Top Shop

"A well rounded puzzle game"

Board Game - Top Shop is well worth the 10 bucks that it takes to get a copy. Top Shop is a well rounded puzzle game that A1 Games - a division of Agetec - should be proud to offer to their growing fan base.

Top Shop is a game in which you battle it out with your opponents to open shops, gain money, and reach the determined number of assests to win. The point itself is to open up mall shops in 8 stages and make your opponents run for their money in a board game simulation. In order to do this, you must gain the upper hand, open and upgrade your mall shops, yet still maintain a reasonable amount of money. Of course, a little bit of luck must come into play. When you roll your pencil (not dice, oddly enough) you may end up on an event card in which you select a card. The card then can turn the game your way or make you as poor as a hobo on the streets by offering events like giving you 2000 bucks or making you lose half of your dough. 20% of the game relies on luck itself.

Graphically, this game could have easily been handled by the SNES, but I wouldn't rate it simply on that. I rate graphics based on how well they match with the game and I believe the 2d graphics fare pretty well. The characters also have a wacky japanese feeling to them which gives the game a lot of charm spanning from a cat with a hood to a little alien carrying an umbrella, but many times the conversations between the characters can make no sense.

Gameplay wise, Freeplay mode is one of the biggest aspects of the game, since it becomes multiplayer mania (1-6 players) with stage select. Story Mode has you playing as Meower (the cat in the hood) as you progress to each mall and try to beat all the opponents to make it to the top mall. This mode is tough (don't be fooled by the cutesy characters) and can become quite monotonic and tedious at times though, but by beating it you'll unveil a few game secrets. There are also over 40 shops you can open and upgrade that span from a KISS Cafe to a Movie Theater.

When you get onto the game tunes many of them are very catchy and upbeat and match the mood of the mall your in. It's quite an impressive soundtrack for a puzzle game.

Despite it being quite genuine, it does have some drawbacks. Sometimes you can be at the verge of winning just by a few mere points when out of nowhere, one of your opponents hit the jackpot and win. Also, it gets kind of boring watching your computer opponents taking their turns even if you speed it up in options mode. Also, you can only save the game every April after the 2nd year (this game plays by months that change after each player has taken one turn) in Story Mode. It has an overall appeal of 1 to 3 weeks before you get tired of it.

In the end, Top Shop is a cheaply priced title worth your time and money. If you like fast paced action/adventure games, this game is only a rent. If your more of the time taking player, this game is worth looking into.

Numeric Review Breakdown:
Gameplay - 7
Graphics - 6
Sound - 7
Replay Value - 5
Overall - 6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/01, Updated 07/06/01