TV Show King is a rather basic game show simulation. It costs 1,000 Wii points ($10) on the Wii Shop channel. In the game, a goofy host asks general knowledge questions in a variety of categories, and four multiple choice answers appear beneath the questions. Up to four players use their Wii remotes to point at and select the answer they believe is right. There is full Mii support for this, so you can use your own Mii, and your Miis will pop up in the game as opponents as well if you’re not playing multiplayer. Between rounds there is a Wheel of Fortune-type interlude where each player has the option to a spin a wheel to potentially increase their earnings (or lose everything, if they’re unlucky). The final round is a showdown between the top two players, who are each trying to answer five questions correctly. This game is kind of fun to play with friends for a while, but it can get old pretty fast, and there are some serious drawbacks, which I’ll go into.
My first gripe with this game is the title. That may seem like a minor complaint, but the more I think about the title, the more it annoys me. First of all, it is misleading in that many people assume that it is a quiz game focusing on TV Trivia. In fact, the questions come from a variety of categories, from geography to history to pop culture, etc. If they were going to go with such a generic title, I think Game Show King would have made a lot more sense. But actually, I also take issue with the “King” part, since it implies that the winner is the “King” of the TV Show…? Or, game show, I guess, but the point is it’s kind of sexist. I’m female, so I kind of resent being crowned the “King” of anything.
But apart from the perplexing title, this game has other flaws. There are three difficulty levels you can choose from, which is good because the easiest level is really not challenging at all. Also, the AI is really dumb, so your virtual opponents (if you’re not playing against three other real people), will very often choose the wrong answer. When you are playing against real people, however, there are other problems, since you can see the answer everyone else chooses and also change your answer as many times as you want before the clock runs out. The first person to choose the correct answer gets the most points, but even if you don’t ring in first, you still get something for getting it right (even if you just copied everyone else).
It seems the only way the computer can keep you from running away with the game against your moronic AI opponents is the bizarre element of the wheel. You don’t have to choose to spin the wheel, but even if you don’t you can be affected because other people can land on options that will let them take money from an opponent or even switch their score with someone else’s, which will most likely be you if you’re playing alone, since you’ll probably have the highest score.
If you choose to spin the wheel, it’s actually pretty tricky to do. It involves swinging the Wii remote awkwardly, and even after you do it several times, you don’t exactly get the hang of it. When you spin it makes the game look weird and glitchy, although it is fun to watch your Mii do a little dance as the wheel goes around. There are other weird touches to the game, like the rounds where you have to use your remote like a little flashlight to illuminate the possible answers. It really doesn’t add that much excitement or make the game all that more difficult.
This review probably makes it seem like I hate the game, but I don't actually hate it. I’m a sucker for trivia competitions, and I’ve had some fun with friends on this one. There are thousands of questions, but they seem to be generated randomly, so you’ll probably see some repeating. There are some interesting questions that I would not have expected to see on a game like this. However, unless you really love game shows and trivia competitions, you’ll probably get bored with this one pretty fast. Even if you do like these kinds of games, be warned that this one has some pretty annoying features and is probably not the most worthwhile way to spend your 1,000 Wii points.
Grade: C+
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