One of my favorite places to go to is Goodwill. I always try to visit my local one at least once a week, to see if there’s any treasure to be found. Usually, there is always something there that catches my eye, even if it’s something I don’t collect for. I mean recently I went there and saw a few "Gundam" robots in the box, and they looked terrific, but I didn't buy them. But sometimes I find amazing things, like a copy of Wii Sports in the Player’s Choice case for two dollars. And then I sometimes see things that I remember from my childhood, and that’s what I’m going to be talking about today. Let’s talk about the Wheel of Fortune Plug 'n' Play from Jakks Pacific.
Game Shows were definitely a part of my childhood. I enjoyed shows such as Press Your Luck, The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, and of course, Wheel of Fortune. As a child, I always looked for ways to play these games at home, which brings us to the Wheel of Fortune Plug 'n' Play. I had this one as a child, and I vividly remember playing this with my grandmother. I had a bunch of Plug 'n' Plays, but sadly, all of them are gone now. I have been trying to buy all of the ones that I had when I was younger, so when I saw this one at Goodwill, even at five dollars, I knew I had to have it.
Before I get into the game, I want to highlight the design of the unit. The unit has a generic D-pad, and two face buttons. The two face buttons do look like the actual letters on the board in Wheel of Fortune, which I thought was a nice touch. The unit also has the wheel, and this wheel is fully functional. You can actually spin the wheel, which is another nice touch, and adds a level of authenticity that a lot of other game show video games, especially on game consoles, couldn’t achieve. The wheel also makes a pleasing sound when you spin it, a sound that will be ingrained in me forever.
Now let’s talk about the game itself. This version of Wheel of Fortune is pretty different from other console versions of the game, especially in single-player mode. Instead of having CPU players as other contestants, you just play alone. The catch is, that you only get a certain amount of turns to complete the puzzle. Each time you guess a letter incorrectly, land on the bankrupt wedge, or land on the "lose a turn" wedge, your turn will be over, starting the next turn. On easy mode, you get six turns per round, so you need to complete the puzzle, and earn the most money you can before you lose all six turns. Failure to do this results in a game over. There are three rounds, and a bonus round, just like the show. I honestly enjoy this change of gameplay. This version makes Wheel of Fortune feel even more similar to Hangman, which is not a bad thing. I can sit down, play this single-player mode for about an hour, and not get bored with it, which is impressive for one of these Plug 'n' Plays that are not filled with classic arcade games.
However, there is one thing that I want to complain a little bit about. The actual spinning wheel is a bit weird, depending on how you spin it. When I first started playing, I had the instinct to spin the wheel by holding the yellow bit, and twisting it. That doesn’t create the best results, the wheel will often not spin due to how much pressure I applied. When the wheel doesn’t spin fast enough, the in-game wheel doesn’t spin fast enough, which leads to a failure. If you fail twice, you will lose a turn. What you should actually do is slide your index finger across the yellow bit, which should create a perfect spin most of the time. You can also use the B button to spin the wheel, which prevents any of these issues. I do like how they created a simple fix for people who may have trouble with the wheel.
I know I didn’t really write a ton about this game. It’s really what you would expect, a Plug 'n' Play system that has an alright version of Wheel of Fortune. I just wanted to talk about this, since it was a part of my childhood. Maybe I'll talk more about Plug 'n' Plays in the future, there are certainly ones that are more interesting than this one. I remember having a Thomas and Friends Plug 'n' Play that was very good for what it was. Maybe I'll track it down so I can look at it. But I would certainly recommend the Wheel of Fortune Plug 'n' Play if you can find it cheap. It’s not groundbreaking, but it is a heart piece in my childhood.
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