Hi-Tech Expressions Remote Control -Nintendo NES
Retro Gaming Review

Rating:

Remote Control originated as a game show on Mtv. Some of you may remember that Mtv hasn't always been home to insipid crap like Jersey Shore. In the early 80s the "M" briefly stood for Music - of which they played a lot. Then things went downhill with the advent of cheap-to-produce reality television. No more music on Mtv.

However, I did enjoy Mtv's Remote Control which ran from December 7, 1987 to December 13, 1990 comprising 5 seasons. More accurately, I enjoyed co-host Kari Wuhrer.

Remote Control was a trivia game show with pop culture, music videos and TV questions for 3 contestants. The NES version of the game tries to capture the structure of the game, but falls short - as do most video games based on game shows. With limited memory, there aren't too many questions and you begin to get repeats... if you bother to play that long. 9-bit pixels don't do justice to the live action of the show itself.

Remote Control Game Play

As with the TV show, Remote Control plays with 3 contestants. In single player mode you play against 2 computer opponents. In 2-player mode, you and a friend play against one computer opponent. Before you begin, you can enter your name and choose a character to represent you (avatar) in the game. The host tells you which player is in control. That player selects one of the nine channels and a question appears on screen with multiple choice answers.

This one of the several areas in which this game seems a bit janky. Any contestant can "buzz in" to answer the question. Smack the A button and hope you are first. It's kink of hard to say how the computer opponents will react. I'd love to know how the code works on that decision. If you answer the question correctly, you control the board and get to pick the next channel on the board.

There are 2 rounds and then a final round. Round 2 is the same as round 1, but contains new questions. One player will be eliminated in round 2 leaving 2 players in the final round. The final round consists of rapid fire (sort of) questions with 10 answers on the screen. Use the arrows to select the answer first. There are also special surprise channels that will appear in various rounds. The one with the most points wins.

This is one of those games that will remind you of Mtv's early glory days, but doesn't present much in the way of an interesting video game. On-screen commentary and even the game manual are riddled with zingers (for lack of a better term) that make it appear that the developers were trying to add anything to make this game fun. Alas, "fun" can't be added to a game... it's the result of a good game.

We love Kari Whurer, but this game is not fun. A Remote Control board game was produced. Perhaps the home-gaming fun of this trivia show was better captured on a board.

Snack Break was a favorite during the TV show. The contestants held up bowls as snacks cascaded from above. They even tried to replicate this int the video game with expectedly poor results. Too much of this game was forced. I wonder how far development went before they knew this wasn't even going to do justice to the quirky TV version.

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