Remote Control (NES video game)

US box art.

Remote Control is a video game adaption of the television trivia game show Remote Control developed by Riedel Software Productions and published by Hi Tech Expressions for the NES in May of 1990. It is the second video game adaption of the show, and similar to the first.

Personal

A high school friend of mine had this game. I suggested playing it, and he said it was crap. We played through the trivia sections, which were well out of date, so I didn't care much for it. However, when the lightning round hit, my friend told me the game-breaking strategy of just pressing down and A repeatedly to rack up a whole bunch of points. I already had a low opinion of the game, and this ruined it. Later, I played the game by myself just to prove I could beat the AI and add it to my listed of games I've beaten.

Status

I don't own the game, but I have beaten it.

Review

4	4	3	2	8

Best Version: NES

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• If you're looking for a trivia game about 1970s-80s pop culture, this will suit you.
• Some of the questions have nice large cartoon graphics with them.
• It's nice that you can play a female character.

Bad

• The graphics are terrible and the faces are especially bad. Also, when the screen shakes, the faces do not, which is creepy.
• Since you can't see them until you pick them, categories are initially chosen at random.
• None of the rounds from the game show are included in the adaption.
• The game doesn't have a difficulty setting, so, as long as you're decent at the trivia, you're pretty much guaranteed to beat the AI every time.
• The commentary by the host is more annoying than funny.
• Many of the trivia categories are well out of date featuring shows from the 1960s and 70s, though the game was published in 1990.
• The manual is very poorly made.

Ugly

• Wrong answers do not result in a loss of points. Because of this, there is no reason not to guess on every single answer. The lightning round is especially broken in this way because you can rapidly press down and A to quickly try all possible answers and pretty much guarantee getting the correct answer before the AI.
• The sound effects are aggravating and the same poorly-made song plays for the bulk of the game.

Media

Box Art

The game was only released for a single platform in a single region. It uses a production photograph from the show with the logo on top. It's quite fitting, but the layout is pretty dull.

• 

  North American NES box.

Documentation

• 

  Manual.

Videos

Longplay.

Links