Customer Reviews

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader: Make the Grade

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Game is based on the FOX TV show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, as you should know.

There are 4 game modes:

Single Player:

1. Homeroom - Like the show, answer 1st through 5th grade questions to get to 1 million dollars

Multiplayer Modes (2 to 4 people required):

2. Academic Academy - Each player takes the same quiz (like Homeroom)

3. Flashcards - 10 second timer, 10 questions, answer fastest for more money, answer 1st through 5th grade questions

4. Spelling Bee - 10 second timer, 10 questions, answer fastest for more money, pick the misspelled word


In the Homeroom mode, you use the Wii-mote to click and answer the questions. You have three cheats: Peek, Copy, and Save, just like the show. You can ask each classmate which is his or her favorite subject if you choose. You can skip repetitive portions if you choose. Also, there is no timer, which is very nice. On the TV show, once you get to the higher grade levels, the answers are received verbally with no "True and False" or "Multiple Choice". All the questions in the game are "True and False" or "Multiple Choice", with the exception of the million dollar question, which you will have to type in the correct answer, I'm not sure if spelling counts or they have different acceptable variations for answers, I always spelled correctly.

For the Multiplayer modes, YES YOU CAN use multiple Wii remotes. You can also share Wii motes if you only have 2. You don't use the motion control by pointing and clicking in this mode, rather you use the Directional Pad to select your answers and such. Using the Wii motion controls for the Multiplayer would be stupid, you'd give the answers to your opponents because they'd see your cursor. Smart move by THQ.

You can create up to 7 profiles and there is a guest mode. Each profile will save your Total Earnings and Average Earnings for each of the various game modes. You can customize you character's appearance, however it is slightly limited. On the main screen, there is an Honor Roll option, which will show the top players and their earnings.

The only bad things, if they are even that, were that you couldn't see the answer to the question if you chose to "Drop Out". There was a slight animation glitch that I saw a few times, however it didn't affect gameplay or really matter, just when the 5th graders walked up to the podium sometimes they wouldn't walk they'd just appear.

The graphics are good enough, similar to the screenshots. This isn't the type of game where they really matter. This game is fun, if you like trivia and like the show, you'll like this game. THQ usually makes good games, some of the bonehead reviews I read almost had me worried.

My 5 year old and I and my husband enjoyed playing. It was tedious playing multi-player as some people noted passing around a shared remote was annoying. I was also taken aback at the comments. When your player does not get the right answer the character exclaims something to the effect of "I'm an idiot!" I thought this was appropriate at any age. Other comments were similar. Some are not as sensitive about these things but I do not want my children calling themselves or others IDIOT. We don't use this word in our house. Nor stupid. Remove it from the game. There are better comments to use. All in all, we had fun. Would we play again? Not sure. Maybe. My 5 yr old enjoyed it. My husband and I enjoyed it as well. Decent game for the price and something fun to do as a group. Just a few things I would like to see changed in future releases.

First of all... most Wii games are $50+, lets manage expectations here. The graphics are not the best, but if you like the show, you will like this game. It follows the format to the letter. The comments by Jeff and the kids can be turned off in the settings. Also hitting "A" on the wiimote when Jeff is talking will bypass his comments and speed you through the game. I am not sure why other reviewers are mentioning that their kids are bored as the show format is not targeted to kids, thus one would think that the game would not be either. It has been a lot of fun so far!

I received this game as a gift and I was pleasantly surprised. The whole family enjoyed playing this game (age range of 9 years to 75 years old). Definitely one of our new favorites. We really enjoy the Flashcards and Spelling Features where up to 4 players can play simultaneously. The Homeroom feature (one player tries to win a million dollars) is also fun. You can check the Honor Roll and see all of your game score averages compared to the other players.

The Wii version of this game is awful. Some of the questions are worded so that they don't make sense or could have more than one meaning. The answers are often inaccurate or entirely incorrect. I have looked up the answers many times after the game claimed the one I guessed was inncorrect only to find that the game was wrong. The strengths of the students do not always match the subjects given, and sometimes their strengths change in the middle of the game. It is very frustrating and disappointing. I have played the x-box version of this game, and it does not have any of these flaws and is much more fun. If I get one wrong on x-box, I know that the game is right. I do not recommend spending any amount of money on the Wii version unless you do not care about guessing the correct answer and "flunking out" because this game says otherwise.

Okay...I accepted it when my answer to the question "what track and field event involves water?" was deemed incorrect because I typed in "steeplechase" instead of "the steeplechase." So, when the question was "what do we call a female donkey?" I answered "a jenny." Incorrect again. Correct answer was "jenny." I know it's not real money, but c'mon. That just ain't cool.

Nintendo, I expect better than that.

It is nice that the game is very inexpensive, but the overall design and game play were tedious and clunky. There was no real building of suspense within the game or a feeling of fun competition. Sluggish and uninspired.

The wife and I are fans of the show but the game doesn't spike the fun meter. After playing this game, I think we like the show more for the goofy contestants and Foxworthy's remarks rather than the actual trivia. The mini-games are why this game gets 2 stars and the similarity to the show bumps it to a 3. Bottom line: It's just not a very fun game.
On a couple of side notes: My 5th grade helpers haven't saved me; despite picking their strongest categories. Also, I think maybe we are not the target demographic (27&23 years with no kids).

The game is fun to play, but it has some serious problems.

If you are in two player mode and someone misses a question, they are done for the rest of the game. So if you are playing with your kid, you have to lose so they can play. The game can take 10 minutes to play all the way through in some modes.

The spelling challenge is not very well done. We have played it maybe 75 times in this mode and every single time the longest word is always the one spelled wrong. Once you figure that out, you stop looking for spelling and start looking for the longest word.

I did not expect the graphics quality to be good, but it is fine. The game is just like the show. It repeats itself over and over again. We expected that, but it is a bit annoying.

I hope the next version plays a little better.

My mom loves this show so we got it for New Year's Eve. While playing it we questioned some of the answers but just chalked it up to maybe we didn't really know the correct answer after all. Then we were asked questions we absolutely knew the answers. Who was the villain in Sleeping Beauty? According to the game it's the fairy but we all know it is the seamstress. My last straw was when my mom got to the million dollar question and it asked her to spell conscience. Well the correct answer according to the game was C-O-N-C-I-E-N-C-E. According to the dictionary there is no such word. Needless to say we returned the item and got a full refund.

So for those people who are "having fun" with this game the saying goes "ignorance is bliss".