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IGN Review of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Game Time
Jeff Foxworthy hit gold with a quiz show format that melds classic trivia with adorable elementary school kids. It isn't just about being smart -- it's about being humbled in the face of bright kids. It's a format that is ripe for a successful videogame translation, but unfortunately the same care that is put into making the show a hit wasn't shown to the game.
This is the second Wii Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader game, and the gameplay of Game Time is pretty much the same as its predecessor, Make the Grade. It follows the game show closely by asking players to pick a 5th grade partner and then answer a series of elementary level trivia questions. Interspersed throughout the trial are small mini-games and bonus questions. Answer enough trivia and you can win a million imaginary dollars and then start over.
The game itself is pretty easy. Every question leading up to the final is multiple choice and you're allowed several cheats, in which you rely on the smarts of your young partner. The last question must be typed out, which makes it both a spelling and trivia challenge and the only potentially difficult part of the game.
One of the big problems with Game Time is the slow and plodding nature of the game. The questions don't come nearly rapidly enough. The game goes to little snippets of dull dialogue between every question. Everything just slowly moves along, which will surely cause you to start mashing on the A Button to skip ahead. To be fair, it mirrors the game show. Of course, television adds breaks to milk the tension and space for commercials. In a game, it's just filler and a waste of time.
Another issue is the questions themselves. A trivia game without good trivia isn't very worthwhile, and that's exactly what Game Time is. The makers claim over 5,000 new bits of trivia, but some are recycled and reworded to be used twice. Do we really need a question asking which food has the most sugars (answer: the persimmon because it is a fruit) followed a short while later by one asking what type of food a persimmon is?
Game Time expands on the number of modes that Make the Grade offered, but still doesn't hit on anything worthwhile. The Homeroom challenge that mirrors the game show can be played with a group for an even slower experience. There's a Battle of Wits in which rapid fire questions are given and players can earn little power-ups to sabotage each other. Three and Out has leaders moving up the normal game's ladder, but requires them to buzz in rapidly. Get three questions wrong there and its game over. The last is a Schoolroom Showdown, which is just a free-for-all question and answer spree.
The Wii version does not offer online play like its Xbox 360 cousin. That's not really an issue though as there is nobody playing online on Xbox Live so it's a worthless feature anyway. On Wii, there is also the added trouble of an absolutely horrendous frame rate and some serious sound issues. Voices don't match up with the lip movements at all. The game stutters through every presentation sequence. All and all, it just performs poorly.
©2009-11-12, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This is the second Wii Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader game, and the gameplay of Game Time is pretty much the same as its predecessor, Make the Grade. It follows the game show closely by asking players to pick a 5th grade partner and then answer a series of elementary level trivia questions. Interspersed throughout the trial are small mini-games and bonus questions. Answer enough trivia and you can win a million imaginary dollars and then start over.
The game itself is pretty easy. Every question leading up to the final is multiple choice and you're allowed several cheats, in which you rely on the smarts of your young partner. The last question must be typed out, which makes it both a spelling and trivia challenge and the only potentially difficult part of the game.
One of the big problems with Game Time is the slow and plodding nature of the game. The questions don't come nearly rapidly enough. The game goes to little snippets of dull dialogue between every question. Everything just slowly moves along, which will surely cause you to start mashing on the A Button to skip ahead. To be fair, it mirrors the game show. Of course, television adds breaks to milk the tension and space for commercials. In a game, it's just filler and a waste of time.
Another issue is the questions themselves. A trivia game without good trivia isn't very worthwhile, and that's exactly what Game Time is. The makers claim over 5,000 new bits of trivia, but some are recycled and reworded to be used twice. Do we really need a question asking which food has the most sugars (answer: the persimmon because it is a fruit) followed a short while later by one asking what type of food a persimmon is?
Game Time expands on the number of modes that Make the Grade offered, but still doesn't hit on anything worthwhile. The Homeroom challenge that mirrors the game show can be played with a group for an even slower experience. There's a Battle of Wits in which rapid fire questions are given and players can earn little power-ups to sabotage each other. Three and Out has leaders moving up the normal game's ladder, but requires them to buzz in rapidly. Get three questions wrong there and its game over. The last is a Schoolroom Showdown, which is just a free-for-all question and answer spree.
The Wii version does not offer online play like its Xbox 360 cousin. That's not really an issue though as there is nobody playing online on Xbox Live so it's a worthless feature anyway. On Wii, there is also the added trouble of an absolutely horrendous frame rate and some serious sound issues. Voices don't match up with the lip movements at all. The game stutters through every presentation sequence. All and all, it just performs poorly.
©2009-11-12, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved