Wheel of Fortune: Deluxe Edition

"The huge amount of puzzles compensates for subpar graphics"

Wheel of Fortune for the Super Nintendo is a straightforward adaption of the popular game show. Pat Sajack is not in the game, although Vanna White does appear. Although the graphics are nothing to write home about, the abundance of puzzles provide hours of fun.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10
Wheel of Fortune delivers exactly what it promises, but still lacks potential skill based aspects, such as spinning the wheel, which could have made the game more challenging and realistic. Instead, the dollar values are random. The only other con is the sensitive letter selection. The letters are too difficult to select, especially when one tries to solve a puzzle from scratch.

GRAPHICS: 2/10
Horrible pixelated depictions of contestants blur the line between male and female, instead making almost faceless characters with two facial expressions; blank, and melted. There is no smooth animation in this game, the characters do not move, and the wheel moves in a choppy fashion. At least the letters are distinguishable.

MUSIC/SOUND EFFECTS: 6/10
The music is just 3 bars of the Wheel of Fortune theme song played over and over, beeping the same 3 notes. Many sound effects from the television show appear in the game; the wheel has a cheery clicking sound, the contestants moan when they land on bankrupt, the puzzle chimes for each letter uncovered. The superb sound effects more than make up for the terrible music.

MULTIPLAYER: 9/10
Three human players are allowed to play at once, either with one or two controllers. Although this makes one player have to share a controller, its a small price to pay for an extra player. Players can enter in their names, instead of having to go by player one, two and three.

FUN FACTOR: 7/10
Much of the flaws in graphics and music can be forgiven due to the huge amount of puzzles this game offers. There are over 200 puzzles crammed in the cartridge, enough for at least 70 playthroughs! The puzzles in the game are usually more difficult and longer than the puzzles from the show, making for a very challenging combination.
If you are a fan of the show, and you have a Super Nintendo, this cheap game (I've seen it sold for two bucks) would fit nicely in your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/06