"The only thing I'm anticipating is the end of this game"

I don't know how in the world I am going to pump out 400 words for this baby, but I'll try anyways. Anticipation is a board game for the NES. Although fun for about 5 minutes, it quickly dwindles down to a boring, mediocre game. The point of the game is to be the first to guess what it is that the computer is drawing. There are a variety of different topics such as food, leisure, etc. If you guess a drawing correctly, you will get one of 4 different colored cards. Once you collect all four, you can move onto the next level. As you go up levels, the difficulty gets marginally higher. So far, this game probably sounds like Pictionary rip-off or the old game show Win, Lose, or Draw without the washed up celebrities. But rather than putting you up against your friends or celebrities, you face a bear, and ice cream cone, or a horn. I usually play as the shoes.

Gameplay- The only real gameplay is when you are trying to guess the picture. Other than that, the computer does everything for you. What happens is when you land on a square of the board, a blank picture pops up. Magically, white lines start to fill in, making the basic shape of an object. You have around 15 seconds to guess what the drawing is, but an opponent usually buzzes in after about 6-8 seconds and the drawing is an intangible mass. The objects can range from igloos, to obscure tools such as a hand pump. There is a two player mode, but I never tried it out with my friends since I didn't want them to suffer through this disgrace.

Graphics-The graphics are okay. The shoes, teddy bear, etc look pretty good, and the different colored squares on the game board look fantastic (sarcasm). The drawings vary. Some of them are pretty good, while others I can barely tell what it is even if the drawing is completed. The coolest part of the graphics is when you move from one level to the next. A cool little beam, like the ones from Sci-fi movies, comes down and transports your shoe to the next level of the game.

Music- The music is below average. It is pretty dull, and doesn't mix with the game very well. I do have to give credit because there is different music for each part of the game. Such as if you land on a green square, the music is different from when you land on a blue square. There is no sound effect albeit when the little beam picks you up.

Difficulty- It can sometimes be difficult to guess the object before the competition does, so advancing to the next levels can become a bit annoying. There is 4 different difficulties though, so if you have trouble on medium or hard, you can try easy until you get good at guessing the objects.

Replayabiltiy- Once you beat Anticipation the first time, it will probably be quite some time before you want to beat it again. Anticipation is a very good dust collector.

Anticipation is a mediocre game that will have you waiting for it to be over. I do not recommend this game, unless you want to waste time, or you cant find your game of Pictionary.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 03/23/05