Wheel of Fortune (NES)
Wheel of Fortune |
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Developer: Rare This game has unused graphics. |
The NES Wheel of Fortune is the first of the console's four adaptations of the famous game show, and probably the most faithful translation of that group...even if the top amount in each round is a paltry $1,000.
Unused Graphics
Two unused versions of the classic Coca-Cola logo are present in the ROM. It would appear that during the game's development, Coca-Cola wanted to advertise its ownership of Merv Griffin Enterprises (the company that created and produced Wheel), but the sale of MGE to Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1988 scuttled the idea.
The first logo is loaded into VRAM on the title screen, and was likely intended to appear in the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen (the palette used for the text fits the logo perfectly). The graphics data seems to have been shifted upwards by several pixels (note the bits of ribbon below the logo), and most of the ribbon is missing.
The second logo is loaded into VRAM on the copyright screen. While this version contains the missing ribbon tiles, it also has a couple of miscolored pixels inside the top loop of the "L".
Unused Puzzles
At the start of the puzzle bank (109D0 in the ROM) is a puzzle not referenced at all by the game:
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
It seems to be a copy of the text shown on the puzzle board while the game is setting up, but the data for that is located at 6BB-6FA in the ROM.
The puzzle selection routine is unable to select the final puzzle in the puzzle list:
FIRST DAY ON THE JOB
Unused Wheel Wedges
The game supports a lot more variety in Wheel wedges than is actually used, including values much higher than the normal top dollar of $1,000. Oddly, neither $2,500 nor $3,500 are present despite the game being released nearly a year after their debut on the nighttime show.
Wedge ID | Letter Value | Notes |
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0D | $2,000 | Top value used on the daytime version from 1979-89. |
0E | $3,000 | |
0F | $4,000 | |
10 | $5,000 | Top value used on the nighttime version. |
11 | $6,000 | Not used on the show until a special week in 2014, replacing $5,000. |
12 | $7,000 | |
13 | $8,000 | |
14 | $9,000 | Space appears glitched on the Wheel due to the lack of a 9 graphic. |
15 | $10,000 | Displays a value of "0" and is glitched on the Wheel, but awards $10,000 properly. The show did not introduce a $10,000 space until 1994, and even then it was a cash prize. |
2F | $450 | |
30 | $550 | |
31 | $650 | Retired in 1979, but returned in 2012. |
33 | $850 | Retired in 1979, but returned in 2021. |
34 | $950 | Space appears glitched on the Wheel due to the lack of a 9 graphic. The show did not introduce a $950 space until the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune spinoff in 2021, though it had been seen on layouts used for rug and turntable setpieces during the late 80s and early 90s. |
35 | $1,050 | Shows a value of "5" and is glitched on the Wheel, but awards $1,050 properly. |
B4 | $900 | Space appears glitched on the Wheel due to the lack of a 9 graphic. |
B5 | $1,000 | Shows absolutely no value and appears glitched on the Wheel, but awards $1,000 properly. The used $1,000 space is ID 0C. |
Revisional Differences
For reasons unknown, one puzzle was changed between the Revision 0 and Revision 1 releases:
Revision 0 | Revision 1 |
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I CAN'T GET NO RELIEF |
I DON'T GET NO RESPECT |
The former is a line from Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, while the latter was Rodney Dangerfield's catchphrase.
The Wheel of Fortune series
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Arcade | Wheel of Fortune |
NES | Wheel of Fortune |
Windows | Wheel of Fortune (1994) |
Mac OS Classic | Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White |
Nintendo 64 | Wheel of Fortune |
PlayStation | Wheel of Fortune • Wheel of Fortune, 2nd Edition |
PlayStation 2 | Wheel of Fortune |
Plug & Play | Wheel of Fortune |
Pinball | Wheel of Fortune |
Wii | Wheel of Fortune |
See also | |
Jeopardy! |
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