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Dom Robinson reviews

Wheel of Fortune:
Deluxe Edition

Distributed by
Tiger Toys

Ages 8 and up
Players: 1-3

Cover

Wheel of Fortune: Deluxe Edition is the follow-up to the original released a couple of years ago and another spin-off from the TV show which used to feature in a prime-time slot when first hosted by Nicky Campbell, yet has now been relegated to afternoon screenings since ex-Blue Peterite John Leslie took over.

Most of the usual features are here and it certainly follows the same procedure as the programme: three standard rounds in which a phrase, type of person, or other category must be guessed. Each player spins the wheel and, presuming it lands on a dollar figure, you can select a letter in the same way you'd play 'Hangman'.

Get it right and you'll have another go, but get it wrong and it's next player's turn. Either way, the chosen letters end up on the used-letter board. Land on a 'bankrupt' and you'll lose ALL your money, while 'Lose a Turn' should be obvious.

Whoever comes out with the most money gets to play the final, bonus round. Tonight, though, you don't get to go home with the car, just some more virtual money. You don't get to pick your own five consonants and one vowel though as on the small screen - it chooses R, S, L, T, N and E on your behalf.

There's also a couple of what the manual calls "two-tier puzzles", to be played inbetween rounds, namely: Where are We? and Fill in the Blank and they give you an extra $2000 if you answer correctly.

When you do get something wrong, the sound of the audience groaning is like those green characters in Toy Story.

There's few gameshows that I find actually entertaining to watch. This is one and Family Fortunes is another. It's probably because the questions aren't usually particularly taxing, isn't one that you can tire of quickly and so can be played at home by most of the family.

When it comes to this toy though, there are still some improvements that can be made.

The back cover states there are 450 puzzles in nine categories, but why did one particular puzzle come up twice in three separate games? Some are too ambiguous too and lean too far towards the American market. For example, instead of a name, one 'People' puzzle was "Baseball coaches". Yes, baseball's a really big sport in the UK (!)

The major bugbear with this game is that you have to be very gentle with the keyboard when typing in your full answers, as opposed to single letters. Firstly, I'd have preferred a standard QWERTY keyboard, not a 'Speak and Spell' "A, B, C, D, etc." one. It's also too over-responsive. So often can a letter repeat itself, requiring you to type more wrong letters to go back to the start and try again. It's then very infuriating doing this and just as you're about to get it right... the time runs out and it's game over for your chance. It was never like this on TV.

Overall, this Wheel of Fortune is definitely compelling. A nice addition is that cartridges from the original version can be used here, but of course there's no wry sarcasm from Nicky Campbell. I didn't miss the banal witterings of John Leslie though.

Let's hope the next version addresses the confounding keyboard problems though.

I would give this game 7/10, but as I give marks out of 5, it receives...

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

For more information, please visit the Tiger Toys.co.uk website.

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