Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity Edition

You've got to feel for the contestants on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, what with the baying (coughing?) audience leering down on them like ancient Romans in a gladiatorial arena, and the blazing studio lights. Not to mention Chris Tarrant beaming his disquieting Cheshire cat smile.

Being exposed to such high drama you might begin to wonder, given that only five Brits have successfully pulled it off, whether the incentive of winning a million is actually worth it. The pressure must be such that we're genuinely baffled there aren't more instances of contestants having cardiac arrests every other episode. Big money comes at a big price, after all.

Imagine, making your way all away to the last question, the big one, the £1 million life changer. Your dreams are ready to become a reality. You can already taste the bubbly – you're going to buy that luxury dinghy (well, yachts are ridiculously expensive), pay off the mortgage, lavish the cash on a Ferrari or two… Only for you to blow it because you can't remember who the fifth monarch of Spain was. A horrible thing to go through no doubt, but it makes for mesmerising viewing and that's the point when it comes to TV.

The great – if surprising – news for us pocket gamers is that the concept translates well to the little LCD screen, too, making a mean mobile phone game. We really loved the original WWTBAM? and were almost as impressed by the Second Edition and the Music version that followed afterwards.

But can Macrospace's Celebrity Edition keep up the fine family name? Well it can. Very much so, in fact.

Unless you've been living in a hole on Mars for the past few years, you'll be pretty familiar with the concept. This version is a faithful reproduction of proceedings from the familiar fanfare of the theme tune (which sounds spot on), to the pastel purple-blue colour schemes.

Thankfully, Chris Tarrant is nowhere to be seen, though, and there are no commercial breaks or annoying deliberation from the contestants to get in the way (apart from the 30 seconds you have yourself to answer each question, of course).

Control is simple and self-explanatory, with you highlighting the answer you think is correct by moving your thumbstick, or if stuck for an answer, moving it further up to the top of the screen where you can select one of your three lifelines.

The celebrity questions come on a well-pitched difficulty curve and as there are a couple of hundred questions squeezed into the game, you won't be encountering repetition anytime soon. Don't be put off by the celebrity name, either, as the questions range from footballers, to popstars, movie stars and the Royal family, so there's really something for everyone.

Each time you get a question right, as well as progressing up the money tree you get additional points which make up your final score. If you desire, this in turn can then be uploaded onto the internet. Oh, and you also gain more points the quicker you answer the questions.

Overall, then, this latest version of Millionaire? is a solid addition to the stable, and like the others, its addictive pick-up-and-play appeal proves irresistible.