All the glitz and glamour of the television game show, without the magic and wonder! (like it had that, anyway).

User Rating: 6 | Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: Make the Grade X360

Off the top of your head, do you know which ancient Roman emperor codified Roman Law? If not, you may not be smarter than a fifth grader, but you might be smart enough to steer clear of this game.

"Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader" is based on the popular tv game show (popular, really??). The basic set up is, you have ten questions, each one from first to fifth grade (allegedly), with each correct answer worth progressively more money. Get those right, and you'll get a question worth one million dollars, which is a random subject and grade level for you to answer. Each question is either multiple choice or true/false, except for the million dollar question which you have to type in using the onscreen keyboard.

Like the tv show, you'll also get a choice of classmates to help you on your journey to the vaulted million dollars. They can help you in three different ways. You can peek at their answer, you can elect to copy their answer or if you miss a question, and they get it right, they can save you so you can keep playing. You can use these cheats only once per game. Each of the classmates has a different expertise, based on the subjects you have to choose from, but even so, they aren't always right.

Interestingly, you get a few different control options. The default controllers work fine, as for the multiple choice answers, each button selects a different choice, but you can also use the big button pad from the scene it games (if that kinda thing turns you on), you can also use the messenger pad to type out your one million dollar answer.

Graphically, it looks a lot like the tv show. The board is bright and colorful, there are flashing lights and such and it all looks pretty nifty...until you get to the character models. Jeff Foxworthy is back, in creepy gym teacher mode ("the whistle makes me their god!"), and he spouts one liners from the show in true obnoxious fashion. The children don't fare much better, as they look like something that might pop out of a cornfield in a "Children of the Corn" movie. If I saw one of these kids in a cornfield, I would run. Fast.

There is a multiplayer mode, featuring local and online, up to four players, but its pretty lackluster, as each person plays their own game, with their own set of cheats and whoever lasts the longest wins. When you lose, you have the pleasure of watching the other players keep on playing, for as long as it lasts. Thankfully, you can always quit.

There are leaderboards, gold stars for certain "extra credit" questions, and faux goldfish in a bowl in the simulated classroom environment, but there just isn't enough to do besides the mind numbing single player and less than engaging multiplayer.

With questionable trivia levels, downright scary character models and the overall lack of activities in the game, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" gets a big F on its own report card.