by Rafi Guroian Berkley Systems, $29. Requirements: PowerPC, 18MB RAM, System 7.5.5 or later, 4x CD-ROM. Contact Berkley at http://www.berksys.com. Jack is back. Just when this reviewer thought that the You Don’t Know Jack franchise had been played out to its fullest, Jellyvision (the designers) goes and does something like this. And believe me, what they did is simply amazing. Granted, YDKJ: The Ride has its faults, which should have been caught, and caught early, but the new innovations in the game far outweigh what has been lost. Lost, you say? What’s been lost? Yes, that’s right, folks. YDKJ has taken a turn in goals, but the turn isn’t for the worse. Simply put, if we were to take Cookie (the host of YDKJ) out of the game, and call some of the bonus rounds different names, we could easily strike the name "You Don’t Know Jack" and call the game something completely different. No longer do we feel like we are getting ready to go on a game show. No longer do we get the sense that we are on display in front of a studio audience with an accompanying vocal band. And most of all, no longer do we have those oh-so enjoyable interludes introducing question numbers. Yes, folks, it’s an entirely new premise, but fear not, the game is not just good, it’s great! (guess I had too many Frosted Flakes this morning) Yes, the departure from the familiar "game show atmosphere" is sobering to say the least. I’ve got to admit that I did not like this fourth installment of YDKJ when I first played it. A die-hard jack-ee, I was almost insulted at such a change. For example, we are no longer treated to a pre-show Green Room preparation for the game in the same way that we are used to. Instead, the same objectives (getting the number of players and your names) are accomplished with the idea that you are about to embark on a theme park ride of some sort. Yeah, it’s weird, believe me. Personally, I don’t think it makes a bit of sense, but I am willing to overlook the entire premise, basically because of the innovations here. "Innovations?" you ask. "How could they possibly innovate the pre-game questionnaire?" The answer is rather simple: Play with your mind. Yes, that’s right. YDKJ: The Ride is actually witty. To begin with, you are asked a question at the launch of each game. Some of the questions are rather personal; some are funny. In any case, whichever answer (you are given two options) that you pick will alter the course of the rest of the game. In some cases, depending on your pick, the computer will refuse to let you enter your name and will make you enter a different name instead (I was forced to be called "Two Percent" in an episode about milk). Before I caught on, I even quit out of the game and restarted my computer thinking the keyboard had gone haywire. In another case, my friend, Peter, was ridiculed for having the same name as a disciple in the Jesus Christ episode.   The Ride slowly began to grow on me once I started getting a handle on where the game was going conceptually. Cookie returns once again for his fourth installment as host (Movies, Netshow, and Volume 3 were his last outings), which is always a welcome sound. In addition, we are treated to several other hosts from previous games, each of which takes over for a period of time. We hear from Guy (from YDKJ: Sports and Sports Netshow), Nate (perhaps the best YDKJ host of all, who hosted the original game and the Netshow), Schmitty (formerly of YDKJ: Television and now Netshow), and finally, Buzz, the much-debated, questionable host of Volume 2. Believe it or not, Buzz actually comes across much better this time around, partially due to the obvious hazing he gets in this game from other hosts ridiculing him of his last outing’s performance. The fact that The Ride brings back all of the former hosts was enough to make me grin ear-to-ear right there. The game’s format has also changed. No longer are we given the opportunity to pick from three question categories. Instead, depending on which answer we pick at the beginning of the game (yes, it comes back to haunt you consistently), we are led to a specific "floor" or to put it simply, a specific episode of set questions. This is perhaps the poorest part of the game, detracting from the infinite combinations of games the older format used to provide. Instead, once you’ve played an episode, you know all of the questions and answers. This becomes incredibly annoying if you’ve deleted the game from your hard drive after playing upwards of twenty games, only to find that you’ve got to play through a good portion of those twenty to start getting new episodes. Had the makers of the game created a workaround on this, The Ride would have gotten a perfect score from me.   Buzzing in as a host of question values flash by you on the screen now chooses the questions for you. In addition, question values are no longer constricted to the $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, and $6,000 limit. Question values are now much more eclectic with some individual values topping $12,000. Of course, this makes for a much more intense multiplayer game. Bonus Rounds are also great fun. In addition to the tried-and-true Gibberish Questions and Dis-or-Dat, we are presented with new Bonus Rounds like the Road Kill and Bingo, each tailored to the episode’s content. Sorely lacking from this volume (as with Volume 3 and Television) is the Fiber Optic Field Trip. This was perhaps one of the best features ever implemented in a trivia game (the host would call a random person out of the phone book and have them make up a question). I strongly encourage Jellyvision to give it another go the next time around. In all, Jack: The Ride is a winner. Die-hard fans, like myself, will be disappointed at the non-Jackness of the product. At times, it seems like the game is in an identity crisis. The game starts up like an amusement park ride, but ends in the familiar (and hilarious) spoof radio commercials as if we were on a game show. It’s becoming clear that Jack is going to have to make a decision for the next entry, but for now, it stands on its own. The inclusion of popular Jack commercials on one of the game’s two CD’s is priceless, and may be worth a good chunk of the game’s price right there. In any case, Jack has done what nobody thought was possible: make an already great game, even better, albeit at the cost of some familiar features.