JEOPARDY MEETS ANIMAL HOUSE
A Review of You Don't Know Jack
by Susan Davis
Have you ever played Trivial Pursuit at a party? Do you schedule
dinner time to keep from missing Jeopardy? Most of all, do you like
fast-paced multi-player party games that you can play on that
expensive toy in your gameroom? Then YOU DON'T KNOW JACK is the
perfect game for you.
I'm a compulsive Jeopardy watcher, and every time I find a trivia game for the computer I give it a try. Usually I am horribly disappointed. It's like playing Trivial Pursuit while crowded around a keyboard: cramped, repetitive, and just plain no fun. But Jack is different from the moment you start it.
The games drags you right into it as it loads. The opening scene
features dialogue between various key personnel preparing the game
show YOU DON'T KNOW JACK for airtime. You and up to two more of your
friends are the next contestants. The program zips you right through
the opening preparations and catapults you into either a 7 question
tournament game or a regular 21 question game. You can play alone, or
against others.
But it's once you get started that really shows how JACK stands out
from the crowd. JACK boasts over 800 unique questions, with more than
20 hours of non-repetitive, highly sarcastic dialogue from the game
show host who interacts with you. From presenting the categories, to
announcing and reading the question, to pointedly rejecting your wrong
answer, the game host is one of the best features of this witty and
fun game.
You'll find yourself laughing your head off as you play.
And, unlike Trivial Pursuit, or many other trivia games, you'll find
the questions challenging but answerable. You don't need a lot of
specialized knowledge to get somewhere in this game. You just have to
have participated in life during the past twenty or thirty years. This
is one game that is definitely targeted at the twenty-something and
thirty-something audience. I imagine that the older crowd may still
find some enjoyable moments, but if you haven't reached twenty yet,
chances are that many of the questions will just miss you altogether.
If you like the game concept, that's no reason not to give it a try,
however. This game is perfectly designed for future updates with more
questions and dialogue, so you may just find an update down the road
that is just your style. And, for those of us who are already hooked
on the silly game, we'll eventually be begging for said updates.
Design-wise, the game is quite simple. You are presented with three
categories to choose from for each question, and the players take
turns choosing the category. Then the host offers the dollar value,
type of question, and actual question. Whoever buzzes in first gets
the first shot at it. If you miss, the next guy to buzz in gets a
shot. If you miss the answer, you lose the number of dollars that the
question is worth.
Of course, the game has a few rather interesting twists. Each person is issued a flathead screw at the beginning of each round. If you think your opponent won't get the answer right, you can buzz in first, and use your screw to "SCREW YOUR NEIGHBOR", and make him answer the question. If he gets it right, however, you're the one who "gets screwed" and loses dollars, while he gains the money for answering correctly.
Questions come in three general flavors. Standard multiple choice
questions, with four possible answers. These can get pretty tricky,
and pretty strange. You may also be faced with a Gibberish Question,
which is a rhyming word scramble.
The host gives you clues for the
answer, but the longer you take to answer it, the less money you get.
Then, for the final question of the game, you face the JACK ATTACK.
Here's where the host separates the true gamesters from the
pretenders. The idea is to pair ideas, words, or quotes together as
they fly across the screen. Buzz in at the right time, and you gain
$2,000. Wrong timing, however, loses you $2,000. This is the question
that can make or break your score for the game. It has the same
significance as Jeopardy's Final Jeopardy Question.
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK is made by Berkeley Systems -- the same folks who
brought us Flying Toasters and other crazy screen savers. It's only
fitting that their next venture out should be an irreverent,
entertaining, and utterly captivating game like JACK. This is one game
I'm going to hold onto forever. And Berkeley had better issue updates,
or I'm going to be one frustrated JACK addict!
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
You Don't Know Jack |
| Company: |
Berkeley Systems, Inc.
|
| Cost: |
$30 |
System Requirements:
486/33 or better microprocessor;
Windows 95 or Windows 3.1x, 8 MB of RAM;
15 MB of free hard disk space;
Video display capable of at least 640x480 resolution with 256 colors;
Double Speed CD-ROM or faster;
Soundblaster 16 or compatible multimedia sound card.
NOTE: YOU DON'T KNOW JACK will not run on
any 386 (or earlier) processor.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 5
Graphics 5
Sound 5
Interface 5
Replayability 5
Overall Score:
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