Monopoly (1991)

"Fun and addictive- just like the regular board game!"

So this game is based on the fun, addictive, and best-selling boardgame- Monopoly! The gameplay is definitely much like the regular board game, but what the computer game has thrown in with it are some cool animations, voices, not having to count out your own money, being able to play without another real person with you, some more nice options that you can use, and even a Monopoly BOARD EDITOR!

As you can see, this game is pretty fun. I'll explain all of it you as you read this review for an awesome game!

GAMEPLAY- 10/10

If you have never heard of the word, "Monopoly," in your life, then shame on you. For those of you that haven't, it's about a fun boardgame where you buy properties, build houses and hotels, collect money from your fellow players, and try to become the richest player and have the most properties of anyone. You'll even be going to jail at times, collecting money by landing on "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards, having auctions, and be paying fines and taxes throughout. It's anything that I business person could want.

There are 11 different tokens that you can choose from, and you can also play up to 6 players in one game. Because nobody in my family ever has time to play these kinds of games on the computer with me, the CPU players work out perfectly for me. The tokens that you can choose from each have different animations, voices, and looks. This is what makes this game so nice and enjoyable. For instance, the dog enjoys barking, but she can also talk (that's right, there are she's and he's, too!). The thimble sounds like a stylish girl, the wheelbarrow sounds like your average kid, the shoe sounds like a senior, the sack of money sounds like a business person itself, the car is your typical teenager (probably my most favorite voice) and the cowboy on the horse sounds like a cowboy itself!

Plus, the tokens each have their own animations! Whenever they move about the board or are simply sitting there, waiting for their turn, they will do several entertaining actions. The car speeds and races along, the top hat bounces, the dog wags its tail and jumps around the board, the wheelbarrel races on its single wheel, the thimble rolls about, and the iron jumps around as well. Each character is very fun and entertaining.

The gameplay itself is very fun, too. The objective of the game is, as said above, to become the richest player and ultimately get rid of everyone else on the board by causing them to go bankrupt. How can someone become bankrupt? Here's how it goes: as you go around the board, you'll land on properties, railroads, and utilities. You can buy these with any money that you have, but the fun thing about the regular properties is that they each have their own color group. For instance: Boardwalk and Park Place are the two ritziest places on the board, so they cost a lot of money. However, by buying both of them, you have the best "Monopoly" on the entire board! When you have a monopoly, you can begin building houses on your properties and ultimately hotels. Then, when other players land on your monopoly, they'll pay great sums of money. For instance, if I had a hotel on Boardwalk, anyone (besides the person who owns the monopoly) would have to pay $2000! This can often make players go bankrupt and lose the game.

There are a total of 8 different color monopolys, so everyone has a chance. There are also 4 railroads, which are very wealthy to you if you get all 4, as players must pay $200 for landing on one of those 4 spots, regardless of which one you land on. Utilities are also OK to own, as if you own both, the player who lands on the utility must pay the owner 10 times the amount shown on the dice. This can add up very quickly, though!

You can also trade with your fellow players for properties/railroads/utilities/money that you'd like. I found this fun and good to use because you can negotiate to get monopolys out of the deal.

What is else is so nice about this game? It has its very own BOARD EDITOR! A second program on this game allows you to create your very own monopoly board, and you can customize your own properties and railroads. The only sad thing to me is that you cannot change the name of the jail, the free parking space, or any of the other board spaces besides the properties and railroads. It would have fit much better with the actual board if we could have changed these up. So how would I summarize the gameplay? Awesome!

GRAPHICS- 6/10

This game is pretty old, so the graphics aren't all that decent. But still, I don't think that there should be any complaining with them, though, as the graphics don't ruin the gameplay factor one bit. Not one bit at all. And the graphics aren't even that bad. They're quite good in some parts of the game, but others could have used improvements. Everything is clear and easy to read on the gameboard, so that's just the main thing that I'm looking for.

MUSIC & SOUND- 9/10

I have to admit, the token voices are very fun and nice to hear. Each one has its own personality, which is very nice and fun to hear from. The host of the game- Mr. Monopoly, of course- has a nice voice that is easy to understand as well to listen to. The buttons that you must press in the game each have their own little sound when you click on them.

The only small problem here is the music in the background. It's nice for the first few moments of the game, but after hearing that same little tune for the 1000th time in a row, it gets kind of annoying. Other than that, the music & sound effects are lovely.

CHALLENGE- 8/10

This game is very challenging, as it is a boardgame. That's the thing that regular video games are having trouble at these days. :) But what is so nice is that you can adjust the options to make things easier, or you can increase how smart or inexperienced your CPU players are. That's always nice to have.

Challenging? Heck yeah! This is a financial game, so you can definitely expect some challenge coming out of it. I've never been that great with financial games (such as Sim Theme Park or the Tycoon games), but this one is a nice combination of a board game and a financial business, so it's somewhat funner.

REPLAY VALUE- 10/10

This is a boardgame! What do you expect! Of course there is lots of room to replay it. In fact, I've played quite a few games in the same day, so there's no question here.

OVERALL- 9/10

It's ALMOST perfect. There is only one thing that needs improvement in this game, and that is the music. How could it have been improved? They could have possibly threw in more than one tune in the same game, but I may just be being picky. So, there you have it. Rent or buy? Anyone who says rent to this game is nuts! It's a boardgame! So BUY IT!

Thank you, and look for my other reviews as well!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/07

Game Release: Monopoly (1991) (US, 1991)