It’s kind of wild to realize how much Austin Powers made a big impact in the late 1990s. Former Saturday Night Live star Mike Myers does a spoof of spy films, including the James Bond series of films, complete with hitting the right amount of hippie nostalgia. It becomes a box office success with sequels, merchandising, and of course, video games. It also kicked off a brief trend of spy spoof films that felt like them repeatedly saying “get with the times, grandpa” towards the titular 007.
I could talk about those weird Game Boy Color Austin Powers “games” that are mostly just reskins of Windows 98 but themed after characters from the film series, complete with silly jokes. (They made two, like it’s goddamn Pokemon! They were gonna make two more of these!) Hell, there was even a digital pinball game called, appropriately, Austin Powers Pinball. But longtime readers of the site probably know what I’m gonna talk about. somehow, somehow, they made something that seems tailor made for me.
Austin Powers Operation: Trivia is a trivia game developed by Berkeley Systems, Inc., and published by Sierra Interactive. One of the few Berkeley Systems game show games that has zero involvement from Jellyvision, the makers of the You Don’t Know Jack games. Released in 1999, shortly before Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me hit theaters, this was one of many games that came out of the Jack boom that happened around 1997-2000. Though, this coming from some of the folks who made that series popular really feels like a “from two of the guys who wrote the screenplay of this hit movie” kind of situation.
Now, I like game shows, I like video games that play like game shows, and I am a fan of the classic You Don’t Know Jack titles. I’ve even covered a myriad of Jack knockoffs on the blog before. But this game is a real headscratcher on why it really exists.
The rules go a little something like this: You’re a contestant on the hit game show “Win, Lose, or Die.” You must pick a side – Austin Powers or Dr. Evil – and try to beat your opponent, who has won over $100,000,000 or more in the same game. To win, one must know a bit of trivia.
If you have played a You Don’t Know Jack game before, then all this stuff should be easy to remember. Questions will cover either certain moments in history or a bit from the films. Pressing Q/P will buzz in, 1-4 to select an answer. Right answer gets you cash ($5-10 million, usually), wrong answer loses cash.
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