JEOPARDY VGA from GameTek

Reviewed by Zorian Rotenberg.

       Computer        Graphics        Memory          Disk Space 
Minimum   386            VGA             1 MB            1.5 MB 
Max/Rec.  486            VGA             1 MB            2 MB

Control:  Mouse
  Sound:  Most sound boards.
  Notes:  Has both Music and Sound FX.

Reviewed version 1.0 on: 486/33, 4mb RAM, SB Pro
    Reviewer recommends: 486/33, 4mb RAM, SB compatible card.

JEOPARDY a very good and classic TV show, and this release of the computer game is yet the best of all the computer Jeopardies made to date.

The graphics are very nice for a computer simulation of a TV game show. Alex Trebek looks almost exactly the way you see him on the TV screen, and he sounds the same too. Yes, there is his true voice in coded into this game, and it's not a CD-ROM version either. You can play and enjoy this game for hours, and not get any topics repeated.

Playing for a while I understood that it was is a real challenge. I had other older Jeopardies, even the good old CGA version, and their categories were much easier. This time Jeopardy is not that easy - but that is not a weakness.

If you have ever played other computer Jeopardies you may remember that you were required to give exact answers (or rather questions). If you answered something like "blue and gray" while the answer is "gray and blue", you would not get it right, but Jeopardy VGA supports better string parsing, or in other words is not as tough on the exactness of your answer. It is not perfect but it is much more lenient.

Even if this is the best release of the TV show, there could still be some improvement. For instance, when they display your answering screen, the game doesn't show the category. That is not comfortable because sometimes you can forget the category. Also, in the Final Jeopardy, if you get the answer wrong, it will not display the right answer and leaves you guessing.

In general, though, if you like the real Jeopardy, and you were planning to get a computer Jeopardy, this is the one to get, and believe me: it is much more than just "months" of enjoyment.

This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Zorian Rotenberg for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.