Buzz! The Mega Quiz (PS2)

Buzz is an annoying-ass host. But the game rocks.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

The play itself is generally engaging and occasionally tension-filled, full of general questions that are often easy and sometimes more difficult. Think: sports, music, movies, books, occasionally science and geography. Overall, the questions didn't seem too Brit-oriented at all, which calmed me appreciably. Weirdly, in the first three games -- which take about a half hour each to play -- a question about Destiny's Child came up each time. While I love me some Beyonc&eacure;, this seemed like a glitch in the game. (If you have a PS2, you can stop the repetition by saving info on a memory card. On the PlayStation 3, the saving mechanism on the hard drive didn't work, and it took three tries to get Buzz! itself to work. But eventually it worked fine, minus the saved game portion.) Although kids and teens likely won't feel this way, I felt there was too much boring yet insulting banter from Buzz between the questions. But I feel the same way about 'Jeopardy!' (boring host) and 'American Idol' (two insulting judges, and one wacko).

Of the eight rounds in a multiplayer game, the most compelling is Globetrotter, because it features a plane flying around the globe à la an old-school film newsreel. When it lands in a country, you get a generally ingenious geography question. The round that should have been dumped before beta is Pie Fight, where you toss a creamy one right into you character's kisser. Sounds like a visceral thrill, but it just takes away from the reason I'm playing: to answer trivia!

There is indeed a way to keep Buzz's inane buzz to a bare minimum (without the dessert in the face, too). I can go to Quickfire Quiz mode where the questions come faster. I can even set the amount of questions, and found that a game of 50 queries runs about 15 minutes, perfect for me and the 'Jeopardy!' maven. You can also set the questions to be harder, thus avoiding ones that ask, 'What sport does he play?' when a photo features a picture of a famous hockey player in uniform.

The way to play Buzz! is to get in the zone. For quickness, I had one finger ready for the first two buttons and another ready for the bottom two. Occasionally, I attained a relaxing balance -- holding off on hitting one of the colored buttons too quickly and making a mistake. Still, my opponent knew the Zone from way back in the day, and I lost every time. I got a lot closer to the grail in the final game, though. You probably will, too.

This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.