Buzz! Master Quiz
The PSP experience lacks some essential spark but still passes the time.
Tags: Buzz - Quiz Game Categories: PSP Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Oct 27th, 2008
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Buzz - Quiz Game (title page) | |||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Party | No | ||
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Trying to bring the “game night” hit Buzz to a handheld console seems absurd. The quiz show franchise is so keenly based in multiplayer that moving it to a solitary experience removes most of the fun in playing trivia games. Buzz does manage to keep some of the fun, and with included multiplayer modes, it allows you to share, but this is still a lacking experience in one of the best non-core franchises out there.
It is obvious that Buzz is gaining in popularity as we have gotten two installments at the same time. The PS3 version was masterful, but I was unsure about the PSP iteration. After sliding the UMD into the PSP, I hesitated. This is one of my favorite franchises as of late, and I was going to be quite upset if all of a sudden it was nothing more than Trivial Pursuit with easier questions.
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Well that worse case quickly passed, as a lot of the witty banter the franchise is famous for is intact. While the single player mode is going to be the bulk of the play time, I was more interested in the single console multiplayer. Thanfully this is a simple passing game where you answer questions and pass the handheld console back and forth. It is essentially a bare-bones version of the bigger console games, and it plays smoothly.
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The single player game offers a lot more than I would have imagines. Granted it ends up being nothing more than a series of question grinds, but the four modes are varied enough to keep it interesting. There is a lot of emphasis on visual clues in this version. I think part of that may be because players may mute the audio and they needed something to spruce up with UI. With three levels of difficulty and a ton of questions this is a pretty well rounded experience.
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In the end, this is a slight version of what you get on the PS2 or PS3. That doesn’t mean it’s worse, but for a handheld game it’s actually pretty well done. Buzz isn’t an experience that makes the transition easily, and this is missing some of the aesthetics that make the home experience such a treat. The inclusion of multiplayer that needs only one PSP was genius though, and is responsible for 85% of my favorable opinion of this game. You won’t find yourself passing the PSP like some party favors on game night, but you will have something to pass that next flight delay.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Multiplayer + Question Variety |
8.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
| - Missing much of the fanfare that makes console version so much fun | |
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This is not a great adaptation of the orignal title, as it is missing much of the fanfare. That aside, you still get questions, and solid multiplayer, so at least it's still fun. | |
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Tags: Buzz - Quiz Game
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Oct 27th, 2008 and is filed under PSP Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
