Who Wants to be a Millionaire 2nd Edition
PlayStation
Like a great number of people, I also became caught up in the Who Wants to be a Millionaire fever that took place in the late 90s/early 2000s. I am not necessarily proud to admit this fact, but it is what it is. Regis was a friendly, recognizable face. The stakes were high, the questions tough. Every episode I would tune in, wondering if this would be the time that somebody would finally win a million dollars. Shows like this are a dime a dozen nowadays, but this was must see TV back in the day.
One of the things that made the show unique was that my entire family watched it as well. I was always a quiet kid who never really had much to say. In a way, this show helped bring me a little closer to my family. It gave us a common ground; something to talk about.
Being a lover of video games, I thought: hey why not buy the home version of the game? I could play it with family, show it around to everyone. It'd be a nice bonding experience. I played it with my family (my mom in particular really liked it) and we had a good time.
There really isn't a whole lot to this game though; this is pretty much a no frills adaptation of the TV show. You enter in your name and you immediately start playing. Your character doesn't have a visual representation. The limited FMV scenes show the set, the stage, and two empty chairs. But no you. No Regis (although his voice is ever present in this game).
Everything follows the TV show pretty well. Your basic goal is to to answer 15 straight questions and win the fake million dollars. You have your three lifelines: 50/50, Phone-A-Friend, and Ask the Audience. The lifelines don't always help you. I've lost games because the latter two have given me false answers before. But I guess they don't always prove to be 100% accurate on the show either. I'm glad they are there though, as they are much better than nothing.
The first five or so questions are of the easier variety. Well, they are supposed to be anyway. I won't lie, I have gone out of the game on one of the easy questions more times than I care to admit. Steadily the questions get harder as the game progresses. There are several "safe" zones along the way. Where if you get stumped by a question, you can back out and keep what money you have earned rather than lose it all. Why you would do this in a video game, I have no idea. It's always million or bust for me.
Graphically there is not much to look at. The majority of your time spent playing you will be looking at questions or your progress chart, which are just flat graphic representations. Some quick in-between question scenes will show you little bits of the studio as well. But again - no Regis. He does appear via cut scene before and after you play. But never during the game. You don't even get a physical avatar or character model to choose from. This show is 100% question and answer based, and nothing else.
Everything sounds fine. Regis sounds like.... Regis. He banters with you and asks you questions. If you take too long he gives you his famous "Is that your final answer?" line. The music and sound effects are true and authentic to the show.
There really is not a whole lot to say about this game. If you have seen the show, you should know what to expect here. The game is difficult, I will give it that. However, if you play enough times you will start to notice repeat questions. Keep at it long enough and you should win the million easy, simply because you've seen every question many times before.
I notice that this is the 2nd Edition of the game. I shudder to think how primitive the 1st Edition must be. And I think there is a 3rd too. Hopefully they made some improvements, like allowing you to pick characters and see them interact on stage with the host. There is probably a greater variety of questions. But there is not much else to add here. This is a very basic game show, and what really can you do with it?
This is an okay game. I am sure it was a lot more fun back when everyone was nuts over this show. Now it is just a fun pastime that I can pop in every once in a while if I am bored or nostalgic. It's a good game to play with people over too.
Fun fact: the first night I ever got drunk in my entire life - I came home afterwards and started playing this game. I was in a complete haze, my first drunken stupor ever. I don't even know how I focused my eyes on the screen long enough to read the questions. But I somehow did it - and I won the million dollars on my first try. The first time in many, many attempts that I had ever completed the game. I then went to the bathroom and puked my guts out. I will always and forever associate this game with my first drunken experience.
So I will always have that.
Overall:
C
and that IS my final answer
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