestant's Row, the game goes to one of seventeen different sub-games. (Which is what makes The Price Is Right so much fun, in the first place.) The game engine will randomly select either Bump, Card Game, Correct Price, Credit Card, Danger Price, Dice Game, Golf Game, Grocery Game, Hit Me, Mountain Climber, Path Finder, Plinko, Pull The Lever, Range Game, Safe Cracker, Secret X, or Take Two. (Good thing I have the manual. Makes listing the included games so much easier than 10-20 hours of constant play. Although, the game includes instructions for every portion of the game during play as an option, which is always a plus.) If the winner is Human, the game proceeds. If the winner is AI, than there is an option that allows a Human player to play for the AI. If the answer is no, then the game allows the AI to play. Each of these games is played either exactly like or somewhat similar to their TV show counterparts using as little graphics as were necessary and using only the keyboard as an interface. (It is amazing to think about how long many of their games have actually been in the rotation on the show.) All of the games rely on a some what large database of prizes (Both large and small.) and prices (Both cheap and expensive.) for the contestants to either bid/guess/choose the price on or win. And, every prize has as much of a relationship to the real world as a brand new RoTex Watch. Don't expect the price tag to reflect anything real, either. You will just have to keep playing the game until you get used to what the game's database of prizes is worth. It is also worth noting that some of these games do not share, letter for letter, the same rules as the games on the TV show. For example, in the dice game with a Seco game system as the prize, there really can be 0's and numbers higher than 6. And, Mountain Climber has a $300 range...with the cutest little goat head butting the climber dude up the mountain. (Actually, it's more exciting to watch than the real game show version.)

After the first or second set of three games are played, there is the Spin The Wheel game, which narrows down the three winners to one. The interface operates something like the Golf Game, where you set the strength of the spin, then let'er rip. (There is the odd resetting of the Wheel back to $1.00 after each player's turn, though. Does the game engine need that to happen?)

After all six games and the two Wheel games are played, the two remaining winners go head-to-head in the Final Showcase Challenge, where three large prizes are shown and the two players have to guess at the total value, without going over. Since this game's graphics are kept down to a bare bones minimum level, the prize presentations are nowhere near as glamorous as they are on TV. But, it still gets the job done. And, AI players will let the Humans place the bets, if they wish.

OK...on with the score section:

Graphics: 4 out of 10.

It's really the standard GameTek TV game show graphics style. Minimalist enough to get the job done, without making it impossible to know what you are doing. Even for Commodore, this level of graphics was poor. But, the icons are always large and easy to identify. And, every prize has its own type of large, graphic icon. All the words are legible. Then, there is the odd example from the Mountain Climber game, where the climber guy doesn't go up the mountain on his own...but, because this goat comes charging across the screen, climbs the mountain to him, and butts him in the butt, plowing him to the correct location. Not only is that not in the TV show, but it is downright funny and an unnecessary amount of graphic frames. If he goes over, he falls and gets a slight grave marker. Little touches like that is why I gave this category a 4, instead of a 3.

Controls: 9 out of 10.

Everything is usually explained on the spot and there is rarely any pressure for time. (This game is extremely patient, except for games that use clocks.) Everything happens through the keyboard. Which, in this case, is usually a good thing. (Although, in Pull The Lever, a joystick interface would have been preferable to the arrow keys.)

Sound/Music: 1 out of 10.

There are basic beeps of different tones to indicate that some keys has been pressed. The Wheel sort of makes that beep sound from the show. And, there is this basic one voice rendition of the famous Price Is Right theme that plays at a few spots. Other than that, it is almost as if your volume were muted. I've heard more audio produced out of an Atari 2600. (Or, as this game might say, an Atapre 3600, which can be played on your hand-held TV from Pony.) The SID chip is bored out of its little mind during this game.

Game play: 10 out of 10.

For anyone who even remotely likes The Price Is Right TV show, this game is for you. The interface is usually easy to work with. There is quite a database to learn. And, sadly, there really are very few options out there for playing The Price Is Right at home. (Except for yelling at your TV during the show, of course.) Just be careful of those strange little rule changes and oddities that do not reflect the show's actual games.

Uniqueness: 100 out of 10.

The fact that there are have been so few TPIR video games even made throughout the years makes this game a golden gem to any Price Is Right fan.

Overall review: 9 out of 10

This game really makes an effort to emulate the real TPIR TV show, as best it can. There are some oddities in a few of the rules. (Like the Ace in Card Game requires you to assign it a 1 or 11 value, up front. Safe Cracker DOES NOT use the same 3 digits in each combo tumbler. And, Mountain Climber uses a $300 range.) Sadly, Bob, nor his Beauties, make any sort of appearance anywhere in the game. (It is a common thing for a GameTek game, though.) However, there is quite a library of the games that are still used in the show, the interface is usually easy, loading time between each game isn't very long, and with the AI's ability to play all the games, you can almost make this run like a simulated episode of TPIR. This game is so big, it actually needs to use both sides of the disk. (Although, switching sides is only needed to be done once, thankfully.) However, had there been more TPIR games out on the market, this score would have been lower than a 9.

I would recommend this game to any fan of The Price Is Right. It is well done and shows that TPIR is not impossible to port into a video game. In fact, it may very well be the only TPIR video game there ever was available for the general public. According to the box, there is an IBM version, an Apple version and a Commodore 64 version.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/02, Updated 01/31/02