RePete: Top 5 Favorite NES Game Show Games

I have a very soft spot for game shows in my life. I watched them on TV a lot while growing up– especially if I was home sick from school. I was a regular viewer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! at night for many years. A few board games I had as a kid were based on game shows.

So a list like this shouldn’t be a surprise. Besides, who doesn’t like reading random lists?

Before we start, though, given that we’re talking NES, a minor but important limitation: Only one Wheel of Fortune entry and only one Jeopardy! entry could make the list. Otherwise, no other game show would have a decent chance. Also… these are my personal favorites. These aren’t “best games”, with objective reasoning to be ranked over others. I like what I like, and I’m guessing other lists wouldn’t be the same.

Now… let’s enter stage right and get this show moving!

5. MTV Remote Control (Reidel Software Productions/RSP for High Tech Expressions, 1989): There’s no objective reason why this game should make any list, aside from maybe a “Worst NES Games” list… and yet, I have strong nostalgia for it that dulls a lot of its flaws. For you young’uns who are too young to remember, Remote Control was a game show on MTV that challenged players with a lot of pop culture and classic TV trivia. It was goofy. It was funny (Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn!). The conversion to game show… tried. Strangely, I like this more than the NES versions of Family Feud and Win, Lose, or Draw… so it sneaks into the #5 spot.

4. Hollywood Squares (RARE Coin-It for GameTek, 1988): It’s hard to convert Hollywood Squares into a home video game when the strength of the show is snappy humor from its stars– some of which skirted the boundaries of “family funny”. At its core, the game is very simple Tic-Tac-Toe with a unique question-and-answer style where a star is asked– and then answers– a question, and it’s up to players to decide if they agree or disagree with that answer. Some stars sold players on deliberately wrong answers, like the late Gilbert Gottfried. Anyway, the humor unfortunately misses a lot here, with a kind-of-forced feeling to it. The gameplay is intact, and is fine for what it is; however, later versions (like for the Wii) would do this more justice later. Despite its flaws, I often come back to this game for a few quick rounds.

3. Wheel of Fortune (RARE Coin-It for GameTek, 1987): I was tempted to pick Wheel of Fortune Junior Edition, if only because of a related Game Grumps episode (that always makes me laugh)… but I’m going with the first game that I played. It’s a solid version of “America’s Favorite Game”, even if the wheel spins can feel a bit too long. The puzzles are fun, and the AI can pose a challenge on higher difficulty settings. It gets a higher spot because of how relatively close to the TV show it was for its time. And, like Hollywood Squares, I revisit this game pretty often.

2. Double Dare (RARE Coin-It for GameTek, 1988): This is another game that might get a bit of pushback, especially because it’s so high on the list. I genuinely entertained the idea of making it #1, but I found more reasons for that game that I’ll share below. But Double Dare? Oh, man. I love this game. It’s not exactly like the show, and the physical challenges feel a bit too “samey” in the control department, but I would absolutely be lying if I said that I didn’t have a blast playing every single time I boot the game up. For a kids’ show, some of the questions will really make you think, and poorly timed Dares or Double Dares can turn any game around. Finally comes the Double Dare Obstacle Course, complete with its awkward control scheme. This is a point of contention for a lot of players, and I acknowledge this… but I picked up the controls pretty easily and it does add more challenge to what would be a pretty simple course otherwise. I know I’m in the minority, but what’s a ranking list without a bit of controversy?

And, finally… we’ve reached the top of the mountain. (Or Aggro Crag, if you’ve got the GUTS?)

1. Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition (RARE Coin-It for GameTek, 1990): This game has a level of personal significance and meaning that no other NES game show game can touch. I may have more fun playing Double Dare, but Jeopardy! 25th Anniversary Edition was one of the first NES games I ever got, as a Christmas gift in 1990 from my paternal grandmother– with whom I watched the show with on many nights for years. She got me my NES for Christmas that same year, opening the door to my console video game adventures that continue to this very day. I even found a sealed copy nearly 30 years later and opened it up on Christmas morning of 2018 on my YouTube channel. This game has a fair variety of answers to challenge players from 10 to 110… though younger players today may struggle as even the newest answers are now more than 35 years old. Even my old man brain has to still think about a few of these, and I’ve played the game so much over the years.

I’ll have to revisit some game show games for other consoles at some point, but I thought this ranking list was fun to do. Maybe you can tell me on BlueSky or Threads what your list is like, if you’d like. I do have quite a few additions to my collection to share here soon, once real life gives me a wee bit more time.

Hope to post more soon!