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Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! Nintendo Wii

Format:
Nintendo Wii

Genre:
Minigames

Style:
Competitive
Cooperative

Further reading:
Scene It? 360
Disney Think Fast Wii
Smarty Pants Wii
TV Show Quiz Party
Buzz! PS3
Trivial Pursuits
Mini games

Buy/Support:
Support Andy, click to buy via us...

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Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Family Gamer (Wii)
Tech Gamer (Wii)
Frugal Gamer (360)

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Similar

Games about the same difficulty:

• Scene It? 360
• Disney Think Fast Wii

Easier

Games for newer and young gamers:

• Smarty Pants Wii
• TV Show Quiz Party

Harder

Games with more bite for experts:

• Buzz! PS3
• Trivial Pursuits

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! brings the 360 Scene It? film quiz to both PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii as well as updating the series as a whole. While the release is not without compromise to make it cross-platform, it continues to create a family friendly movie quiz experience around a strong set of questions.

It's one of those games...

Mini games come in a variety of shapes and sizes. What unites the genre is the speed with which players can pickup the games and the relatively short time required to complete a level or two.

But why is it any better...

Like the original, Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! is built around an impressive amount of film footage and photos. These range from straight clips to more novel edited segments where a key character or object has been masked out. These then lead onto a series of questions that first focus on the clip itself before broadening out into more general trivia about the characters, locations and directors involved.

Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! the pace of things is also a lot more sedate than the brash clubby aesthetic of Buzz on PS3 and even TV Show Quiz Party and Smarty Pants on the Wii. This more sedate pacing meant that our family could all keep up with progress in the game without the need for younger members have things explained to them by us parents - which they hate.

Because this version of Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! on all three major consoles, PS3, 360 and Wii, meant that I could recommend it to many more friends. Although purists and hard-core players may miss the original's 360 specific features, and it would be nice to see Mii support in subsequent versions, for families this really is a lot of fun. It even get's close to challenging the excellent Think Fast trivia quiz on the Wii.

So what should I play this for...

Although some players may find that the switch from 360 to embrace both PS3 and Wii results in a game that is slightly more generic. The avatars and Xbox live features take a hit along the way to be replaced by more generic cross-platform friendly characters. But to focus on this is to miss the point. Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! has always been about the quality, depth and range of questions on offer. Here the increased revenue available from multiple formats has obviously resulted in more investment. The clips and questions are as good as ever and keep a firm eye on the family audience by embracing a wider range of genres and age groups.

Playing with some friends who have the 360 Scene It? game we realised that the scoring had been improved this time around. It's a little bug-bear of mine that quiz shows, whether on TV or game console, often put too much weight on the later rounds. Players can ignore the first few rounds and simply clean up at the end. Thankfully Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! does away with the looser's bonus and instead offers some specific awards for players that answer quickly and accurately in the previous round. This combines with a star system that let's players buy mini-game opportunities to win points multipliers to create really competitive sessions.

And when can I take a break...

Each quiz in Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! lasts up to an hour, and progress is lost if you stop part way through. Because it is a round based game it does offer opportunity to pause the game for other activities.

With 2,800 questions, there is enough depth and variety here for many evenings of family quiz nights.

This is a great game for who...

Novices (Toddlers and Juniors): Very young players may struggle with some of the more trivia questions in Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! But those based more on the clip itself should be answerable. Playing as a family or friendship group usually means that everyone can contribute.

Intermediates (Parents and Seniors): Those with more film knowledge will find the various film clips and trivia more enjoyable. The quality of questions on offer makes this ideal for the film geek.

Experts (Students and Workers): More expert players will find the loss of 360 centric features a little tough to bear. They may be better suited by Buzz, although those that persevere will find an enjoyable and challenging movie trivia experience with Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!

Written by Andy Robertson

You can support Andy by buying Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!



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Andy Robertson writes the Family Gamer column.

"Videogame reviews for the whole family, not just the kids. I dig out videogame experiences to intrigue and interest grownups and children. This is post-hardcore gaming where accessibility, emotion and storytelling are as important as realism, explosions and bravado."

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