Twisted: The Game Show

Back in the Technological Stone Age-about, say, 20 years ago-two of the main staples of television were cheesy old movies and game shows. Today there are snazzy new devices like Panasonic's 3DO, whose capacity for full-motion video allows modern-day couch potatoes to play interactive CDs patterned after cheesy old movies and game shows.

Take The Horde, a new action-adventure game intercut with live-action sequences starring Kirk Cameron (formerly of TV's Growing Pains). As a young squire entrusted with defending the Kingdom of Franzpowanki from evil, gluttonous monsters, Cameron mugs ineffectually, as if he's unsure what his motivation should be for something that's not quite a movie, not quite a TV show. Marginally more entertaining are periodic bulletins from FNN (the Franzpowanki News Network), in which a besequined commentator briefs players.

Unlike The Horde-whose video clips seem grafted unnaturally onto the game sequences-Twisted: The Game Show is pretty seamless, probably because it was coexecutive-produced by Trip Hawkins, founder of the 3DO Company. Hosted by live-action emcee Twink Fizzdale, this high-tech party game plunks up to four live-action contestants into mix-and-match puzzles, trivia quizzes, and a sadistic device called the Wheel of Torture. Twisted's propulsive, good-natured parody rings truer than The Horde's-and it's more fun to play. The Horde: B- Twisted: The Game Show: A-