Family Fortunes (PC)
Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Infogrames
Platform: PC
Price: £29.99
The premise of the long running quiz show, Family Fortunes, is simple. Take two "wacky" families, a huge computerised board that looked dated in the 1970's and a host who can do an impersonation of Mavis from Coronation Street while his wife cavorts with Neil Morrissey. The questions are supplied by the public, and some of the answers given in the past are legendary, such the woman who was asked to name a dangerous race and said the Arabs, or the guy who answered Naomi Campbell to "Name a bird with a long neck"!). Then there was the man who famously managed to answer Turkey to every question asked (including "name something you take to the beach"). Players must simply find the top answers to the surveys to win a few grand (small compensation for losing your dignity on national TV), and the PC version captures the bland essence of the show to a tee - complete with a grinning Les Dennis as you create a family and match your answers to over 1,600 questions.
It's simple to play and rather good fun for a while - especially with a group of friends playing on the same "family". There are a few neat features, such as the FMV of the perennially perky Dennis or the ability to import pictures of real faces into your clan, while the simplistic nature of the game makes it easy on the PC requirements.
Yes, it's inoffensive prime time fun - but hardly pulse stirring stuff compared to Who Wants to be a Millionaire or The Weakest Link. Our survey says: "average".
Neil McGreevy
