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81 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Looking for a good party game? Get the CD-ROM 2d Ed., August 6, 2000
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
This version of Millionaire-At-Home works both better and worse than its CD-ROM counterpart. It's definitely better than even the CD Second Edition in terms of the number, variety, and level-appropriateness of questions. The questions much more closely approximate those on the television series than either of the two CD-ROMs. And the Phone-a-Friend lifeline is much closer to the show in that you actually CAN phone a friend, unlike on the CD-ROM. Where the board game fails is in the implementation of the other lifelines and in its dumbfounding lack of music. The 50/50 doesn't particularly work. On the show, it's effective because Regis himself has no control over anything, and because the player's ramblings appear to determine which responses are pulled. Here, the person playing host potentially has too much leeway in deciding which choices will be nixed. To be fair, the CD-ROM isn't much better at capturing the actual feel of this lifeline, either--its throwaways are predetermined by code--but its approximation is at least fairer. Similarly, the Poll-the-Audience option fails miserably. Instead of being a more-or-less sure bet, this lifeline depends entirely on the benevolence of the people you're playing against. There's no "audience" in this game, because everyone's a player. It's in their interest to mislead the person currently in the hot seat. Consequently, you'll likely get the wrong answer if you choose this lifeline-which goes against everything we learn from watching the show. But the biggest drawback of this edition is the lack of music. The show is entirely built around the music. Without music, Millionaire is nothing special. The music is the origin of 90% of the drama. A CD with the theme music should absolutely have been included. On balance, the Second Edition of the CD-ROM game wins out over this one because you're just not going to have so many Millionaire-themed parties that it will matter that this version has slightly more questions. You might as well get the version that comes closest to approximating the overall experience of the real deal. Hook your computer up to your TV, run the audio through your stereo and enjoy a version that actually has Regis as your host.
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