Well, you won't be blown away with the graphics in Wheel of Fortune: 2nd Edition, but they certainly get the job done. I suppose there's only so much you can do with a big board and a spinning wheel, and the anxiety that you feel when you see the bad spots coming around on the Wheel proves that at least that part of the game works fine. There are also frequent clips of Vanna White informing you of various things, and they manage to teeter on the line between irritating and amusing without really becoming either. Thankfully, you can skip any FMV in the game by pressing Start, which keeps the segments from getting rote.

The sound in the game is solid, if not particularly impressive either. The Wheel sounds like it should, which is a Good Thing. And the computer controlled players say the sorts of things that you'd expect -- 'Big money!', et cetera. And, of course, Vanna White sounds just like herself. I'd say that it's too bad that Pat Sajak isn't in the game, but I'd be lying, so let's just leave it at that.

So, while not spectacular, WoF2 certainly does what it needs to in the graphics and sound departments.

And it definitely does what it needs to in the gameplay department. Sure, it's the same thing that we've been playing for ages, but it translates to a console orders of magnitude better than Jeopardy! or Family Feud, and ends up being an entertaining title.

The basic game pits one to three human players against however many computer players it takes to make three total. Then everyone engages in a standard game of Wheel of Fortune. For those not in the know, Wheel of Fortune is a word game that has you guessing letters in a phrase and hopefully figuring out what the whole thing is.

And, for what it's worth, the actual game works flawlessly. You can spin the wheel (with a variable strength meter, so you have no one to blame but yourself when you hit the Bankrupt wedges), buy vowels if you have the money, and solve the puzzles. Letters already taken up are not selectable, so you don't have to worry about using invalid selections. And there are a scad and a half of puzzles -- 2500, by the game's count. Chances are slim that you'll wear this game out before the next iteration comes.

But in the end it's the same experience as the other Wheel of Fortune games. A Solo Mode, that lets you play by yourself, along with a contestant exam that will probably humiliate you (although nowhere near as much as the one in Jeopardy!: 2nd Edition, and behind-the-scenes videos that are worth no more than a few minutes of your time are the additions to the game. There's also a Career mode that keeps track of your wins, losses, and other useless numbers. It's all fluff, really, neither helping nor hurting the game.

Orders of magnitude easier than Jeopardy!, WoF2 still occasionally throws out some decidedly evil puzzles, with unusual letters. You'll never feel like a moron for lack of knowledge, though -- even the weird puzzles are common knowledge. You'll just feel like a moron for guessing the answer wrong. The computer opponents aren't particularly bright, which is a good thing, as this is the sort of game that the computer can cheat like crazy on, and when you only have two people to play with it would suck if the computer always won. And, of course, the level of difficulty depends almost entirely on just how good your friends are.

The controls couldn't be any simpler. You press various buttons to spin, solve, or buy vowels -- and they're all clearly marked for those who aren't used to the PSX controller. You use the digital pad to choose your letters. There's not much to navigation in this game, and what WoF2 does it does very well. The core mechanics are solid, true to the gameshow, and quite fun as well. It's always cool to figure out a puzzle after only seeing a few letters -- even if you're usually wrong with your 'educated guess'. The menus are serviceable, if a little uglier than I personally like.

PS2: The Smooth graphics option does little to nothing in the way of improving WoF2's graphics -- how do you make non-textured polygons smoother anyways? Turning on Fast disc speed cuts the load times down a little, but they weren't exactly excessive to begin with. Chances are you'll notice little to no differences in the game when you use either of these modes while playing Wheel of Fortune: 2nd Edition.

Wheel of Fortune: 2nd Edition is more of the same, but that's not necessarily bad. For those who have started seeing repeats in the first WoF, you may want to pick this up. And if the prices are comparable, WoF2 offers a few more game modes than the original. But those who have played neither and can find the first cheaper will find little difference between the two. It's really your call -- if you're a big Wheel fan, or play the first one a lot, you certainly can't go wrong with this one.