Game Shows Trivia Quiz

Answer: Home Improvement

This is one of those games that makes it onto quite a few "worst of" lists, but not always for its gameplay, more for its ridiculous storyline. As fans of the TV show will know, Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor never battled against mummies or dinosaurs yet that was the premise of this game.
Basically, when about to debut a new line of power tools on his TV show, Tim discovers that someone has taken them and hidden them all over the movie lot. Obviously he has to recover these tools but along the way, several bizarre creatures will attempt to stop him. Luckily these enemies can be defeated with the tools that every good tool man has at his disposal, such as a nail gun, a chainsaw, a flame thrower and dynamite!
The best thing about this game however was the fact that it didn't come with an instruction manual, instead it contained a book that simply said, "Real men don't need instructions"

Answer: Lost

It is the job of Elliott Maslow in this game, "Lost: Via Domus" (2008) to piece together what happened to the plane crash survivors when they were thrown together on the island. The game is based on the first 70 days of their ordeal, as depicted in the TV show, apart from one glaring difference. There was no character called Elliott Maslow in the TV show!
Nevertheless, he is here in the game alongside all of your favourites from the TV show, including Charlie, Hurley, Jack, Sayid and Kate, although be warned that none of these are voiced by the actors that played them in the TV show. Better make that two glaring differences.
My favourite quote regarding the voices in the video game came from IGN Entertainment who stated that John Locke sounded like "an old-timey prospector", while Sawyer was compared to "Huckleberry Hound".

Answer: The Office

Remember "Diner Dash" (2003) where the object of the game was to serve customers in your diner within an allotted time? Fast forward four years, substitute the diners for characters in "The Office" (2005-2013) and replace the meals with folders and paperwork and you pretty much have "The Office" (2007) video game.
There were pranks from the TV show you could play, as well as hearing some of the show's memorable lines, but on the whole this was a poorly developed and poorly received game, best avoided, even in the bargain bins in Scranton.

Answer: Desperate Housewives

"Desperate Housewives" (2006) allowed your character to meet the other residents and decide who to befriend and who to back stab. Along the way you can find out all of the neighbourhood's juicy secrets and most importantly discover who you really are as your amnesia slowly recedes.
Unfortunately though like so many video game tie-ins, none of the characters were voiced by the stars of the TV show.

Answer: The Adventures of Gilligan's Island

You control Skipper in this 1990 release, while Gilligan follows you around when he isn't getting lost or falling down a hole, of which there are many. Of course, each time something unfortunate happens to Gilligan, it becomes your job to rescue him, while still attempting to solve the puzzles which allow you to progress in the game.
Unfortunately, the game attracted quite a few negative reviews as many of these puzzles simply involved walking from one person to another, with very little action in between.

Answer: The Dallas Quest

Originally for the TRS-80 Color Computer, this game was also ported to the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64, but my how times have changed when it comes to TV tie in games.
Although this game takes place mainly on and around the Southfork ranch of the TV show and features characters from the show, much of the gameplay is tenuously linked to the show at best.
You play a detective hired by Sue Ellen, but be warned, Dallas resident J.R. Ewing will attempt to stop your investigation at any cost, as will other well known Dallas residents such as a group of hippos, a tobacco chewing monkey, an elephant and a turtle who loves bugle music. Not forgetting of course, the group of cannibals, of whom J.R. is the chief!
Who knew that life on a Texas cattle ranch could offer so much variety?

Answer: ALF

When the lead programmer who worked on the video game admits that the game is bad, but justifies it by saying "as the ALF TV show was bad too, the game is at least in line with the source material", you know you're in trouble.
This game wasn't just bad though, it was way beyond that. For starters, the game had no checkpoints and Alf's only weapon against biker gangs and hordes of bats was a stick of salami, making dying and then having to start again at the beginning of a level a regular occurrence.
Another major problem was discovered by gamers near the end of the game. The spacesuit was required to go and repair your ship, once all parts had been collected. If you left the shop without the spacesuit, you died. You couldn't go back in the game to collect more money if you were short on funds for the spacesuit either. Your only option was to start again, presumably with less hair, having already torn most of it out.

Answer: The Walking Dead

There is a whole series of video games from Telltale Games for various platforms which are based on the graphic novels of "The Walking Dead" (from 2003) and each of these games has attracted rave reviews for stunning graphics, intelligent gameplay and adherence to the original story.
Not so favourable are the reviews for "The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct" from Activision, which has been described as having bland environments, poor graphics, ill conceived gameplay and no real storyline.
In the game, the player takes on the role of Daryl and must either fight walkers or use stealth to avoid them, while also deciding whether to assist or abandon other refugees encountered as he and his brother Merle make their way to Atlanta.
Even having actors from the hit TV show, Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker provide the voices for their characters wasn't enough to save this game which was available for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii, and it proved to be the final nail in the coffin for development company, Terminal Reality, who went bankrupt shortly after working on this offering.

Answer: Pop Idol/American Idol

Where to start with this unashamed cash in on a TV phenomenon? To begin the game you created your character, who would then enter regional heats and hopefully sing their way to victory in the grand finale. There was no actual singing required on your part though, instead you pressed the controller buttons in the order they appeared on screen to determine how well your character sang.

Not only did you not have to sing, you didn't even have to listen to the singing, as the game played just fine while muted. If this sounds too tame for you, don't forget that the game also came with a dance mat, so if pressing buttons on the controller wasn't your cup of tea, you could step on the buttons on a mat instead.

Answer: Grey's Anatomy

The main problem which reviewers and gamers alike had with this game set in Seattle Grace hospital, was that it was high on the personal lives, emotions and feelings of the characters and somewhat lacking on the medical side of hospital life. The mini games are all geared towards discovering more about your character's true feelings and also include clicking on dots as they enter a circle, lining up a series of arrows and matching three of the same object. None of which are taught in medical school.
There are occasional medical procedures to perform such as a brain biopsy or a kidney transplant, but the majority of the surgery involves routine tasks such as endlessly changing dressings.
In a wise move, none of the cast from the hit TV show which first aired in 2005 chose to voice their characters and as so often seems to happen in these cases, a new character was required for the video game. In this case, enter Nurse Vince Bennet, who has feelings for Cristina Yang. Like there aren't enough feelings and love interests in the TV show.