"Same Great Trivia, New Sports Taste"

Let's be honest now: The Macintosh is not a platform for Sports games.

Sure, that may be changing soon. The Madden series will finally be rearing its head towards the Macintosh later this year.. which will hopefully capture the attention of more sports developers. With the rise of Mac Sales, it's not completely unlikely to think the Mac could snag a few new developers. But until then, most of us have been making do with games like "Playmaker Football" or "Tom Landry's Strategy Football." While not complete duds, where's Blitz when you need it?

Well, at least we have one good title in our ranks.. You Don't Know Jack: Sports Edition. Of course, it's not really a Sports Game.. it's a trivia game.. but sports buffs should get their just desserts anyways.

Sports is one of the oldest editions of Jack, definitely the oldest edition of specialty trivia Jack. It's based on the original's engine with all new questions based on Sports. And not just Baseball, Football, and Basketball.. America's top three. How about Lacrosse, Soccer, even Cricket... the boys and Jellyvision dug up some doozies for this one, and they present all the questions in the classic cynical Jack style. It's a hook, especially for hardcore sports aficianados.. make no mistake, this trivia game doesn't ask "How many bases are in baseball?" These questions can get hard.. too hard for a guy who really isn't into sports.. like me.

However, if you ARE into sports, this one is straight up your alley.

Let's get into the game.

If you aren't familiar with You Don't Know Jack, then allow me to do the job. (You have no idea how tired I am of typing summaries to this effect.) You Don't Know Jack is a trivia game that completely blows the doors off any other trivia game you've played. The entire game is set up like a gameshow, that you and up to two of your friends can play. You play for virtual money in a 21 or 7 question game. Instead of giving you the same boring questions over and over, Jack gives you interesting questions that fulfill the game's commercial motto, "The Trivia Game where High Culture and Pop Culture Collide." Well, except this time, it's all about sports. You'll see the most bizarre subjects join together to make bizarre questions. The Addams Family and Football combine to make one question. College level chemistry and Softball for another. It's clever, ingenious, and never repetitious.

The game differs from other trivia games, computer or otherwise, in its presentation. The entire thing is set up like a game show, complete with a host and a virtual scoring system. This one is even set up to look like a sports game -- the colors are green and white, patterned after different types of turf. And instead of common Jack sounds effects, we get whistle blasts and cheers.

I forget the host's name.. but he's not as good as the Jack regulars. He sound more like a "good old fashioned" buddy than an actual host, which isn't a good thing, since it's a You Don't Know Jack Host's job to ridicule you when you get a question wrong. Snide comments just don't sound right from this guy. But, to his mercy, he's not all that bad, and he keeps the game going.

If you've played the original Jack, you know what to expect here -- the questions are all the exact same type as the original, with no new "sport" editions. That's all right, though, since classic Jack easily covers everything it's supposed to.

Yup, I'm gonna brief you on the styles of Questions.. this is my fourth Jack Review. I'm also getting tired of typing some of this again and again.. although a lot of it is pretty much the same. ;)

First of all, you have your basic questions, the ones that take up most of the game. First, you pick a catergory.. usually something pretty bizarre, like "Heidi on the Gridiron." The question is then given a value. The question is popped on the screen, along with four equally bizarre possible answers. Buzz in first and answer correctly, and you net yourself the amount of $$$ the question was designated. Screw up and answer wrong, and that score will be detracted from your total.

Next is the Gibberish Question -- a tradition that continues in every jack game, and that makes some of the more experienced players cringe in fear. In the Gibberish Question, a rather odd phrase is printed on the screen.. something that usually looks like a lot of nonsense mumbo jumbo. (That is usually pretty funny) You only have so much time to figure out what other phrase it rhymes with, usually a cliche or proverb of some sort. Figure it out first, buzz in, and get it right and you net yourself some greenbacks.. more if you answer earlier. However, to be honest, in this Jack I didn't always understand what the phrase meant.. just goes to show I'm not a big Sports buff.. although some of my more ESPNish friends were rolling on the floor with laughter.

And the third and final type of question in You Don't Know Jack Sports is another type of question that has never left, not even in the most recent editions -- The Jack Attack. The Final question, the grand finale. In the Jack Attack, you will get a clue based on the catergory you picked for the last question.. for instance "I WANNA BE A MOVIE STAR" Then, slowly float to the front of the screen from the back, while random words starting floating elsewhere on the screen. Buzz in when the word that matches the catergory and the clue shows up, and you gain money. So, if the word "Shaq" was leering forward, and you buzzed when "Space Jam" Was floating around, you'd lose money. Buzz in when "Kazaam" appears, and you net yourself 2000 bucks. Easy enough, but when competing with two other players, it can be an outrageous test of knowledge and speed.

Left completely unchanged from the original is the ability to "SCREW" other players. One of the more brilliant elements of Jack is the ability to "Screw" the other players. If a question shows up for, let's say, the maximum amount of $6,000, and you know there's NO WAY the other players know it.. then screw one of em, preferably the one in the lead or closest to you in the lead. You get one screw for every ten questions, which forces the other player to answer the question. Be warned, though, that if they somehow get it right, they gain the money for the question.. and you, in turn, lose it... and what a bunch of dissing this will bring about.

There aren't many graphics to speak of, though the layout and style of Jack is what the game is all about. Like I said, the entire game is set up in "Sporty" colors. The words on the screen are constantly moving to keep your attention, so the game never gets boring.. even while you're waiting for the next question to appear. Each question is also introduced by a short animation, again.. just to keep you interested.

The sounds are completely different than any other version of Jack. Whereas words usually appeared on the screen with "zoom" pings, bings and other things, now they appear with oofs, ahhs, whistles and crowd noise.. all to fit the style. It works well, and is very compatible with the Jack game. The host reads off all the questions, and gives you a unique response for each answer, as well as explaining the reason the correct answer is.. well.. the correct answer. Each game ends with the entertaining audio YOU DON'T KNOW JACK commercials.. this time with a sports spin. And instead of an accapella group singing the introduction to each question to you, this time you are greeted by a cheerleading squad or maybe a phy-ed coach's voice. Everything fits in with the style.

Jack Sports is just like the first Jack with one very special exception.. it's all about SPORTS! And seriously, unless you're a collector or a Sports nut, steer clear of this one... they aren't your usual Jack Quesitons. But if you fill any of the above catergories, jump right in. It's still Jack, tried and true.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99