As a man whose guilty pleasure is party games, I am shamed to admit it took five iterations for me to power up a ‘Buzz’ trivia title. Color me moronic to have waited this long.

While a ‘Buzz’ newbie, I was instantly floored by the polish of ‘Hollywood Quiz’ (BHQ); this game looks and plays fantastic. For a PS2 offering, BHQ is extremely sharp, likewise controls like a dream (even in emulation mode on an 80gb Playstation 3). Contestant animations are occasionally hilarious, likewise the host’s (‘Buzz’) in-game comments. Equal kudos to the sharp movie clips and still images powering BHQ’s questions.

Related, the game’s sturdy, signature controllers do their thing in incredible fashion, so much so they render the PS2 (or PS3) controller completely unnecessary. Each of the included four buzzers and accompanying colored buttons operate flawlessly, with BHQ’s control scheme a dream even during heated multiplayer contests. While seemingly a minute point, the flashing buzzer buttons are a consistent, very cool feature in creating a pseudo-gameshow experience.

And what a robust gameshow it is. Seven unique rounds fortunately help keep things interesting, likewise ensuring that no player is truly out of it (points wise) until the final buzzer in the appropriately named ‘Final Countdown’ mode. While some modes are more interesting than others – ‘Pie Throw,’ for instance, is a glaring waste of disc space – the overall experience remains top notch.

Thankfully – and arguably most importantly - the folks at Relentless Software thought ahead in finally remedying the repeat question syndrome plaguing most trivia titles. While BHQ logically has a finite question base, it does, however, intelligently save question selection to memory cards [to reduce the number of repeat offenders]. It’s about frickin’ time somebody gave a resounding middle finger to Trivial Pursuit superstars thriving off of question reruns. (Buy a new deck, you cheap bastards.)

Truth be told, it’s hard to find a glaring flaw with ‘Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz.’ It does exactly what it promises to do and in splendid fashion. Not to mention a ridiculously cheap price point of $40 for both the game and four included controllers. An even better deal knowing these controllers work with the previous four ‘Buzz’ titles.

With this being said, BHQ – at the end of the day – is still a trivia title intended for multiplayer audiences. Even with colorful character models, single player mode is as a fun as watching paint dry. Also – and unless you’re a movie and/or trivia obsessive – BHQ lacks the party playing, replay panache of a ‘SingStar’ of ‘Guitar Hero’ experience. BHQ is fun…but not the, ‘I’m going to invite friends over to play movie trivia’ kind of fun. I chalk this up to the absence of the true, physical interactivity these competing party games provide.

SUMMARY: ‘Buzz: The Hollywood Quiz’ (BHQ) is a sharp, well-polished trivia experience at a terrific price point. The game’s attention to detail and intuitive control schemes combine to create a wonderful multiplayer trivia title. BHQ, however, offers little to solo players while packing lower replay value than most party video games.

CONCLUSION: 8 [ITCHY BUZZER TRIGGER FINGERS] OUT OF 10.