Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

"Who wants to see so many repeat questions? (Hint: Not me.)"

I'll start off by admitting I am a HUGE fan of the TV show. I don't miss an episode, and I get wrapped up in the tension and try to telepathically communicate with the contestant (don't laugh). So when I heard about the computer game (and how it was only $19.99) I instantly went out and bought it. It fulfilled my expectations...for about 5 games. Then everything went sour...

GRAPHICS: 10/10
This is not a game that is heavy on graphics...that much is obvious. But what there is, is pulled off perfectly and true to the show. And with a game like this, you can't top that.

SOUND: 10/10
WOW!!! They pull off all of the show's sound effects perfectly, making the tension just as high as the real show even though there's no audience. Well, unless you play in front of other people like I do. And Jellyvision has gone and given Regis the personality of the hosts from the You Don't Know Jack series...which is definitely a good thing! One such example is when you don't type in a name. Like the YDKJ games, he gets sarcastic after waiting a bit. ''Don't you even know your own name?'' Classic.

GAMEPLAY: 9/10
You'll have a blast because it stays true to the show. The lifelines are intact: 50/50, which removes two wrong answers; Ask the Audience, in which the ''audience'' says what they think is the correct answer; and Phone a Friend, in which Regis ''phones'' someone and they try to give you the right answer. Ask the Audience was done by an Internet Poll, and Phone a Friend is really (as least I think it is) Regis ''calling'' an actor. I won't go into further details though, because it's just like the show, and if you don't watch the show, why would you buy this game?

REPLAY: 2/10
Here is the game's MAJOR flaw...After only about 4 or 5 games you'll start getting repeat questions...all the time.
Which (if you have a good memory) guarantees you'll get to the high levels all the time, which WON'T be repeat questions. That is, until you've done that a few times. My guess is that there are only about 500-800 questions in the whole game, which is much less than a typical YDKJ game.

CHALLENGE: 9/10
Here's another flaw. The questions here are MUCH harder than the show. A sample question: ''What does burpee.com sell?'' Umm, I've never gone there, so I wouldn't know. That seems understandable still...except for the fact that this question was for $100!! On the show question $100-$1000 are all gimmes. Not so here.

OVERALL (NOT AN AVERAGE): 5/10
Jellyvision & Disney nearly got it right except for the number of questions. Please, Please, PLEASE fix this in Millionaire 2!! (yes, there is going to be a Millionaire 2!)
If you want a great trivia game...go buy one of the YDKJ's.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/00, Updated 01/07/02