This article has a talk page!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".
While the later Junior Edition and Family Edition reuse many of the assets used in this game, the Coca-Cola logos are completely absent from both.
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
FORTUNEIt 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(Source: Puzzle list - TASVideos)
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 |
|---|---|---|
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. |
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. |
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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The former is a line from Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower, while the latter was Rodney Dangerfield's catchphrase.
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The Wheel of Fortune series | |
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NES |
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Arcade |
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Windows |
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Mac OS Classic |
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Game Boy |
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Nintendo 64 |
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PlayStation |
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PlayStation 2 |
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Plug & Play |
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Pinball |
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Wii |
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See Also | |