Rating: Summary: A MUST IF YOU PLAN TO TRY OUT FOR THE NEW "PYRAMID" Review: "Pyramid" is BACK on TV ! ...And... Host Donny Osmond is looking for contestants around the USA with the Pyramid City Tour. If you plan to try out, THIS CD GAME is currently the best tool to practice up...and maybe YOU will be in the Winner's Circle! Especially focus on WINNER'S CIRCLE catagories for your PYRAMID test!
Rating: Summary: Celebrity Help! Review: For a lot of game shows that have came out for the computer, they've always seemed to have a little bit of a blind-slighted feel to most gamers. They always seem to fall just a dash flat for a full-feeling of being in the actual video game. Still, most of them are still willing to find that out one day at a time. With several revamped versions of game shows on P.C. like Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune, and other game shows, there is one that actually tries to stand out a little bit, Pyramid. With the success of Pyramid being revived with Donny Osmond, has been an unbelieveable exciting game, but the P.C. game still needs a little fine tuning. The $100,000 Pyramid for the P.C. was released before Donny Osmond came on with the revival of Pyramid. The game features three different versions of Pyramid, Single Play, where you have to get a certain amount of points to get to the Winners' Circle, Double Play, where two people actually play the same way like it is on the game show. Still, it does fall a little bit, without proper speakers. The third version takes the cake however. The party play version, gives a little more of an interactive version that you play with other people, like you're actually on the Pyramid. For that one, you really need to see that, and play it with more than one version. If you get this game, get it for this version of gameplay only. Still, it would be nice to see Pyramid updated with a newer version, based on the recent revival. I just really hope that happens soon. Still, you're better off playing the version from the television, whether Dick Clark, Bill Cullen, or Donny Osmond is the host. The $100,000 Pyramid is just a fraction of the fun it was suppose to be. Try getting this one used.
Rating: Summary: Best Game Show Adaptation Ever! Review: Game show fans have waited a long time for something like this! Kudos to Sierra for taking a chance on making a game show PC game, and for doing it brilliantly. This is a MUST have! Fun, authentic game play, and superb graphics. The opening to the game including the updated theme music is wonderfully done. Hopefully this will lead to more great game show adpatations from Sierra. Let's see games like The Price Is Right, Press Your Luck, Match Game, Super Password, or Concentration.
Rating: Summary: Almost a 5-star game Review: Graphics - Excellent graphics! The set of the classic game is perfectly recreated with actual fonts that were used on the trilons (aka "flippy boxes"), and the boxes flip just like on the actual show. The characters (civilian players and celebrity players) are nicely animated, but some of their winning animations look overzealous. No Dick Clark in this one, so if you're expecting everything from the classic show, then you'll be slightly disappointed. Score (out of 5) - 4.5 Sound - Voices are crisp and clear, and the music is nice, however the classic $100,000 Pyramid theme is not on here. It was replaced with a livelier, jazzier rendition of the theme. I actually prefer the classic 2 themes (the original theme used from the beginning of the $10000 Pyramid to the end of the $50000 Pyramid, and the updated theme used from the beginning of The New $25000 Pyramid to the end of the $100000 Pyramid). You even have the Winner's Circle timer sound ("doot doot doot") which sounds during the last 10 seconds on both the Winner's Circle and in the main game. The only thing missing is the classic "cuckoo" sound for an illegal clue and Dick Clark, especially his classic "So long" sign-off. Score - 4.5 Control - You use the mouse to choose which civilian character you want, which celebrity partner you want, and which box you want to play. You use the keyboard to type in your name and your answers. You also use the keyboard's TAB key if you want to pass on a subject in either the main game or the Winner's Circle(unlike the actual show, you can come back to passed subjects in the main game). Score - 5 Playability - You can play one person vs the computer, 2 players against each other, and an option called Party Play (4 players with 2 players on a team). This would make an excellent party game. Score - 5 Overall - Not having Dick Clark in this game hurts a little because he is the best-known host of the Pyramid show since its inception in 1973 (Bill Cullen did a good job hosting the syndicated weekly $25,000 Pyramid from 1974 to 1979, and John Davidson hosted a slightly updated version of the $100,000 Pyramid from 1991 to 1992). However other than that, this game is a near-exact version of the classic show that is one of my most favorite of all time (other favorites being Match Game [I hope to see the PC version of Match Game soon], Password [I'd love to see a PC version of either Password Plus or Super Password], and The Price Is Right [which has yet to have a good computer/videogame version...a lackluster version appeared on the PC and Commodore 64 in 1990, and a NES version was developed around the same time but never released]). Overall Score - 4
Rating: Summary: Fun game Review: I don't know that I like some of the "celebrity" graphics and only being limited to 4 of them, but otherwise, this game plays just like the show and I can't wait to see what else Sierra has on their plate.
Rating: Summary: recommendations Review: I suggest you put in a pre-order for this game so that way your first in line to get this game
Rating: Summary: Entertaining! Review: I think overall this game is very entertaining and nostalgic. Pyramid is one of my favorite gameshows and it is really great fun to be able to play anytime I want. The graphics are very well done, and the music is updated and appropriate. The one drawback is that the categories repeat over and over, and it only took about ten rounds of play for me to have the majority of the answers memorized. For the most part, this was money was well spent.
Rating: Summary: Fantastic, but not without its flaws... Review: I was thrilled with this game! The graphics are terrific and look just like the show, and the animated celebrites that give you the clues are adorable. Die-hard fans of the $25,000/$100,000 Pyramid will thoroughly enjoy this game, which has to be the most outstanding PC-adaptation of a game show ever made. However, I found the following weaknesses. Many of these are incredibly minor, but hardcore $100,000 Pyramid fans will appreciate reading them... 1. Others have said this, but it bears repeating: no Dick Clark? What the... C'mon, guys, you can't have the $100,000 Pyramid without Dick Clark! 2. Again, to repeat some of the above reviews: what's with the theme music? If I can find the REAL theme music and somehow replace it, I will. The music they have is *blech*. 3. In the real show, when you get to the winner's circle, you first try for $10,000. Then, if/when you make it a second time, you try for $25,000. Then, the fastest winners are brought back for a tournament to win $100,000. With this game, it's $5,000 then $10,000, then $25,000, then $50,000 then $100,000 (or something like that). Blech. Stay true to the original game show, guys. 4. Clues that the animated celebrites give in the bonus round are often illegal. For example, one time when I played, the subject was "Things that are refrigerated." The celebrity said, "Milk, so it doesn't spoil." On the television show that would be "buzzed." You can only list items; you can't elaborate or get descriptive like that. This happens way too often. 5. On the television show, after each round, whether in the preliminary game or the bonus round, Dick Clark will usually reveal what the real answers were, often times suggesting good clues. Nothing like that happens in this game, and the user is often frustrated by not knowing what he was previously trying to guess. 6. Annoying music plays during the actual game play. Totally unnecessary. During the preliminary rounds there should be no sounds at all except for the "ding" when you get the answer, and during the bonus round, there should be nothing but the "chirps" of the time clock. 7. This is really nit-picky, but the view that you look at during the bonus round is awkward. It looks like you're seeing the winner's circle from the back row of the studio. I'd rather see the same view you see on TV; mainly, a side view of both players, with a cutaway of the current subject block from the board appearing on the bottom in the center. 8. In both the preliminary rounds and the bonus round, the animated celebrities always say little things like, "Impressive!" and "Nice going!" after you type in the right answer. That never happened on TV, and it is a waste of time, not to mention annoying. To be fair, here are some things that I considered to be pleasant surprises... 1. After you quit each game, there are hilarious little television commercials that play during the closing credits ("Some departing contestants will receive..."). Cute! 2. The game has "7-11" and "Mystery 7" categories, with very authentic-looking logos. Great! 3. The opening sequence has a view of the stage that looks incredibly true to the television show. They even super-impose the words, "The $100,000 Pyramid" over the bonus round playing board, just like in the opening of the television show. Not hearing Dick Clark say, "Here is your first subject...GO!" and not having the original theme music is disappointing, but all in all, a terrific game, and I look forward to more Sierra versions of classic game shows.
Rating: Summary: Good graphics but otherwise disappointing Review: In spite of the quality graphics and the entertaining opening ("From Television City in Hollywood..."), this game is ultimately a disappointment for true die-hard fans of the original game show. For one thing, the signature theme music and Dick Clark are both missing. For another, in single-player and two-player modes, the clues given by the "celebrities" are frustratingly inadequate. Success in the original show depended on the players' ability to give clues that were both terse and cogent. In this PC version by Sierra, the "celebrities" speak much too slowly in the Basic Game and give clues that are wordy, redundant, and vague. In the Winner's Circle, the "celebrities" give clues that include rambling descriptions, which was never allowed in the original show, where clues had to be limited to mere lists of things that belonged to each category. I have yet to play the game in Party Play mode, where four people can actually play against each other instead of relying on the computer's ... "celebrities" for equally ... clues. For sheer nostalgia and good graphics, however, this PC version is probably worth the money.
Rating: Summary: Good graphics but otherwise disappointing Review: In spite of the quality graphics and the entertaining opening ("From Television City in Hollywood..."), this game is ultimately a disappointment for true die-hard fans of the original game show. For one thing, the signature theme music and Dick Clark are both missing. For another, in single-player and two-player modes, the clues given by the "celebrities" are frustratingly inadequate. Success in the original show depended on the players' ability to give clues that were both terse and cogent. In this PC version by Sierra, the "celebrities" speak much too slowly in the Basic Game and give clues that are wordy, redundant, and vague. In the Winner's Circle, the "celebrities" give clues that include rambling descriptions, which was never allowed in the original show, where clues had to be limited to mere lists of things that belonged to each category. I have yet to play the game in Party Play mode, where four people can actually play against each other instead of relying on the computer's ... "celebrities" for equally ... clues. For sheer nostalgia and good graphics, however, this PC version is probably worth the money.
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