Customer Reviews

Press Your Luck

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Press Your Luck is probably one of the most popular game shows of the 1980s, but despite this, there hadn't been an official software version of the game for over two decades until Ludia launched Press Your Luck 2010, part of a suite of game show adaptations by the company. Ludia's version of Price is Right was relatively well received by casual and hard core game show fans alike (despite what some reviews on Amazon may say), so I was disappointed to see that they missed the mark a little bit with this release.

First, the good. The show's primary draw, the Whammy, is faithfully reproduced with over 50 Whammy animations. This includes some newly-created Whammys (mostly hilarious) as well as throwbacks to some Whammys used on the original show. It shows the designers "did their homework". The gameplay is nearly identical to that of the original show as well. The question round has been simplified somewhat to make all questions multiple choice (in the original, the contestant who buzzed in gave a verbal response and his opponents could choose from multiple answers), but other than that the gameplay is faithful. The graphics of the set and the "big board" itself are also faithful to the show, with two notable exceptions.

The first exception is that the prizes on the gameboard are all trips with a singular value. The actual show prided itself on giving away a variety of prizes, some good (like cars) and some bad (like Flokati rugs). The main tenet was that the prizes on the board were constantly changing and their values were a mystery. This led to suspense and strategy when a prize or a decision square was hit, because the contestant would not necessarily know the prize value in advance. By making the prize values static and unchanging, the designers have taken a huge shortcut that cheapens the value of the game.

Lastly, and this is undoubtedly a nit-pick, but the iconic sound heard when the randomizer flashes around the big board is strangely cut short in this game; it's only heard for the first second or two after the board starts spinning. Seeing as the designers went as far as to obtain the actual board sound used on the show, this is most assuredly a bug in the code. Unfortunately a format like the Wii does not lend itself to quick bug fixes.

In a nutshell, Press Your Luck 2010 for the Wii can be best described as a good start to reviving software versions of the franchise, but there's a ways to go to make it a completely faithful experience.

My wife and I think this game is fun to play together as a casual experience. It isn't a verious serious or difficult game, but does a good job recreating a game show experience. It is way better for multi-player than Price is Right which was really horrible for 2 players. This one is a better format because you both play through the full game to the end.

There are 2 rounds of questions then spinning for money on the board. The questions are rather easy, but I've never had a repeat yet and I've played it about 15 times. But apparently others have hit repeats early (it is probably random, so always a chance). Multiple choice is normally fairly obvious unless you just don't know the subject matter. So we do not get everything right, but you get more points for buzzing in first, so you'll do better to buzz in early. To be fair so everybody gets some spins, we play nice and at least let the other person rack up some spins. It could be to their harm too because too many spins can lead to more whammies when spinning, but you can pass them and force them on the other player too.

Spinning on the board for money is fun. We really don't care at all that the trips are all the same value since it is nearly random anyway and you want to rack up money and avoid whammies. You can get free spins, double your money, get more money, choice to lose a whammie, or get whammies. Get 4 whammies and you lose, but the other play gets to keep playing until they decide they have enough. What you get is nearly random, but I almost feel you can somewhat avoid whammies a little bit. At first I thought it was completely random, but I've been avoiding them a lot more recently. However I still run into them and bankrupt myself to start over often enough. Sometimes it is fun when someone in the losing position has some spins to pass and force upon the other player, and they are forced to spin and risk hitting a whammie.

The game isn't without its flaws. I've never played it as a single player. But with 2 players, it leaves the 3rd spot open. It might have been nice to have a computer player to fill the empty spot. It was a lot worse when Price is Right did this and doesn't feel like you are missing too much here. If you had another, you would probably have to sit through them spinning, so maybe it is better this way. One nice thing here, unlike Price is Right, is no loading between segments. Once you start, you keep going until the end without loading pauses in-between. The game is fun, but is not as long lasting. It is over-priced a bit for the value you get, but I still thought I'd give it a shot on a sale and was more fun than expected (especially compared to Price is Right).

I bought PYL for my wife for Christmas, and was also interested because we were both such big fans as kids back in the day. My wife likes the game fine, but for me, there are a few things that make it disappointing.

First and foremost is the boop-boop-boop that plays when you're pressing your luck. On the TV show, the contestant would wait to press the button to stop the cursor on the big board, and you'd hear the constant boop-boop-boop until the contest yelled STOP and hit the button. The booping only happens for a few seconds, and all that's left is applause. The reality is that the applause would last a few seconds, and the booping would be what lasted. That and the sound of sweat dripping from the contestant's forehead. The booping helped keep the tension going, and that was a huge part of the game. Maybe I'm a bit overconcerned, but the point of this game is nostalgia, and that's the sort of thing that's important.

Also, the multiple choice for the first-to-buzz-in contestant doesn't give enough choices. In the show, you could answer the question first without the multiple choice for the extra spins, but with multiple choice for 1 spin. Obviously, there's no voice recognition possible, and typing in an answer wouldn't be practical. So they simply give the first to buzz in 4 choices instead of 3. It's just not enough. Basically, if you want to win, you simply buzz in as soon as you can, and just take your chances. It's a significant change in game dynamic.

AND, the trip prizes (described only as "A Trip") are ALWAYS 3000 for the first round and 4000 for the second round. Trips may cost this nowadays, but without scaling the Big Bucks (like 5000 (+ a spin!)) accordingly, the trips really skew the balance. And geez, they could have made up some different price amounts and destinations, for goodness' sake.

And finally, the whole game feels rushed. The whammy animations (which don't include the Whammy's voice!) are rushed. The avatar choice is a bit limited, with poor emotional response. (Can't they just use the Miis?) The cursor stop on the big board is delayed, *especially* when you use the A button as opposed to smacking the controller down. And the user interface is lacking (e.g. screens where the game is loading don't say as much, and just show a random Whammy animation without a progress bar or anything.

Maybe they'll fix this stuff for 2011...but I suppose they did what was needed to get my 40 bucks, which is put a Whammy on the front of the box. The games isn't as bad as I might make it seem, but it could have been a LOT better.

Just got the game today. Fantastic fun! my wife and i had a blast playing it. Cant wait to play with other people. seems like the more you play it with the more fun it will be. Just the the old 80 version. The questions are rather easy and you'll hit the whammy right when you dont want to. All in all if your a fan of the show you'll love this game. Only way it could have gotten better is if Peter Tamarkin and Rod Roddy were still alive to be the host's

Just got this for Christmas and I have to say I was quite disappointed. I loved the game show and this is a pretty good representation but really it is very short. Literally after two games we were bored with it. I think for the price they could have really made this more fun. The games were short and we felt the play was quite primitive! Sorry but cannot rec'd this one.

This is an absolutely horrible representation of this classic gameshow. While the graphics are quite nice and accurately represent the look and feel of the classic gameshow, that's where the fun stops. The familiar theme song to the show is only similar to the original and you definitely know that is it "off." Fans of the original show will be really disappointed in that aspect of the game. Also, the sound during actual gameplay is TERRIBLE. The good old "beep boop BOOP boop bopp boop" during your experience of playing your spins on the board is buggy. It plays for three seconds and then goes silent, sucking all of the fun out of that part of the game. I mean, really. This was one of the highlights of the gameshow! It just seems like all of the details (music, sound effects) that made the show great were not given the attention they deserved. The only thing they did get right were the whammy animations.

The box states that it has 2500 questions. If that is indeed true, how does the developer explain the fact that I tried to play the game in party mode with others and I had the exact same questions in the same sequence in two of the three games we played? It seems like they overshot their question database claims by adding a few zeros.

Overall, this game should be in the [...] bin soon. The fun factor has been sucked out of the game by POOR developers and the replay value is just not there. If this developer continues the trend they started with The Price Is Right and now Press Your Luck, they should think about putting three games on one disc for this price. Just not worth it.

I have several fond memories of summer afternoons spent watching game shows, and Press Your Luck was a special favorite.

The reviews on Amazon are fairly accurate...sound anomalies, question repeats, etc., but I do have some additional info.

1. Trips - despite other reviews speaking to the contrary, trips DO have differing values. I've had trips of $3500, $4000, and $4500.

2. Question gripes

a. One question asked "What do you call a body orbiting the sun?" The "correct" answer was "planets." What about asteroids, moons, and comets, which also are bodies orbiting a sun?

b. "Ocho" plus "tres" equals...the answer was right (once) but pronounced as English "once" vs. Spanish "ahnsay"

And what's with Ubisoft game show games (this and Price is right) not taking advantage of Miis? I have to create an "avatar."

Still, it's a fun game, worth the price (especially used), and is a good party game.

Well, I do have to say.. Very disappointed on this game. My wife bought it for us and our 15 year old son. Maybe the more I play it, I might like it more, but man.... For 30+ dollars, I would expect a little bit more. The only fun part of this game is the question and answer round. Questions are pretty tough, which I like and then they had easier ones.. The Whammy round needs LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of improvements... First off, if you hit a trip in the first round, it's worth 3,000... Every trip is worth 3,000.. In the second round, they are worth 4,000 so there's no guessing, which isn't fun. They even don't say were your going like the original show would.. Now, the biggest gripe is the Whammies themselves.. Thinking that would be the funniest part of the game, yea.... Not so much.. Other then pretty neat graphics, there's NO SOUND! They don't talk or make any noise!!!! What the heck? The funniest part of the show is when the Whammy talks to you and "tries" to make you feel bad about him taking your money.. On the game, you hit a whammy and see a soundless whammy run around your screen.... Very disappointed. If I d/l this game from the Wii store using points, no more then 1000 points would be worth it. People, save your money, because this game will be in the bargin bin at every Walmart, Kmart, Gamestop, etc everywhere for about 10 bucks; if not already...

This game was delivered to me on time and has become one of my family favorite game to play on the weekend. This game is so like the TV version you feel as if you are on stage.

This game is great for those who grew up watching Press Your Luck and those who are new to it. The whammies are so entertaining and it makes me feel nostalgic when they appear and do their stuff. Anyone who liked the show would appreciate having a game that you can play with your family and friends.