2-4-1 Family Fortunes and Blockbusters 2nd Edition

If only our dear Grandmothers were alive to see this day - they'd have been so happy. Family Fortunes and Blockbusters together at last. We can't think how it could get any better - except if maybe they'd made it a 3-4-1 with The Price is Right.

There's bad news to go with the good in both of these games however. Starting with Blockbusters 2nd Edition, the bad is that Bob Holness has been replaced by a manga-esque impostor. But moving onto Family Fortunes there's good news with regards to its presenter - it's not the vague-looking (and acting) Vernon Kaye. The bad news is, there's no presenter at all.

Still, you have to expect a few concessions to have been made in two not-so-new mobile quiz games. What's important is how the "I'll have a 'P' please, Bob" (snigger snigger) and "we asked 100 people to name something you mount" gameplay has been translated into a game.

In the case of Blockbusters, the answer to that is: not very well.

As Mr Spencer remarked in his review of the original standalone game, Blockbusters 2nd Edition suffers from its multiple choice questions being just too easy.

"Even the most stoned degree-level future-MacDonald's-manager can fathom the most likely answer from the obscure list of possibilities, and even if they don't the correct solution is given away for free by Bob's unworthy replacement. As you can imagine, this saps a lot of the challenge from Blockbusters and means a gold run is no longer the on-campus accolade it once was."

Better is the two-player mode where you fight to be first on the 'buzzer' using one handset, but the intrinsic problem with the questions remains and the new characters, mascots and questions included in this second edition of the game aren't enough to elevate it to the giddy heights of the TV programme of yesteryear.

Fortunately, Family Fortunes fares better and is the clear winner of the two.

The mobile adaptation of the quiz show differs a bit from its TV incarnation and - like Blockbusters - has to rely on a type of multiple choice answers. But in this case they're less restrictive.

For each 'we asked 100 people' question, you're given a list of answers and invited to pick the top three from it. Guess three correctly and you win points and free passage to the next round. Get three wrong and the question is passed over to the other team.

As Mr McInnes said of the game when it he first reviewed it:

"Putting a quickfire spin on an already simple game has proved to be a successful tact for mobile games in the past with the likes of Skill Ball Bingo, and in a similar way it works well with Family Fortunes."

The game's presentation might be more adequate than attractive (a bit like Mr Kaye, its TV host) and its difficulty level is a little on the easy side, but Family Fortunes is still a surprisingly addictive experience.

It's not quite enough to save this 2-4-1 pack from mediocrity though. You'd think Blockbusters and Family Fortunes would be the ultimate quiz show combo, but both are too diluted, too easy and too lacking in the presentation stakes. Our survey says... you might be getting two for the price of one, but neither is much of a winner.