"Wheel of Fortune featuring Vanna White" (DOS)

Very nice gameplay of the popular, syndicated game show. Along with some quirks, this is a very playable yet short game.

Having reviewed Wheel of Fortune for the Game Boy, now comes the version most popular with retro computer gamers: Wheel of Fortune featuring Vanna White.



You're probably asking yourself, "What's the difference if a WoF game features Vanna White or not?" I had the same skepticism given that there's is only one—just one—American version of the show. Any other producers looking to copy or emulate a similar format under a different name would immediately get burned by fans for being a copycat, and if fans let it slip then that WoF imitation wouldn't last long. With that said, I believe having this game featuring Vanna White places more strength in the game's marketing (how can Wheel of Fortune NOT feature Vanna?). Being that Vanna White was discovered being a contestant on The Price Is Right (true story), it's no doubt she's one of the most beautiful women in the country, with the most envious job on the planet.

The box description wasn't kidding about enhanced graphics. The opening title did a great job emulating the actual opening title graphic used on the show back in the early nineties. For a computer gamer back in those days, these were the prettiest graphics you ever laid eyes on—razor-sharp, 8-bit goodness.


You already own one so don't worry about it.



The animation isn't too bad. Designers did an okay job creating Vanna's character, even though she looks like she just graduated high school. On the Options menu, if you set the game to "FAST," the letters during gameplay get revealed automatically while Vanna remains put and applauds simultaneously. However, the animated movements of Vanna is quite fluid for its time. And for those for you who are used to today's version of this show, this game emulated the days when Vanna physically had to turn the letters revealed in a triangular block. On this game, when you or the computer solve the puzzle, all the letters get automatically revealed without Vanna having to turn and uncover all the letters. As for the wheel, it's okay, though the values of the wheel show on the egg-crate screen at the bottom, and not on the wheel itself. Depending on your [old] computer's processing speed, or your emulation software such as DOSBox and/or Boxer and their processing speeds, the wheel spins a little too fast even on a normal setting. Perhaps this was to cut time the player is forced to wait before attempting to guess a letter.



Straight out of its default setting, competing against the computer is tough. Being that after you enter your name to compete against two other computer opponents, you either get a few chances or no chances at all. To lessen the difficulty, you can change the setting on Options, or simply play by yourself.

As for the bonus round, you choose a prize from the letters W H E E L. This is where using a mouse is necessary because I couldn't be able to simply choose the letter of the prize I want using the keyboard. And if you're wondering, yes this was also back in the time before WoF implemented the now-cool mini wheel in their Bonus Round. The letters R S T L N E are chosen, then you choose three consonants and one vowel. This is the closest thing to the actual TV show as you can get. Whether you're able to solve or not, the prize gets unveiled. So far, I've seen a vacation trip, a family car and mink coat; I have not seen the $25,000 top prize but I sure know it's there. After that, the theme song plays, the credits roll and the game restarts.

Again, depending on your processing settings, the game can lag a bit at times due to its high graphics. As for my gameplay, I was never able to beat the computer opponents on HARD mode. It's too much because one missed opportunity or one wrong letter and I never get another chance again. As for the credits, they got a little hard to read at the end, but I suppose the folks doing the last QC—Quality Control—likely thought that less than 1% care about credits, so the font colors didn't bother them much. Yeah yeah yeah, sure.

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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