I give it a solid 8. Faithful to the original with a couple of nice updates plus a bonus round, all wrapped in a set that would make Ed Flesh proud. But I do have quibbles:
- I think they picked the wrong announcer. Dude. It's a game show, not a trailer for a Michael Bay movie. Brad Abelle just about pulls that style off for Pyramid. You (Neil Ross, if I read the credit right)...not so much.
- The processing of the Whammies' voices was a little off...seems like it was only sped up without doing whatever other extra step they did on the original. Super trivial, I know, but somehow it gets me.
- Music is an almost slavish re-record of the original. That said, I wished for the other half of it, and I probably would've written the "we're back" cue differently. Agreed on the lack of a win cue. We kinda needed it since there didn't feel like quite enough drama at the end of the main game. Sorta disappointed they used the lower-pitch board sound from the first season.
- I miss having the answers displayed.
- Showing the prices of the prizes is nice but the pause in revealing them seems to take away some momentum. I'd show the price as soon as the board stops.
- Elizabeth Banks is good overall but her enthusiasm doesn't seem to be there in the heat of the game. Not sure how I feel about her not saying "stop at..." at the end of each spin like Peter did (and Todd did on Whammy). I do like her rapport with the players, and she seems to genuinely feel for them. That goes a long way.
- Still not 100% convinced we need the bonus round.