Hollywood Squares on the NES, developed by the legendary studio Rare and published by GameTek in 1989, successfully translates the beloved tic-tac-toe game show into a digital format. Players navigate a three-by-three grid of "celebrities," choosing a square and then deciding whether the star's answer to a trivia question is a lie or the truth. The game captures the campy, lighthearted spirit of the television series remarkably well, offering both a single-player mode against a computer and a competitive two-player experience that remains one of the more competent game show adaptations on the 8-bit system.
Technically, the title pushed the NES hardware in surprising directions, most notably through the use of digitized speech. The inclusion of host John "Bowzer" Bauman’s voice provided a layer of authenticity that was rare for cartridges of the era. While the "celebrity" sprites are generic caricatures rather than licensed likenesses, the vibrant color palette and snappy interface ensure the game moves at a brisk pace. It avoids the sluggishness often found in other GameTek titles, though the trivia pool can feel somewhat limited during extended play sessions.
As the NES lifecycle moved toward its twilight years, the distribution of puzzle and trivia titles became increasingly regional. Hollywood Squares remains a polished time capsule of 1980s television culture, standing as a testament to Rare’s ability to refine licensed content into a functional and occasionally humorous multiplayer experience.
