The Price Is Right

Come on down...meh!

Posted 4 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

Jay, come on down and play The Price Is Right!!! Yes, I was excited the first time I turned on my DS to play The Price Is Right, Ludia’s second licensed game based on a T.V show (the other is Hell’s Kitchen). Bid 1$ when everyone’s bet is way off, stop the Yodeler from falling down the mountain, Plinko…why isn’t this game just like my dream? Bob Barker must be crying somewhere…I know I am. Here’s our review.


Once you boot up the game and welcomed by a disclaimer in which tells you that every price you win in the game is pure fiction and that no one can claim any prize whatsoever (I’m sorry I had to write this because I laughed so hard), The Price is Right DS offers two game modes: solo mode and Party mode. The Solo mode is based on the actual T.V show where you start in the Contestant’s Row and go against three other players (which sadly will be the same ones game, after game, after game…) as you all trying to guess the price of the first item up for bids without going over. If you win, you get to play a random pricing game. If you lose… you still get to play a pricing game, but you get a strike (you get three strikes in total). Once you’re done playing the pricing game (and either winning or losing), you head to the Big Wheel and the Showcase Showdown where you must spin the wheel up to two times to be the closest to accumulating $1 without going over. If you win this event, it’s on to the Showcase. If you lose, you get another strike and head back to Contestant’s Row. Once you get three strikes, the game ends.

The Party Mode in Price Is Right handles up to four players on one DS. Players participate in the Contestants’ Row, one pricing game per player, and the Showcase Showdown. The top two players then face each other in the Showcase. The player who accumulates the most money wins the game.

One of the cool things The Price Is Right DS does very well is replicating the actual show. It feels like you’re really playing the T.V show. Unfortunately, the experience doesn’t go that far although twelve of the show’s most popular games, such as Plinko and Cliff Hangers, are nicely replicated and most of them playable with the stylus. The problem resides in the poor variety of items you bid on and the ridiculously great contestant A.I. Not only you will be able to memorize the prize of the can of beans or the Pillsbury cookie dough during your game sessions but the CPU contestants will have the edge over you at various occasions, especially during the Big Wheel spinning or the Showcase Showdown. Yes, winning on The Price Is Right DS isn’t easy and in the end, the game will frustrate you more than entertain you.

Graphics & Sounds

Retarded character models, still photos of the show’s models showing off the prizes, few original lines from announcer Rich Fields, no Bob Barker (not even Drew Carey), everything looks and sounds generic. And to think that the only cool thing that looks really good is the Big Wheel, the rest is so lifeless and painful. Could’ve the game been better? I seriously think so because we’re seen cartridge-based games look and sound much better than this. Voice-overs are half present. The announcer does say a few words and phrases but most (to not say all) the descriptions of prizes are handled by a scrolling text box. B-O-R-I-N-G!


Value

30$ is actually too expensive for what you’ll be getting in the end. After a few games, you can easily memorize the price of the items (since there’s not a huge line-up of items in the game), taking the replay value hard to the ground. Even if the game has a achievement system in which you unlock bonus materials by winning different pricing games and completing challenges, it doesn’t score much and is soon forgotten.

Conclusion

Playing The Price Is Right in real-life might be really fun and compelling but the fun didn’t make it to the DS version, at all. Its fun the first time you load it and play a full session but then, it gets old as soon as the second game session starts, if you ever made it that far. Solo mode isn’t consistent although the four player multiplayer is kind of better but the whole experience remains dull.

Verdict: Don’t even think about it, unless you see it accumulate dust in a clearance bin for 5$.

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