Buzz! Master Quiz has both single and multiplayer games. In the single player, there are 15 different rounds with different questions, themes and scoring. It takes no time at all to open up all the rounds, but scoring gold in all of them can pose quite a challenge, thereby adding to the replay value. There are also "trophies" that are awarded for achieving certain criteria in the single-player game, like scoring at least bronze in all rounds, answering a question in less than a second, getting ten right in a row, and things like that.

It's just a quiz game, so the graphics and sound aren't really pushing the limits of the system. Host Buzz is well animated, though I still don't understand why he has a Muppet mouth. There are also photographic images and video and sound clips that go with some questions. Another voice asks each question aloud, as well. Unfortunately, even while playing through the single-player game, I encountered a couple repeat questions before I even finished the first playthrough.

Mutliplayer has a few different options. Ad Hoc WiFi can be used to share the game with up to three different other PSPs for a quick game of Fastest Finger. One PSP can be used with up to six players, passing the system from one to the next as cued by the game to take turns answering various questions. Or one player can act as host, and uses the PSP to read off questions and tally up everyone's points as they get questions right and wrong.

There's a surprising amount of variety with the different modes (although internet WiFi would've been nice), but unfortunately the UMD just can't hold that many questions. Maybe I was spoiled by Scene It! on the 360, where it specifically keeps track of the questions you've had so they don't repeat, but I was disappointed to run into a couple of repeats before I'd finished all the single-player rounds. Also, some game styles are almost impossibly difficult. For instance, the "Virus" round has you waiting for an image to de-pixellate enough to identify it and answer the question that goes with it. But as you're waiting for it to come into focus, the "virus" eats away at your points. Wait too long, and you won't get as many points as you've just lost. So it's kind of counter-intuitive. Also, and this is just me being nitpicky, having the multiple-choice answers in a row doesn't match with the diamond-shaped layout of the controller buttons, so I sometimes forgot which shape was where and buzzed in the wrong answer. But that's just me.

Buzz! Master Quiz is still an entertaining portable quiz game, and Buzz isn't nearly as annoying a host as I'd been led to believe. There's a decent variety of game modes, and different categories like music, sports, TV, and such to keep things interesting... even if some questions and images do repeat a little too often. On the major plus side, the game's only $20. So it's definitely worth the money, even if it's only slightly above average. (By the way, the answer to the question is John Ritter.)

6 out of 10