The Charge

The ultimate music trivia DVD game!

The Case

Beat the Intro is not a movie, it's an interactive music trivia game that asks viewers to Name That Tune as quickly as possible and answer questions about the artists and records featured. You can play a single player fast version, or go head to head with up to four players who compete against each other for the title of number one music geek in the house. It's a fun entertaining diversion, and works well for what it is. It would make a great party game, or time killer for music fans. The interactive screens are built for standard four by three ratio televisions, and you use the DVD player remote control as an input device by highlighting answers and pressing enter. The single player game only uses song clips to identify, while the multiplayer version goes deeper with a related trivia quiz immediately following each track. Somehow the DVD player keeps score, and each player must complete an entire round of challenges before the next one is up.

I was an alternative rock radio deejay during the '90s; I found the game simplistic since my musical trivia knowledge is well honed thanks to years of listening to music introductions several hours a day. Beat the Intro challenges you by covering subjects from the '50s up to current day, but none of the songs featured would be considered obscure or arcane. Use of rerecorded songs makes the game unintentionally harder than it should be. It's easy enough to spot Rick James's "Superfreak" in any cover version, but the grunge sound of the '90s can make a Third Eye Blind song barely familiar. The game never reveals a right answer if you get a track wrong, so even with endless play you probably won't learn more than you knew going in.

Beat the Intro plays well as a game. The controls are easy to use, and everything is nicely presented in a straight forward manner. I can't imagine anyone finding it addictive in a nefarious way like a true video game for a system like Xbox, but ease of interaction and a fun topic make the affair breezy and light fun. Pop it in at your next group gathering, or at a time when you want to test your knowledge of a decade of music. Adults will find it more engaging than kids since the questions will drum up nostalgia more than increase knowledge. Interactive games on DVD are rare for good reason, but this one works well even if it's not a revolution by any stretch. But how could it be? DVD Players will never outpace video game consoles in any arena other than a format like this where you identify clips. A movie edition would be a great idea, and hopefully BBC Video or another distributor will find a way to drill down your film knowledge one day. Until then have fun answering questions about Elvis, The Beatles, Madonna, and Nirvana while missing a couple of Ja Rule questions.

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