The year was 1998, and I had purchased my very first personal computer. Now, I don’t mean the first computer I’d used, I mean my own computer, my computer. I was free to ICQ and play my stupid games without ever needing to worry about being kicked off so others could use the machine. Naturally, as a teen boy, my computer had a few essential programs, but mainly I had a lot of great games I was being exposed to that soon found a home on the hard drive. Half Life, Populous and Sierra 3D Minigolf were among some of the titles I spent a lot of time playing, but one that always stuck out in my memory was a hilarious trivia game titled You Don’t Know Jack.
Essentially the game worked like a game show in which the contestants where hilariously brutally abused after getting wrong answers to off-the-wall questions. Here we are now, almost 15 years later, and You Don’t Know Jack is back on the XBox 360, PS3, Wii, DS and just about everything else that a game can be played on; but 15 years is a long time for a gaming franchise to be on hiatus, so can the wise-cracking hilarity that we loved in the mid and late 90s come back in 2011 and show it still has the makings of a fun game?
Hi, I’m the You Don’t Know Jack logo, don’t I look pretty now?
Premise The game is a trivia game in which the players partake like contestants on a game show. Questions are asked, and players hit the proper button to trigger the desired answer. It’s straight-forward and simple, but a style that didn’t require to be fudged with; there are still minigames that require only one or two button use for a segment, but the game doesn’t stray far from the original recipe. Players answer questions and points are added or subtracted accordingly as the gamers get the answers correct or incorrect, more often the latter than the former, I mean it some of these questions are beyond random.
Graphics There’s not really anything that will send you into visual stimulant overload in this game. A trivia game doesn’t require mind-bending graphics on the Unreal engine, all it needs is great content, and it has that.
Mind you the game isn’t difficult to look at, but graphics were not the focal point of this game so rightfully the visuals are pretty basic, but still appealing.
Sound This is where the game shines. The game’s host, Cookie, and the wide assortment of other characters in the television studio provide ridiculous amounts of awkward hilarity that make the game a very fun experience to be a part of; yeah there are some groaners in there as far as the jokes go, but when a game is a constant flow of jokes from beginning to end, some won’t be as funny as others. The music suits the moods from comedic to intense, and the jingles that play before each round are actually very well produced and are, in most cases, humourous spoofs of current pop music that sounds just like anything that would come out of a major record label’s catalog.
Gameplay If you know how to push a button, you know how to play You Don’t Know Jack. The core game relies squarely on the four face buttons on your controller, with a few deviances here and there to do other actions in multiplayer.
Speaking of multiplayer, it’s just as fun as you remember it on the old 90s PC games. Whether you’re playing with some friends in the room or online, the laughs will come fast and furious and the competitive nature really starts to heat up as the game draws nearer to its end. The biggest part of Jack in the past was the ability to “screw” your opponent, essentially powering a screw into their button, forcing them to answer a question they would likely take a pass on otherwise; the laughter of the players as someone gets screwed, and the laughing screams of “you ***hole!” as that player gets screwed, alone makes the game a tonne of fun to play with friends and keeps the laughs coming… unless you all team up on one unsuspecting friend and then he gets all pissy and rage quits but that never happens… never… not with my friends… nope…
Final Thoughts You Don’t Know Jack is back and hasn’t missed a beat. For a franchise that has been on hold for well over a decade, it’s awesome to see it come powering back into the market with such a terrific installment. At a mere $29.99 price tag it will be one of the more original new releases you’ll pick up this month, plus it will give you a break from generic-zombie-nazi-taliban-shooter 718.
2011 has been pretty hard up for good new releases so far (I’m looking at you Mindhack and Two Worlds 2), so it’s nice to see a fun and affordable new release come in and steal some time in the spotlight. Check it out if only in a rental, but if you want a break from all the other generic games and want to try something fun with your friends then I suggest dropping the whopping $30 to buy this title.
written by Lee Clifford
The year was 1998, and I had purchased my very first personal computer. Now, I don’t mean the first computer I’d used, I mean my own computer, my computer. I was free to ICQ and play my stupid games without ever needing to worry about being kicked off so others could use the machine. Naturally, as a teen boy, my computer had a few essential programs, but mainly I had a lot of great games I was being exposed to that soon found a home on the hard drive. Half Life, Populous and Sierra 3D Minigolf were among some of the titles I spent a lot of time playing, but one that always stuck out in my memory was a hilarious trivia game titled You Don’t Know Jack.
Essentially the game worked like a game show in which the contestants where hilariously brutally abused after getting wrong answers to off-the-wall questions. Here we are now, almost 15 years later, and You Don’t Know Jack is back on the XBox 360, PS3, Wii, DS and just about everything else that a game can be played on; but 15 years is a long time for a gaming franchise to be on hiatus, so can the wise-cracking hilarity that we loved in the mid and late 90s come back in 2011 and show it still has the makings of a fun game?
Hi, I’m the You Don’t Know Jack logo, don’t I look pretty now?
Premise The game is a trivia game in which the players partake like contestants on a game show. Questions are asked, and players hit the proper button to trigger the desired answer. It’s straight-forward and simple, but a style that didn’t require to be fudged with; there are still minigames that require only one or two button use for a segment, but the game doesn’t stray far from the original recipe. Players answer questions and points are added or subtracted accordingly as the gamers get the answers correct or incorrect, more often the latter than the former, I mean it some of these questions are beyond random.
Graphics There’s not really anything that will send you into visual stimulant overload in this game. A trivia game doesn’t require mind-bending graphics on the Unreal engine, all it needs is great content, and it has that.
Mind you the game isn’t difficult to look at, but graphics were not the focal point of this game so rightfully the visuals are pretty basic, but still appealing.
Sound This is where the game shines. The game’s host, Cookie, and the wide assortment of other characters in the television studio provide ridiculous amounts of awkward hilarity that make the game a very fun experience to be a part of; yeah there are some groaners in there as far as the jokes go, but when a game is a constant flow of jokes from beginning to end, some won’t be as funny as others. The music suits the moods from comedic to intense, and the jingles that play before each round are actually very well produced and are, in most cases, humourous spoofs of current pop music that sounds just like anything that would come out of a major record label’s catalog.
Gameplay If you know how to push a button, you know how to play You Don’t Know Jack. The core game relies squarely on the four face buttons on your controller, with a few deviances here and there to do other actions in multiplayer.
Speaking of multiplayer, it’s just as fun as you remember it on the old 90s PC games. Whether you’re playing with some friends in the room or online, the laughs will come fast and furious and the competitive nature really starts to heat up as the game draws nearer to its end. The biggest part of Jack in the past was the ability to “screw” your opponent, essentially powering a screw into their button, forcing them to answer a question they would likely take a pass on otherwise; the laughter of the players as someone gets screwed, and the laughing screams of “you ***hole!” as that player gets screwed, alone makes the game a tonne of fun to play with friends and keeps the laughs coming… unless you all team up on one unsuspecting friend and then he gets all pissy and rage quits but that never happens… never… not with my friends… nope…
Final Thoughts You Don’t Know Jack is back and hasn’t missed a beat. For a franchise that has been on hold for well over a decade, it’s awesome to see it come powering back into the market with such a terrific installment. At a mere $29.99 price tag it will be one of the more original new releases you’ll pick up this month, plus it will give you a break from generic-zombie-nazi-taliban-shooter 718.
2011 has been pretty hard up for good new releases so far (I’m looking at you Mindhack and Two Worlds 2), so it’s nice to see a fun and affordable new release come in and steal some time in the spotlight. Check it out if only in a rental, but if you want a break from all the other generic games and want to try something fun with your friends then I suggest dropping the whopping $30 to buy this title.
written by Lee Clifford
The year was 1998, and I had purchased my very first personal computer. Now, I don’t mean the first computer I’d used, I mean my own computer, my computer. I was free to ICQ and play my stupid games without ever needing to worry about being kicked off so others could use the machine. Naturally, as a teen boy, my computer had a few essential programs, but mainly I had a lot of great games I was being exposed to that soon found a home on the hard drive. Half Life, Populous and Sierra 3D Minigolf were among some of the titles I spent a lot of time playing, but one that always stuck out in my memory was a hilarious trivia game titled You Don’t Know Jack.
Essentially the game worked like a game show in which the contestants where hilariously brutally abused after getting wrong answers to off-the-wall questions. Here we are now, almost 15 years later, and You Don’t Know Jack is back on the XBox 360, PS3, Wii, DS and just about everything else that a game can be played on; but 15 years is a long time for a gaming franchise to be on hiatus, so can the wise-cracking hilarity that we loved in the mid and late 90s come back in 2011 and show it still has the makings of a fun game?
Hi, I’m the You Don’t Know Jack logo, don’t I look pretty now?
Premise The game is a trivia game in which the players partake like contestants on a game show. Questions are asked, and players hit the proper button to trigger the desired answer. It’s straight-forward and simple, but a style that didn’t require to be fudged with; there are still minigames that require only one or two button use for a segment, but the game doesn’t stray far from the original recipe. Players answer questions and points are added or subtracted accordingly as the gamers get the answers correct or incorrect, more often the latter than the former, I mean it some of these questions are beyond random.
Graphics There’s not really anything that will send you into visual stimulant overload in this game. A trivia game doesn’t require mind-bending graphics on the Unreal engine, all it needs is great content, and it has that.
Mind you the game isn’t difficult to look at, but graphics were not the focal point of this game so rightfully the visuals are pretty basic, but still appealing.
Sound This is where the game shines. The game’s host, Cookie, and the wide assortment of other characters in the television studio provide ridiculous amounts of awkward hilarity that make the game a very fun experience to be a part of; yeah there are some groaners in there as far as the jokes go, but when a game is a constant flow of jokes from beginning to end, some won’t be as funny as others. The music suits the moods from comedic to intense, and the jingles that play before each round are actually very well produced and are, in most cases, humourous spoofs of current pop music that sounds just like anything that would come out of a major record label’s catalog.
Gameplay If you know how to push a button, you know how to play You Don’t Know Jack. The core game relies squarely on the four face buttons on your controller, with a few deviances here and there to do other actions in multiplayer.
Speaking of multiplayer, it’s just as fun as you remember it on the old 90s PC games. Whether you’re playing with some friends in the room or online, the laughs will come fast and furious and the competitive nature really starts to heat up as the game draws nearer to its end. The biggest part of Jack in the past was the ability to “screw” your opponent, essentially powering a screw into their button, forcing them to answer a question they would likely take a pass on otherwise; the laughter of the players as someone gets screwed, and the laughing screams of “you ***hole!” as that player gets screwed, alone makes the game a tonne of fun to play with friends and keeps the laughs coming… unless you all team up on one unsuspecting friend and then he gets all pissy and rage quits but that never happens… never… not with my friends… nope…
Final Thoughts You Don’t Know Jack is back and hasn’t missed a beat. For a franchise that has been on hold for well over a decade, it’s awesome to see it come powering back into the market with such a terrific installment. At a mere $29.99 price tag it will be one of the more original new releases you’ll pick up this month, plus it will give you a break from generic-zombie-nazi-taliban-shooter 718.
2011 has been pretty hard up for good new releases so far (I’m looking at you Mindhack and Two Worlds 2), so it’s nice to see a fun and affordable new release come in and steal some time in the spotlight. Check it out if only in a rental, but if you want a break from all the other generic games and want to try something fun with your friends then I suggest dropping the whopping $30 to buy this title.
written by Lee Clifford
The year was 1998, and I had purchased my very first personal computer. Now, I don’t mean the first computer I’d used, I mean my own computer, my computer. I was free to ICQ and play my stupid games without ever needing to worry about being kicked off so others could use the machine. Naturally, as a teen boy, my computer had a few essential programs, but mainly I had a lot of great games I was being exposed to that soon found a home on the hard drive. Half Life, Populous and Sierra 3D Minigolf were among some of the titles I spent a lot of time playing, but one that always stuck out in my memory was a hilarious trivia game titled You Don’t Know Jack.
Essentially the game worked like a game show in which the contestants where hilariously brutally abused after getting wrong answers to off-the-wall questions. Here we are now, almost 15 years later, and You Don’t Know Jack is back on the XBox 360, PS3, Wii, DS and just about everything else that a game can be played on; but 15 years is a long time for a gaming franchise to be on hiatus, so can the wise-cracking hilarity that we loved in the mid and late 90s come back in 2011 and show it still has the makings of a fun game?
Hi, I’m the You Don’t Know Jack logo, don’t I look pretty now?
Premise The game is a trivia game in which the players partake like contestants on a game show. Questions are asked, and players hit the proper button to trigger the desired answer. It’s straight-forward and simple, but a style that didn’t require to be fudged with; there are still minigames that require only one or two button use for a segment, but the game doesn’t stray far from the original recipe. Players answer questions and points are added or subtracted accordingly as the gamers get the answers correct or incorrect, more often the latter than the former, I mean it some of these questions are beyond random.
Graphics There’s not really anything that will send you into visual stimulant overload in this game. A trivia game doesn’t require mind-bending graphics on the Unreal engine, all it needs is great content, and it has that.
Mind you the game isn’t difficult to look at, but graphics were not the focal point of this game so rightfully the visuals are pretty basic, but still appealing.
Sound This is where the game shines. The game’s host, Cookie, and the wide assortment of other characters in the television studio provide ridiculous amounts of awkward hilarity that make the game a very fun experience to be a part of; yeah there are some groaners in there as far as the jokes go, but when a game is a constant flow of jokes from beginning to end, some won’t be as funny as others. The music suits the moods from comedic to intense, and the jingles that play before each round are actually very well produced and are, in most cases, humourous spoofs of current pop music that sounds just like anything that would come out of a major record label’s catalog.
Gameplay If you know how to push a button, you know how to play You Don’t Know Jack. The core game relies squarely on the four face buttons on your controller, with a few deviances here and there to do other actions in multiplayer.
Speaking of multiplayer, it’s just as fun as you remember it on the old 90s PC games. Whether you’re playing with some friends in the room or online, the laughs will come fast and furious and the competitive nature really starts to heat up as the game draws nearer to its end. The biggest part of Jack in the past was the ability to “screw” your opponent, essentially powering a screw into their button, forcing them to answer a question they would likely take a pass on otherwise; the laughter of the players as someone gets screwed, and the laughing screams of “you ***hole!” as that player gets screwed, alone makes the game a tonne of fun to play with friends and keeps the laughs coming… unless you all team up on one unsuspecting friend and then he gets all pissy and rage quits but that never happens… never… not with my friends… nope…
Final Thoughts You Don’t Know Jack is back and hasn’t missed a beat. For a franchise that has been on hold for well over a decade, it’s awesome to see it come powering back into the market with such a terrific installment. At a mere $29.99 price tag it will be one of the more original new releases you’ll pick up this month, plus it will give you a break from generic-zombie-nazi-taliban-shooter 718.
2011 has been pretty hard up for good new releases so far (I’m looking at you Mindhack and Two Worlds 2), so it’s nice to see a fun and affordable new release come in and steal some time in the spotlight. Check it out if only in a rental, but if you want a break from all the other generic games and want to try something fun with your friends then I suggest dropping the whopping $30 to buy this title.
