I'm not sure exactly how long you have to wait before style, or video games in this case, comes full circle, but retro is certainly back with the recent release of You don't Know Jack for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and the Playstation 3.   There hasn't been a version of this game for about a decade when it wore out its welcome after a series of endless releases.  Perhaps the popularity of games like Scene It revitalized the Jack series. Or perhaps the developers were allowing a decade's worth of ridiculous pop culture to build up until there were enough questions about Reality TV shows to fill up a novel, but here we are again.   In any case, I'd like to say Welcome Back Jack!  I've been a huge fan of trivia games and love playing Cranium, or as I like to call it, the poor man's Trivial Pursuit, on game nights, so this game was a no brainer to review.  I also played a couple of the older Jack games many years ago and had a solid idea of the type of humor to expect within the new release of Jack.

Just like all Jack games, it's definitely more fun when playing with friends.  The game supports up to 4 players, but each needs a standard PS3 controller to play.  If you don't have any friends, perhaps because you smell of fish oil and feet, then you can connect up online to find other players (voice chat for smack talking is supported). To play, you simply hit the correct button on the controller to answer the question before anyone else does and you accumulate money for doing so.  There are 10 questions to answer in each episode, each with a huge dose of humor tossed in.  The jokes vary between silly, witty, disgusting and moronic, but all work together to create a lighthearted experience.

For those that have played previous versions of the game, you will be delighted, or perhaps horrified, to know that Screw is back.  If you are certain that your opponent doesn't know the answer to the question, you can play the single Screw attack awarded at the start of each episode.  This forces the "screwed" player to answer the question immediately.  If they get it wrong, you get a hefty cash bonus plus you can still answer the question.  Of course, if they get lucky, you are the one that gets screwed.  From personal experience, I'd also recommend that you avoid trying this on anyone that you are planning on sleeping with that night.  Win or lose, you will probably be sleeping on the couch.  

Beyond the multiple choice questions, you also have to deal with Jack Attack and Dis or Dat.  Both require lightning fast reflexes on the controller and are slanted toward the younger crowd (anyone that has experience with gaming controllers).  Jack Attack shoots answers across the screen incredibly fast and 'Dis or Dat' makes you compare lists or statements, both in a match game style of play.  Jack Attack is quite unnerving and can be stressful for first time players.     

Graphics:

You Don't Know Jack isn't going to blow the doors off your PS3, but it's fairly colorful and lively for a trivia game.  Everything looks good in high definition and answers are easy to read as they appear on the screen.  The presentation is pretty low-key, but that's somewhat to be expected for the genre.  

Audio:

The host, Cookie Masterson (or in real life, Tom Gottlieb), is incredibly well done, mostly due to the correct tone and timing.  There's a surprising amount of voice work recorded for the game, quite large for a trivia title.  In addition, the catchy music definitely works with the general feel of the game.

Conclusion:

For a party game, you really can't beat You Don't Know Jack both for the amount of content in the game and the price.  There's a total of 73 episodes of questions in the game and each round takes about 10 to 14 minutes.  Thus you are looking at about 12 to 16 hours of game for a MSRP of $30.  Or if you do math like I do, that's about 6 to 8 game nights worth of trivia if we play for two solid hours each time.  There are also four DLC packs in works, hopefully adding ever more content to the game at a low cost.  

My only quibble with the game is that it's definitely slanted towards returning players in terms of understanding the need for quick reflexes.  I had a couple players get frustrated on the Jack Attacks because they were a bit slow on the trigger, so to speak.  In any case, You Don't Know Jack is an excellent choice for parties or simply those looking for a great trivia challenge with a liberal dose of silly humor.