Another creation of the late TV legend Merv Griffin, and loosely based on the pen and paper game "Hangman", "Wheel Of Fortune" first debuted on NBC daytime in 1975 with Chuck Woolery as the emcee. A pay dispute prompted Woolery to quit the show, but he would re-emerge later in the '80s as the host of "Scrabble" and the edgy dating game show "Love Connection". The "Wheel Of Fortune" we're most familiar with began in 1982 with Pat Sajak as the host and the beautiful Vanna White as the lady who turned and later touched the letters on the game board.
This second edition of the PC game developed by Sharedata sticks to the late 80s/early 90s rules. In the PC game, up to three players can play. If less than three humans play, then any vacant spots are controlled by the CPU. At the start of each round, a word puzzle is presented along with the puzzle's category, which could be a person, place, thing, proper name, etc. Each contestant would spin the giant wheel which laid flat on a platform in front of the contestants. After landing on a dollar value, the contestant would guess a letter, and if that letter is in the puzzle, then they get the amount of money they landed on, whether there is
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only one of that letter or more in the puzzle. If a contestant has at least $250 in their bank, they could buy a vowel, which costs $250 each time they buy one. If they guess a letter or vowel that is not in the puzzle, then that person loses their turn and the next contestant in line will get their turn. At any time, if a contestnt knows what the answer is, they can attempt to solve the puzzle. If their guess is correct, they win all of their banked money in the round. On the PC game, there are three regular rounds plus a bonus round. The first round has a top value of $1,000 on the wheel. The second round has a $3,500 top value, and the third round has a maximum value of $5,000. The players must avoid the "Lose A Turn" and "Bankrupt" wedges on the wheel. Landing on "Lose A Turn" meant they would forfeit control of the game to the next player in line. But landing on "Bankrupt" not only would cause them to lose their turn, but they would also lose all of the money they had accumulated in the round thus far. At the end of the regular game, the highest scoring player would get to play the bonus round. In it, they would select one of five luxury prizes, such as diamond jewelry, a fabulous dream vacation, or a brand new sports car. After choosing a prize, they are presented with one last word puzzle. They are given the letters R, S, T, L, and N as well as the vowel E. Any of those letters that are in the final puzzle are revealed by Vanna, and then the contestant would chose three more letters and one additional vowel. Any of those letters in the puzzle are then revealed by Vanna, and then the contestant gets 30 seconds to correctly guess the answer. If they could guess correctly, they would win their bonus prize. If not, the game ends immediately, the remaining letters in the puzzle are unveiled to show the correct answer and the contestant does not get their bonus prize. As with many DOS based games released in the late 80s-early 90s PC era, the graphics and sound quality are absolutely horrible when you compare them to today's compter technology. But if you love game shows, or just like the nostalgia you can get through playing classic computer games, then by all means go ahead and download "Wheel Of Fortune, Second Edition". Just remember to use a DOS emulator such as DOSbox, which you can download for free from this website, or else this game may not work properly, or even worse, not work at all. Have fun and happy retro gaming, everyone!
