Monopoly Party!

"Monopoly Video Game Rendition # 33"

The first thing that I have to say in this review is that while it could have been done better, this game is not as bad as everyone says it is. It is a solid attempt at putting a new spin on the game of monopoly. Unfortunately it doesn’t live up to the other versions of monopoly that have been released for other consoles. Here is why:

Gameplay:
Gameplay (despite what some people may say) is the most important part of any game, especially a game like monopoly. Most versions of monopoly choose to simulate the game as closely as possible. Monopoly Party does the opposite. In Monopoly Party each person takes his or her turn at the same time, speeding up the game. While in theory, this is a great idea. The problem is when you have 4 people playing at once, the game gets incredibly hard to follow which makes the game a lot less enjoyable (although it gets a lot easier the more you play). There is a classic mode however which probably solves that problem.

The only thing in that is harder then trying to follow the game with everyone playing at once is trying to figure out what the developers were thinking when they were programming the AI players in this game. This is easily the game with stupidest AI players in monopoly history & possibly in video game history. You could only know the absolute basics of monopoly & play better then athe AI players (although they would still beat you horribly). They will constantly turn down properties when they are for sale & completely mess up trades (They went after my dad for a property to get a set & tried to offer cash. When he tried to add a property of theirs into the trade, the AI player took out their property & offered him half as much cash as they originally offered). Not only are the AI players stupid, they always “conveniently” manage to get past your houses & hotels. The only fun this can provide is when 2 or 3 players gang up on the AI player to see who can eventually bankrupt him but even that gets old & you will eventually turn off the AI players.

Another problem I have with this game is the camera angle. I find it extremely hard to follow what is going on because you can’t see where your token is on the board due to the fact that the camera is so far back. I think that problem could have been avoided if they had just made the board smaller & zoomed the camera in more

The last problem I have with this game is that each person has to have their own controller & therefore only 4 people can play. I remember in the NES monopoly game I had, you could set it up so that somewhere between 4 & 8 people could play using only 2 controllers. This would have been a handy addition for those of us that don’t have 4 Gamecube controllers.

Aside from these few problems, this can be a fun game to play with other people & the ability to offer immunity to other players (which I can’t remember being in any other monopoly game) can make this game quite fun but due to the problems that are in the game, it isn’t as fun as some previous monopoly games.
Gameplay Score: 6/10

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are OK but they are definitely nothing great. Everything looks like what it should look like but it doesn’t look like it is much better then N64 graphics. The one problem I have with the graphics is that on some of the theme boards (I’m basing this off the sci-fi board) there is so much stuff flying around that it is very distracting.
Graphics Score: 7/10

Sound:
The sound in this game is also nothing special. All of the different sound effects fit in where they are supposed to. The only problem I have with the sound is the announcer. His comments make you want to reach for the mute button.
Sound Score: 5/10

Replayability
1 Player – 2/10: The AI players are so stupid you won’t want to bother.
2 – 3 Players – 6/10: This game can be quite a bit of fun with a couple of people.
4 Players – 7/10: The more people the better, if you have enough controllers

Buy or Rent?
If you really like monopoly, have 3 or 4 people to play it with & have enough controllers, then you may want to buy this (although I would still recommend a rental first). If you only have 1 or 2 people willing to play, don’t bother.

Overall Score: 6/10
It is good but it doesn’t live up to some of the other 32 renditions of monopoly.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/15/03, Updated 02/15/03