Jeopardy! (Rare games)

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Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! - NES - USA.jpg

NES - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Rare
Publisher GameTek
Published 1988-09-??
Platforms NES
Genres Licensed, Trivia
Themes Game Show
Series Jeopardy!
Multiplayer Alternating versus
Distribution Commercial

The video game developer Rare produced three Jeopardy! games for publisher GameTek, each based on the Jeopardy! trivia game show. The three titles were released on the NES from 1988-1990 as part of the Jeopardy! franchise, and were essentially the same game, but with different questions. The three games include:

Released Title Notes
1988-09-?? Jeopardy! General trivia.
1989-10-?? Jeopardy! Junior Edition Children's trivia.
1990-06-?? Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition Adult trivia.

Personal

Own?No.
Won?Yes. All three games on easy difficulty.
FinishedJeopardy! 2019-07-09 / Junior Edition 2019-07-10 / 25th Anniversary Edition 2019-07-24.

Although I enjoy the game show Jeopardy!, I don't care much for game shows simulated as video games. I never played these games growing up, but, as an adult, I played these games just to better familiarize myself with the NES catalog of games, and add them to my list of games I've beaten.

Review

Video Game Review Icon - Enjoyment.png Video Game Review Icon - Control.png Video Game Review Icon - Appearance.png Video Game Review Icon - Sound.png Video Game Review Icon - Replayability.png
4 4 1 2 7

Best Version: NES

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • The games do an adequate job of representing the game show.
  • Unlike a lot of licensed video games, the developers actually included the Jeopardy! theme song and sound effects from the show.
  • You get to choose the skin tone of your avatar, which is a progressive option for 1988.
  • AI opponents randomly give incorrect answers which give hints at the correct answer, which is a nice touch.

Bad

  • The show's host, Alex Trebek, is nowhere to be seen.
  • The player avatars are poorly drawn and animated. Several of them look a bit terrifying.
  • Unlike the game show, you must be able to properly spell every answer you give.
  • For some reason, the developers chose the D-pad, not the buttons, to be the way to buzz-in.
  • While I can't fault the developers for not using a good AI on such weak hardware, you're basically playing against an opponent that randomly gives correct answers. The harder difficulties just increase the likelihood of randomly guessing and how quickly they'll buzz in.

Ugly

  • All three games are essentially identical, only with different trivia and slightly different avatars. Very little effort was spent trying to update the quality of the game engine, graphics, or sound. Even the manuals are very similar.

Media

Box Art

Documentation

Screenshots

Videos

Longplay, Jeopardy!
Longplay, Jeopardy! Junior Edition.
Longplay, 25th Anniversary Edition.

Play Online

NES (Jeopardy), NES (25th Anniversary), NES (Junior Edition)

Representation

Strong female character?FailThere are multiple female characters to choose from, but they're inconsequential.
Bechdel test?FailWomen never talk to each other.
Strong person of color character?FailThere is a white, yellow, and brown version of each character, but they're inconsequential.
Queer character?FailThere are no queer characters.

Link