Wheel of Fortune

"I was probably sick when I bought this game"

You know how Wheel of Fortune goes. The television show is great. The game on the other hand is something very special. Not in a good way, but in a way of you can't believe what you're seeing.
Presentation - 2/10 -
The box art just showed the wheel of fortune lady standing in front of a the wheel on the show. Nothing much, just a simple box art.
When I got to take a close look at the box I noticed a little message on the disk. It said ''over 50 puzzles!''. I'd expected a little more than 50 puzzles. It disappointed me somewhat. I guess the only thing about the presentation that made me happy was that it was only twenty bucks.
Graphics - 5/10
When your game starts you might rub your eyes to make sure it's real, no not in a good way, the graphics are in fact... bad. You start off with three contestants that look like they've been glued to your television screen standing in front of you. It looks like they were cut out of a magazine and just put there.
Then you spin the wheel. You expect a little spinning effect or something but in stead the numbers go blank and you hear a spinning sound. It must be spinning. Then the wheel slows down and you can see the numbers go by and then stop on a number and the game continues.
After guessing a letter you see a lady standing in front of the screen next to the letters who also looks like she been pasted from a magazine.
Sound - 6/10
Your contestant doesn't have a variety of things to say. He just says the same thing over and over again at any random moment. You can also occasionally hear the crowd cheering when something happens. It doesn't matter what happens. Whether you won, guessed a letter, or even got a letter wrong they will cheer.
The best part of the sound is the catchy wheel of fortune song. It's a nice little tune and could be argued to be the best feature of the whole game.
Control -10/10
All you do is press one button. It's very simple and has no flaws.
Gameplay - 2/10
So, as the game box says, there are more than fifty puzzles. Wow, that's enough to keep you going for two days. Or, if you play for two minutes a day, you can go for two months. But you'll probably want to play more than that.
Now, to the actually game. The game is pretty easy. I think my two year old sister can beat if she tried. All she has to do is press a button and keep guessing letters and she'll get it.
I think solving the puzzles is supposed to be the exiting part of this game. But it's really not that great. You sit there and guess letters. I then realized the reason the show is good is because the people are actually competing for real money. In this game you are playing for points. It really won't do me much in life, except give me Wheel of Fortune bragging rights.
Of course, so I will move on to a good point of the game. You can go to different parts of the world and have a different back round on your wheel! But sadly, even this has a flaw. You can't even pick your back round. It's completely random. Let's say I don't want to compete in the middle of a desert, I cant say I'd rather go to London or someplace else. Not that it really matters.
The fun factor of the game isn't really that high. You basically just guess letters and that's it. Or you can pretend you're on the actual show winning actual money. It's your choice.
Replay Value - 1/10
You'll forget about it. You'll just play it for three days and forget about it, unless you try to remember it. It just isn't fun enough to keep you going.
Overall Value
So, buy or rent? I say don't either. It doesn't matter whether your such a big fan of the show, you've got posters on your walls. You still wont like it. I personally lost it and don't care where it is. You'll probably lose it too. Not that I'm telling you it's like a piece of garbage or something. It's only very close to being a piece of garbage. So just don't waste your money buying, or renting this game. You'll be sorry either way. Please listen to me here. You must understand, there is a distinctive difference between the show and this game. One is good, one is bad.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/02, Updated 10/20/02