Family Feud (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of GameTek's 1991 NES game, Family Feud.
The video shows four "episodes" to win the final prize of $20,000. The final "ending" is shown.
As soon as you turn it on, you'll probably recognize that Family Feud doesn't really resemble many of the other game show adaptations published by GameTek on the NES. You might be expecting some fun, quirky animations, lots of good music, and a generally friendly and accessible playing experience.
That being the case, does it match what you'd expect? Probably not, and that's understandable: it wasn't developed by Rare, who handled stuff like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! It was developed by Beam, the Australian company that sometimes smashed a game out of the ballpark, and sometimes... didn't. And while this one obviously wasn't a home-run, it's not as bad as it initially appears to be.
Once you get past the hideous choice of colors and that terrible rendition of the TV show's theme song, you find a reasonable recreation of the TV game. It features all of the same elements - the initial face-off, choosing to play or pass, and fighting to be the first family to hit $200 in order to go onto the Fast Money round are all here. It all also works much like you'd expect, until you realize how rigid and infuriating the text parser can be. I'm sure you'll notice at a few points here where I clearly knew the answer but got a strike because I didn't phrase it like the game wanted, leaving me wonder how was I supposed to figure out exactly what it was expecting. Many of the answers are really unintuitive, and it can be infuriating when the CPU opponent wins with an answer nearly identical to what you had just put in and had received a red X for.
As for the art "style" - what the hell? These contestants are all good examples as to why eugenics might not be a bad idea - they're absurd, ugly, and don't even bother to occasionally twitch through basic animation cycles. They just stand there, looking super handicapped and unfit for life. I have no idea what inspired the look, but I can't help but imagine that it's the product of either a tortured mind or lots of hallucinogenic drugs. Either way, it's repulsive.
Family Feud isn't a terrible effort by any means, and it is totally possible to have fun with it. It's just unfortunate that it falls into so many traps that Rare's games sidestepped with seeming ease, and the issues cause just enough friction to make game frustrating. If it had been released in 1988, some of these issues might have been a bit more understandable, but this came out not six months before the SNES launch. By 1991 standards, this really didn't cut it.
If you want to play a video game version of Family Feud, skip this one and go play the SNES one - or better yet, ditch the carts and play the insanely awesome 3DO version. You can thank me later.
____
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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[@pxipes._1215]

the clapping sounds used to scare the shit out of me when i’d play with my dad lol

[@susanfit47]

In the NES version of Family Feud, the game tried to recreate the look and feel from the original Richard Dawson-hosted series, even going as far as to include a Dawson-like host who kissed the female characters in the game. (This differed from the game's packaging, which used the set from the Ray Combs era.) One or two players could play.

[@supermariofan03]

Am I the only one who found it funny that they had Richard Dawson kiss every female contestant in this game? I know it’s what he’s infamous for when hosting the show, it’s just so funny they would include it in the game.

[@curlytoes22]

I thought it was weird that he would smile creepily at the camera after kissing the daughter in each family

[@MrRwk314]

@@curlytoes22 LOL

[@UNCJerry77]

Even funnier is when this game came out,Ray Combs was the host.

[@boisegameshowguy]

@@UNCJerry77 Clearly folks still preferred Richard at the time.

[@danalong1237]

1:12, "It's time for the Family Feud! Introducing the DiGiorno family: (five family members introduced). Ready for action! And the Jackson family: (same way). ON YOUR MARKS! Let's start... THE FAMILY FEUD!!!!!!!! With the star of Family Feud, RICHARD DAWSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"-opening line spoken by the late Gene Wood.

[@darrendoyle568]

It was a mix of Dawson and Combs

[@danalong1237]

Until Anderson, Karn, O’Hurley and Harvey came along!

[@TheBambam2371]

"The family feud theme has never sounded better".

[@NintendoComplete]

TheBambam2371 Oh, a Helen Keller quote!

[@TheBambam2371]

YUP !

[@danalong1237]

The Family Feud theme was composed by Walter Levinsky, Ken Bichel and Robert Israel and arranged by Tania Smith of Beam Software.

[@ken_danerdiest1]

The 8-bit version's winnings limit was $20,000 while the 16-bit version for the Super NES & Genesis was set at $80,000.

[@THEMOECOOPERSHOWTM]

They could afford it lol

[@adavari17]

omg the audio is torturous holy shit

[@orneryokinawan4529]

You love it and you know it. Don't lie lol

[@kevinmelisacolvin4585]

Name a place that a daughter would keep picture of her boyfriend? You said Facebook. What year this game come out 1990 Favebook wasnt announced yet lmai

[@bobchang9438]

8:42 for those curious

[@MarcBarkyMarta]

You guessed walls, floors and even WOUNDS before you'd think of washing a dish with a sponge?!

[@befdoglover1]

What surprised me was that even "dishes" did not make the survey!

[@danalong1237]

40:41, "$25,465. I wish you all the best. We'll see two new families the next time we get together. See ya on the Feud. We love ya!"-Richard Dawson. "Some contestants will receive: (insert parting gifts for departing contestants). This is Gene Wood speaking for Family Feud, A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production!"-Gene Wood. "Monday, honor the year in Hollywood's greatest movies from Chariots of Fire to Reds to Raiders of The Lost Ark and everything in between. Johnny Carson hosts the 54th Annual Academy Awards, LIVE Monday night at 9/8 Central, right here on ABC!"-ABC staff announcer John Causier.

[@szymon6207]

306 points

[@YukaTakeuchiFan]

"Name a way that you can tell that food has gone bad" Answer: SMEagoL Licked an onion Survey says: 0 OH COME ON WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE PARSER TRICK DOESN'T WORK HERE?!

[@NintendoComplete]

The game show classic arrrives with some of the most offensively ugly graphics to ever grace the NES in addition to its hideous sound design and wonky text parser. It's not totally broken, but there's really no good reason to play this when you could go for the SNES or 3DO version instead.

[@QueenKJ2009]

You Got A Point.

[@THEMOECOOPERSHOWTM]

I wish James would play.

[@bigduke5902]

That has got to be the saddest attempt EVER to translate a real piece of music into a video game track. I know the Family Feud theme is a little unorthodox, but man is this funny.

[@kagemaru259]

I remember asking for American Gladiators (that game wasn't much better) and getting THIS.

[@QueenKJ2009]

So.....First I See The Show On My TV, And Now I See An NES Game?????

[@MrRwk314]

Host Elvis Pressly with the pork chops

[@mordakai9676]

You guessed Facebook....this game came out on the nes....wow

[@betzabenaranja5165]

yay! I played this game at age 8

[@paulonatanaeldossantossana3909]

Esse homem parece Raul Gil usava microfone do Silvio Santos na mão

[@shibez]

They used turtle shells for ashtrays?? WTF

[@musicme148]

_Family Feud,_ ano sabi sa survey?

[@Jayden.williams583]

22:15

[@julianjet]

I know this comment is late... What's wrong with the audio? Error?

[@orneryokinawan4529]

Really? You have to ask lol

[@julianjet]

@@orneryokinawan4529 Dang you really just fished up this comment and brought it back to me after all these years

[@fco64]

​@@julianjetgood to see you still on KZbin XD

[@julianjet]

@@fco64 Where else do I go to now I don’t have cable Also is it from this comment alone

[@lucyhierrocarreon5352]

feudal family

[@purpledonatello]

You got a bit of ahead of yourself there buddy with typo "facebook"

[@NintendoComplete]

purpledonatello Ahaha I wish I could claim that that was a typo. It was a pretty thoughtless screwup lol

[@whittymadness3427]

What typo

[@SonicLamb]

OMG, this is such shitty graphics for a '90 Gametek NES game. They had games older than this that had superior graphics.

[@musicme148]

_Family Feud,_ ano sabi sa survey?