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Back in early 1997, a few months after the N64 launched in the U.S., Nintendo learned a very important lesson: gamers love 4-player "party" games. The first game to exploit this was Mario Kart 64. A long line of 4-player games graced the system and the N64 became THE system to own for groups gathering around the TV. Fast forward to today, and one only has to look at the Wii and its "party" games to see that playing is often contagious, and the more casual the game, the broader the audience becomes. This was not lost on Sony of Europe, who over the past few years has been catering to that exact demographic with hit games like Singstar and Buzz. The first of the games arrived in the U.S. last year to little fanfare, but Sony isn't giving up. It has just released the next Buzz game; only this time around it focuses primarily on movies, television, and all things Hollywood. Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz can be purchased game-only for $29.99 or bundled with four buzzers for $39.99. If you don't yet own the buzzers, definitely spend the extra $10 because without them the game is rather useless. If you do own the buzzers, I'd still suggest getting the bundle pack because this game supports up to 8 players, but you'll need 8 buzzers to partake in what often becomes a loud yelling match filled with smack talk. In other words, Buzz is the perfect party game.
Playing Buzz is pretty straightforward and easy enough for anyone to grasp. The Buzzer controller has a big red button at the top and four different colored buttons below that. There are several rounds of play, each asking questions with a host of multiple-choice answers. Players simply select the answer they thing is right by pressing the corresponding colored button. Each round will have its own style of play. For example, at the beginning of the game all players can guess and earn points, but later on some rounds only award points to the player who correctly answer in the shortest time. Other rounds consist of unscrambling pictures, throwing pies, stealing points, and putting the answers in chronological order (think Fastest Finger on Millionaire). Needless to say, the game offers up enough variety to keep everyone satisfied. This being the Hollywood Quiz edition, the questions are mainly focused on television and movies. Lots of questions involve guessing which actor starred in which movie, or who directed what, etc. The questions range from very easy to somewhat obscure. Kids should be able to play and still have fun as there seems to be quite a few questions aimed at them as well. Like its predecessor, Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz is pretty attractive for being a quiz game. The characters and sets fit well and there are some entertaining animations and unique players to keep things interesting. The game is fully voiced, including the questions being asked. The announcer, whose name just happens to be Buzz, gets somewhat annoying very quickly, but I think that's intended since unfortunate things often happen to him throughout the game. He can be very witty and often picks on the players who are behind in total score, which garners quite a few chuckles from the people playing. Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz is a fun time and appropriate for gamers of all ages, but it is rated Teen because some of the stuff the announcer may say can be somewhat risqué. The game is best played with 4 to 8 players and is accessible to all. While it's no "You Don't Know Jack" (a PC quiz game that was genuinely funny and is due for a comeback), Buzz does enough right to make it entertaining. The auto-save feature will keep track of the questions you've been asked to minimize repeat questions, so you don't have to worry about any unfair advantages. If you're looking for a fun multiplayer experience that will be accessible to pretty much anyone, pick up Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz with the buzzers and get ready to have a good time.
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