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| |-----------------| | Table of Contents | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ \/ \/ \
Section Search Code
------- -----------
The Particulars . . . . . . . . [TPA]
- Game Release Data. . . . . . [GRD]
- FAQ Version History. . . . . [VHI]
- Game Summary . . . . . . . . [GSU]
- Game Controls. . . . . . . . [GCO]
Walkthrough . . . . . . . . . . [WLK]
- Getting Started. . . . . . . [GTS]
- Playing the Game . . . . . . [PTG]
- Spinning The Wheel . . . . . [WHE]
- Choosing a Letter. . . . . . [LET]
- Bonus Round. . . . . . . . . [BON]
- Strategy Guide . . . . . . . [STR]
Appendices. . . . . . . . . . . [APP]
- Puzzle Lists . . . . . . . . [PUZ]
- Category Lists . . . . . . . [CAT]
The Three C's . . . . . . . . . [CCC]
- Copyright. . . . . . . . . . [COP]
- Credits. . . . . . . . . . . [CRE]
- Contact Information. . . . . [CON]
\ /\_____________________________/\ [TPA]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | The Particulars | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [GRD]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Release Data | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Genre : Trivia / Game Show
Developer : GameTek
Publisher : GameTek
System : Nintendo Entertainment System
Official Title : Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White
Release Date : January 1992
ESRB Rating : N/A
Wheel of Fortune has scene dozens of releases for the various consoles over the
years, starting with its first release for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
This release for the Nintendo Entertainment System featured Vanna White
actually doing her job on screen, flipping over the letters -- but otherwise
the game remains the same. The graphics are altered and certain features, like
controlling the strength put into spinning the wheel, have been taken out.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [VHI]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | FAQ Version History | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Version 1.0.0 : This guide now exists. It didn't used to. All great guides
: start this way.
: File Size: 33KB, 32137 characters, 3759 words, 11 pages
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [GSU]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Summary | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
You're a contestant on the wildly popular TV game show, Wheel of Fortune! Your
goal is to spin the wheel, guess the letters that appear in the puzzle, and
solve it before your competitors do.
Every time you correctly solve a puzzle, you'll keep the money you won in that
round. If you aren't the one to solve the puzzle, you don't keep the money.
After four rounds, the player with the most money wins the game! But watch out
for the Bankrupt and Lose a Turn spaces -- they can thwart your plans in a
heartbeat.
The winner gets to move on and play in the bonus round. In this round, you'll
be given a short puzzle with some pre-revealed letters. Select three more
consonants and a vowel, then solve the puzzle to win great virtual prizes!
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [GCO]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Game Controls | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Up Arrow: Move active B: Backspace when
selected letter up solving puzzle.
(name input screen). [A]
[B] A: Select letter,
[^] select option or
Left Arrow: Right Arrow: spin the wheel.
Scroll through [<] [>] Scroll through
letters or letters or
options [V] options. [SELECT]
[START]
Down Arrow: Move active Select: No real
selected letter down Start the final usage.
(name input screen). round; hurry past
opening screens.
\ /\_____________________________/\ [WLK]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | Walkthrough | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [GTS]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Getting Started | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
After loading the game, you'll be greeted with several obnoxiously long title
screens. Eventually, you'll be asked how many players you'll be playing with:
one, two or three. Three human players can play with a single controller -- you
just have to pass the controller around to whoever's turn it is. Choose as many
players as you want.
You'll then be asked if you want to play against the computer. If you choose
yes, non-human spots will be filled with a computer player -- one player games
will play against two computers, while two player games will play with one.
Third, you'll be asked your difficulty level. There are three to choose from:
Easy, Medium and Hard. The difficulty level affects several aspects of the
game. In all games, it impacts the types of puzzles you're given -- higher
difficulty levels get longer puzzles. Secondly, if you're playing with a
computer player, the difficulty level has a strong impact on how good the
computer player is. A difficulty level of Easy will have computers that don't
always pick the best letters and have a hard time solving the puzzle. Hard
players will always pick the best letter and will often solve the puzzle before
you can figure out what it is.
After selecting the difficulty level, you'll enter the player names one by one.
Use the up, down, left and right arrows to select the letters and press A to
enter them, then press Start.
After entering all the names, you'll be given the chance to choose 'avatars'
for your characters. There are three male and three female avatars -- a blonde,
brunette and black-haired one for each gender. The avatar you choose is
completely irrelevant. If you have computer players, their avatars will be
randomly generated.
After this is complete, the game will start!
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [PTG]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Playing the Game | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Wheel of Fortune is a relatively simple game. Starting with the player on the
left, players take turns. On a player's turn, they have three options:
- Spin the Wheel: you give the wheel of spin and come up with a dollar value.
Then, you pick a consonant -- if there are any of that letter on the board,
you get money equal to the number of times the letter appears times the
dollar value you spun.
When you choose to spin, you must press A again to actually spin the wheel.
Don't be like me and sit staring at the screen for five minutes wondering
what the heck is going on. When you spin, you'll see the wheel values
scroll by and eventually land on a value. If it's a monetary value, you get
to choose a letter. If it's bankrupt or lose a turn, you lose your turn and
all your money from this round if it's a bankrupt space.
If you're selecting a letter, simply use the left and right arrow buttons
to choose the letter you want. The game will automatically skip over
letters that have already been chosen and vowels. Pick your letter, and if
it appears you'll get money and get to go again. If it doesn't appear, the
next player gets a turn.
- Buy a Vowel: For $250, you can 'buy' one of the five vowels. Buying it will
unveil all the places on the board that the vowel appears, but will only
cost you $250 total no matter how many appearances there are. Even if a
vowel you choose does not appear, you'll be charged $250.
After choosing to buy a vowel, you'll be given the letters that haven't
been selected yet. Use the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through
and select which one you want to choose. The game will automatically skip
over consonants and vowels that have already been chosen.
- Solve the Puzzle: If you think you know the answer, you can solve the
puzzle.
When solving the puzzle, you'll be given a listing of the letters. Use the
left and right arrow buttons to choose your letters. You must enter them
in the order the blanks appear -- for example, if the answer was Sparrow
and the board currently showed __arro_, you'd enter s, p, w. When you're
done, press Start to enter your solution. If you're correct, you'll win the
round and keep your money. If you're wrong, the next player gets a turn.
If on a player's turn they successfully unveil any letters on the board --
either by spinning and choosing a consonant that appears, or by buying a vowel
that appears -- that player gets to take another turn. However, if the player
chooses a letter that does not appear on the board, or if they spin and land on
Bankrupt or Lose a Turn, then the next player to a turn. Play continues in this
circular pattern until someone solves the puzzle.
When a player solves the puzzle, that player gets to keep the money they earned
in the round. The other players do not keep their money. A new puzzle then
starts, and the game proceeds again as normal. After four puzzles, the game
ends, and the player with the most money wins. Whoever wins the game will get
to play in the bonus round. For information on that, check out the Bonus Round
section.
For each puzzle, you'll be given the option before the round begins to reject
the puzzle by pressing Select. This is essentially meant to allow you to reject
a puzzle you've seen before.
Judging from these rules, the objective of the game becomes clear: solve the
puzzle as fast as possible. For tips on how to do this, check out the Strategy
Guide section.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [WHE]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Spinning The Wheel | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Spinning the wheel is completely random, even though it appears like there's a
predictability to it. Interestingly, the wheel does not proceed in the same
order every game -- certain patterns are common, but it's as if the Bankrupt,
Lose a Turn and Free Spin spaces are substituted over other dollar spaces,
making it difficult to actually tell the order of the spaces on the wheel. Not
that it matters since the space you spin is always randomly determined anyway.
It's useful, though, to see what spaces are available so you can know whether
to go ahead and choose a letter you're confident about or to wait.
The available monetary spaces are:
$150 $200 $250 $300 $350 $400
$450 $500 $600 $700 $750 $800
$900 $1000 $1500 $3500 $5000
There are also three non-monetary spaces on the wheel:
- Bankrupt: if you land on bankrupt, you'll lose all the money you've gained
this round and you'll lose your turn to the next person. You'll keep the
money you gained in previous rounds, however.
- Lose a Turn: you won't lose your money, but you'll lose your turn to the
next player.
- Free Spin: if you land on this you'll receive a free spin token. This token
will give you the option of keeping your turn next time you would otherwise
lose it (after a Lose a Turn or guessing a letter that isn't in the puzzle,
for example).
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [LET]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Choosing a Letter | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Early in most puzzles, you won't have much of an idea what the solution is, so
it will be difficult to make educated guesses about what letters should appear.
The most effective thing to do when you're early in a puzzle without much of an
inkling as to what letters will be used is to favor the most commonly-used
letters in the English language.
The frequency of use of the letters of the English language, according to
material licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and using material
from the Wikipedia article "Letter Frequency":
Vowels: Consonants:
1. E: 12.7% 1. T: 9.1%
2. A: 8.2% 2. N: 6.7%
3. O: 7.5% 3. S: 6.3%
4. I: 7.0% 4. H: 6.1%
5: U: 2.8% 5. R: 6.0%
6. D: 4.2%
7. L: 4.0%
8. C: 2.8%
9. M: 2.4%
10. W: 2.4%
11: F: 2.2%
12: G: 2.0%
13: Y: 2.0%
14. P: 1.9%
15. B: 1.5%
16. V: 1.0%
17: K: 0.8%
18. J: 0.2%
19. X: 0.2%
20. Q: 0.1%
21. Z: 0.1%
It's a common misconception that the letters given to you in the final round --
R, S, T, L, N, E -- are the most common letters. While R, S, T and N are four
of the five most common consonants, both H and D are more commonly-used than L.
Once a puzzle has gotten started, however, you might notice that you're
interested in more than just the most frequent letters. You might find you need
the first letter of a word, and while E is the most common letter, it's nowhere
near the most common first letter.
If you find yourself looking for the letter at the beginning or the end of a
word, try these lists:
Most Common First Letters: Most Common Last Letters:
1. T: 16.0% 1. E: 19.2%
2. A: 15.5% 2. S: 14.4%
3. I: 8.2% 3. D: 9.2%
4. S: 7.8% 4. T: 8.6%
5. O: 7.1% 5. N: 7.9%
6. C: 6.0% 6. Y: 7.3%
7. M: 4.2% 7. R: 6.9%
8. F: 4.1% 8. O: 4.7%
9. P: 4.0% 9. L: 4.6%
10. W: 3.8% 10. F: 4.1%
As you can see, if you're looking for a first letter, there's a really strong
chance that it's T. Take these statistics with a grain of salt, though -- the
analysis that led to these numbers took into consideration word frequency, so
the frequency of words like 'the', 'to', 'this' and 'that' is surely partially
responsible for T's high count -- and those are words you won't be seeing as
much in the game. Still, these listings represent a good starting point.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [BON]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Bonus Round | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Whoever wins the game will get to play in the bonus round. In the bonus round,
you'll be asked to choose one letter: W, H, E, E, L. Based on the letter you
choose, you'll be playing for a different fabulous prize. You won't know what
prize you're playing for until after you win or lose, though.
Afterwards, you'll be given the final puzzle. Typically these are shorter
puzzles. The letters R, S, T, L, N and E will already be revealed for you. You
will then choose three more consonants and a vowel. Judging from the above
letter frequencies, the best option if you have no idea is to choose C, D, H
and A. If you think you have an inkling, though, go with your gut.
After choosing your letters, they will be unveiled. You will then have one
minute to input your answer. If you want to start over (inputting, not the
time), press B. Otherwise, input letters the way you always do when solving a
puzzle.
If you successfully input the correct answer before time is out, you win!
Otherwise, you don't. Not that it matters, the game is over either way.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [STR]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Strategy Guide | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
While nothing can replace simple vocabulary and pop culture knowledge (come on,
who is Ingmar Bergman?), there are several strategies you can employ to
maximize your chance to win.
- Don't automatically choose the letter you're most certain about. If you're
certain there are three H's in the puzzle and you just spun a $150, don't
choose H - wait and choose H when a higher dollar value comes up.
- If you know one word of the puzzle but are unsure of the others, guess the
letter that you know is there. What you might find is that the letter you
knew was in one place is also in another. For example, if you see a board
with the category 'Thing' and the board shows: _r___ Tr_ut, you can safely
guess that the blank in the second word is an 'O' for 'trout'. Guessing O,
you also find that there are two O's in the first word, and you were never
at risk to guess a letter that wasn't there.
- By that same token, focus on guessing the letters to shorter words first.
Three and four letter words will nearly always be prepositions or articles
-- look at the placement of these words in the puzzle and use that to make
an educated guess as to what the likely word is. A three-letter word at the
start of a puzzle will nearly always be 'the', for example, while 'with' is
the most common in-phrase four-letter word.
- The first letters of words are typically consonants, while the second
letter is nearly always either a vowel or the letter 'H'. Over half of all
words end with the letters E, S, T, D or N.
- Watch for vowels. If you have some money and not every word on the board
has a vowel, go ahead and buy a vowel. You'll get extra information about
the puzzle without risking a Lose a Turn or Bankrupt, and the risk of the
vowel not being presence is usually pretty low in longer puzzles.
- Break the puzzle up in your head. If you're looking at a five- or six-word
puzzle, you'll get overwhelmed trying to solve the entire thing all at
once. Focus on smaller individual words -- in guessing letters for smaller
words, you'll likely uncover enough to give the larger parts a shot later
on.
- Remember, on a given turn you're not trying to win the round -- you're just
trying to stay alive for another turn. Choose the most likely letter to be
on the board, even if you don't think it'll really help you figure the
puzzle out.
- Toward that end, focus on letter pairs and trios. For example, if you see
that the second letter of a word is 'N', you know that the first letter
is almost surely either a vowel or S.
- Pay attention to parts of speech. You might not know a word, but you know
that if it ends in 'ing' that it's likely a verb -- this information will
give you a standpoint to approach the other words from.
- If you know the puzzle, choose wisely as to whether to go ahead and solve
it or not. There's no reason to solve if you have very little money -- go
ahead and spin a few times to try to get more to keep. But if you've got a
lot of money, it's unwise to risk a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn just to get a
little bit more.
By that same token, also pay attention to the other players. If you only
have $150 and know the puzzle, you'd think it'd be wise to spin some more
-- but if the person after you has $5000, you'll want to go ahead and solve
to avoid them solving the puzzle if you spin a Bankrupt or Lose a Turn.
- In the bonus round, if you have a really good idea of what the answer might
be before ever guessing your own letters, don't guess the letters for what
you think the answer is. If you guess only letters that you already think
are there and you're wrong, you're doubly out of luck -- if you don't guess
the letters you think are there and you end up being wrong about what you
thought the answer was, you at least have a shot at having some other
letters filled in.
For example, here's something that happened to be while playing. The final
clue I had was N_t_re __l_. To me, the answer to this was pretty obvious --
"Nature Walk". But, instead of guessing w, k and a, I guessed f, m and i.
The result? The letters illuminated became N_t_re Film. Had I gone with the
obvious answers, I would not have solved the final question.
\ /\_____________________________/\ [APP]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | Appendices | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [PUZ]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Puzzle List | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Below is a list of all the puzzles I personally have encountered in the game,
sorted by category. If you've seen puzzles that I haven't listed here, contact
me with the contact information listed at the bottom of this guide and let me
know -- you'll be credited, of course.
Things:
Brook Trout
Church Pulpit
Cufflinks
Nature Film
Scorpion
Wooden Dowel
People:
Adolescents
Chemical Engineer
Ferguson Jenkins
Gregg Allman Band
Ingmar Bergman
Jim Nabors
John Quincy Adams
Social Outcast
Susan St James
Places:
Chicago Illinois
Suez Canal
Phrases:
A Sneak Attack
Titles:
A Thousand Clowns
Captain from Castille
The Cincinnati Kid
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Before & After:
Amos and Andy Griffith
Ground Chuck Barris
Fictional Character:
Pollyanna
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CAT]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Category List | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Below is a list of all the categories I have encountered in the game. If you've
seen categories that I haven't listed here, contact me with the contact
information listed at the bottom of this guide and let me know -- you'll be
credited, of course.
- Things: in modern Wheel of Fortune, 'Things' has been used to identify way
too many puzzles; however, in Wheel of Fortune featuring Vanna White, this
category almost always refers to an actual tangible object.
- People: this category will typically deal with categories of people or
types of professions -- for example, 'adolescents' or 'chemical engineer'
-- but will also occasionally be proper names, like John Quincy Adams. A
lot of the puzzles in this category are people that you likely will not
have heard of.
- Before & After: Before & Afters are interesting puzzles. These puzzles are
typically three words long -- the first two words form a cohesive phrase,
while the second and third words also form a different cohesive phrase. For
example, one possible Before & After puzzle would be 'Lava Lamp Shade' --
'Lava Lamp' is a cohesive phrase, while 'Lamp Shade' is also a cohesive
phrase.
- Places: while these can sometimes be common places, typically puzzles in
this category will be real one-of-a-kind landmarks or major cities and
areas.
- Titles: the Titles category typically refers to actual titles of books,
movies and plays. They aren't always commonly recognizable titles, so you
might have to just guess until you've uncovered almost all the letters for
this category.
- Phrase: Phrases are nothing more than things that don't fit in any of the
above categories. They aren't traditional phrases like "Early to Bed Early
to Rise" -- they're just expressions, terms or anything that does not fit
with one of the above groups.
- Fictional Character: just what the category name suggests, these are names
of fictional characters. This category is pretty rare, and typically the
puzzles in this category are based in literature.
\ /\_____________________________/\ [CCC]
\ / / \ \ /
| |-----------------| | The Three C's | |-------------------| |
/ \ \_____________________________/ / \
/ |\/ \/| \
\ |/\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\| [COP]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Copyright | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
Wheel of Fortune featuring Vanna White is a registered trademark of GameTek.
All rights reserved.
This FAQ is the exclusive property of DetroitDJ. All rights
reserved. This FAQ may be freely distributed on any site, in whole or part, as
long as this last section remains intact (all three C's).
The latest version of this FAQ will ALWAYS be located at:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/587765/XXXXX
Other sites are permitted to show this FAQ; however, most do not automatically
update, and I only update my FAQs on GameFAQs -- so, if you don't see
something, check that URL to see if there's a newer version.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CRE]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Credit | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
GameTek, for the game.
Nintendo, for the first great video game console.
SBAllen and GameFAQs, for this great site.
God, for everything.
\ /\ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ /\ [CON]
\ / / \ \ /
| | | | Contact Information | | | |
/ \ \ / / \
/ \/ \/ \
GameFAQs ID: DetroitDJ
E-Mail:
[email protected] (please preface all e-mails with [WoF])
AIM/Yahoo!/MSN/GoogleTalk: DDJGameFAQs
To e-mail me, PLEASE preface your e-mail subject line with [WoF] in brackets.
I get a lot of spam, so that will help me sort through it and find your e-mail.
If possible, IM me instead of e-mailing me if you have a question, but e-mail
me if you have a contribution or correction.
If you are submitting a tip or correction, please include how you would like to
be credited. Otherwise I'll credit you by your e-mail address (minus the
domain) or screenname.
Please, only e-mail me with questions about this game or other games I've
FAQed. I'm not looking to shoot the breeze.
