Family Fortunes (Wii) - Review by Chris

Introduction

Family Fortunes has been a large part of the family television sector for many, many years now and although it's not quite as prevalent on TV as it once was, where it'd have pride of place ever weekend in the primetime viewing slot, it still manages to pull in the audiences when it does appear even with a more obnoxious host. Now, after years of a flourishing industry, the show has finally made the transition from television shows to video games, courtesy of Mindscape. But is this one show that really needed to cross the gap between the mediums? Our survey said.....

Gameplay

The Family Fortunes formula is recreated in game form here with Vernon Kay keeping up his current role as the host of the show. With two main types of the set formula to play through, there really isn't a huge amount on offer here. The two types are very similar; in fact there is no difference between them content wise. You have access to the standard Family Fortunes setup whereby you play as a fictional family and try to get the top answer from a survey of 100 people in the hopes of winning points and prizes, going through the sections of the show such as Single and Double Money before the final showcase. It's simple stuff and it flows over to the All Star Family Fortunes where the main difference is the use of non-Mii characters.

Just as the show, in both modes you give answers to topics aiming to score as many points as possible. There are loads of topics to gives answers for, with potential right and wrong answers listed on the right hand side of the screen with you selecting from the list. The issue here is that even if you get a right answer, or more importantly a wrong answer, the answers remain on the list and so it can be confusing when trying to get the last few answers when you can't quite remember which you've already picked and gotten wrong. For getting the top answer, you'll receive a prize which goes towards you in game achievements, which isn't like the achievement system in other games. Instead, it merely works as a statistics collection area and doesn't add anything to the game. When you look at what is available here on the disc, though, there isn't a whole lot to sink your teeth into. Granted, the actual game elements are decent enough but there's not enough to them to make you want to play for more than a few goes; there's little to entice any form of longevity from the game, even with the large selection of topics. The game does support multiplayer, where two players can go head to head in competitive matches and it does provide some extra entertainment but in comparison to other similar titles, it's lacking content to the extent that it's disgraceful.

Controls

The game is another in a growing breed of titles that sets out to provide accessible content to gamers of all ages and it manages to accomplish this by only making you use the Wii-mote. Like many similar titles, the only thing you'll be utilising is the IR pointer functionalities which make progression through the menus easier. It also makes your choices from the multiple selection sheets during the actual gameplay easy but the pointer isn't fully realised as it seems to lag behind movement slightly and seems to be shaky meaning that making some of your selections can be a bit of an issue, especially if you don't have the steadiest of hands. But it works and it's easy enough for people to pick up and that is what the game was aiming for.

Graphics

The visuals are low key and very basic for the game. It utilises a function that not many games use which is the implementation of Miis. There are two sets of characters with those in the All Star Family Fortunes section of the game being rendered characters that look somewhat decent but the quality at times for them isn't great seeing as they've been designed to look 3D through their shading yet are actually 2D and so look pixelated at times. The Miis are primarily used in the standard Family Fortune sections with the 3D Mii head, be it one that is already previously made on the disc or one on your console, placed on a badly done body that is basically a 2D shape that doesn't sit well in the game, with clipping issues apparent showing how flawed they are. The studio is something you won't see very much of but it gets the job done for looking like the real thing, albeit a little bit more on the basic side of things.

Sound

The show's music makes an appearance but in a much lower key way. You'll only have to endure it every so often, usually between the rounds of the game. The trademark 'wrong answer' and 'top answer' sounds are here, though, in all their glory and it sounds the part, being of a decent enough quality to portray the feel of the game show. If you're not a fan of Vernon Kay, you may want to stay clear as his voice is plastered throughout the entirety. Yet even with his talent in use, the lines of voice work are kept very basic and in most cases are only snippets cutting off before the actual topic is mentioned and so at times you'll find yourself wondering what the topic is as you'd expect it to be voiced but it's not. It's not a big deal that you have to read it but it interrupts the flow of the game especially as your making your choices against the clock.

Final comments

Many people have fond memories of Family Fortunes on TV. Very few people will garner fond memories for this game however. In just about every department, the game lacks substance to provide any lengthy or worthwhile entertainment. While the game is initially fun, it quickly drags under the weight of absolutely nothing. The show never really translated well to the video game format but this is worse than what many could imagine in respect to that notion. Family Fortunes is another example of shameful licensing that has no reason for existing at all. Avoid.

Pro: Controls are accessible, gameplay is initially fun...
Con: ...But very quickly worsens, severe lack of content, graphics are basic even by the genre's standards
Final score: 2.8

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