Wheel of Fortune [Sharedata]

"Wheel Of Fortune! Look at this studio, filled with lots of cash and exciting bonus prizes just waiting to be won tonight on Whe-e-e-eel Of Fortune!" The long-running game show was the idea of the television producer/former talk show host Merv Griffin (who sadly passed away early last year of cancer). One of the longest running first run game shows in television history (currently in its 25th season under the Pat Sajak/Vanna White era), second only to "The Price Is Right" (now in Season 36 with comedian/former sitcom star Drew Carey taking over as host from the recently retired Bob Barker).

"Wheel" was loosely based on the pen-and-paper word game "Hangman". Contrary to popular belief, hardcore "Wheel" fans know that the show actually debuted on NBC in 1976 with Chuck Woolery as host and Susan Stafford as the letter turner. The current version that you see today with Pat Sajak as host and Vanna White as the letter girl debuted in syndication in 1982.
Three players are presented with a blank word puzzle, each one having a particular category such as "Thing", "Person", "Place", etc. They would spin a wheel that laid flat on the stage and they would add money to their bank by correctly guessing letters that are in the puzzle. Players had to avoid landing on the "Lose A Turn" wedge, or even worse, the dreaded "Bankrupt" wedge, which wiped out all of the money they had accumulated in their bank. A contestant could choose a vowel, but it would cost him or her $250. A player could choose to guess the answer at any time that they wished, and if he or she guessed the correct answer to the puzzle, then they would win all of the money and or prizes they had accumulated in their bank. The first round had a top dollar value of $1,000. Round two would be $2,500, Round three was $3,500, and Round four was $5,000. On the TV show, if any time was left after the fourth round, they would play an extra round. But when the bells started clanging, Pat would give the wheel one last spin, and the dollar value it stopped on would be the amount of money handed out for each letter that was left in the puzzle. In the lightning round, a player would not have to sacrifice$250 for choosing a vowel. At the end of the game, the player with the highest cumulative total would get to play a bonus round.
In this DOS version of "Wheel" released by software company ShareData, the game plays like the early '90s era. Three rounds would be played and in the bonus round, a player chose from one of five cards and would get 5 consonants and a vowel (R, S, T, L, N and E), and then they would pick three additional consonants and one vowel. If they correctly solved the puzzle before the buzzer sounded, they won whatever prize was inside their chosen card.
The graphics are considered low-end to today's standards, and the sound was low-end as well. The theme music was composed in vain to be accurate, and the puzzle board was detailed as high as the graphics of the day would allow, they even had the animated flashing lights.
A player can invite 2 friends to play, or he or she could play against 2 randomly chosen CPU controlled players. Players that placed a high enough cash and prize total would have his or her name immortalized in the Champions list, which showed their name, the amount of games won, and the amount of cash and prizes won. However, if a current champion lost to another physical player or CPU controlled player, his or her name would be wiped off of the Champions list.
All in all, if you're a dyed in the wool "Wheel Watcher", or just want to revisit the good old days of DOS, then "Wheel Of Fortune" is an excellent choice. If you're using a newer model computer, you will most likely need to download DOS Box (available on this website) and boot the game up there. The game is played exactly like the show's golden era before they started screwing around with the game elements and adding higher-stakes prizes and bonus rounds and "toss up" rounds that determined which player got to spin the wheel first instead of going in round robin order, and replaced the familiar theme song with a totally unrelated and very annoying jazz pop number.