Monopoly (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

I'm sure that for the majority of gamers Monopoly needs no introduction especially as the past few years have seen something of a resurgence for the now aging board game. The publishers have seen fit to release a new series celebrating just about everything from The Simpsons, Thunderbirds, Disney and Shrek to a variety of UK cities. In fact even my hometown of Liverpool received its own version with the previous London based landmarks swapped for the streets of Merseyside. It's also been hugely successful on consoles and computers too and even I was surprised to see it holding the top spot on a recent Java games download chart. Its relationship with Nintendo however has been a little patchy as although there was a highly acclaimed Color version some years ago, the last GBA version (Monopoly DX) failed to gain a release in Europe. This all happened a few years ago though and with the board game hitting 70 years old both Atari and ZOO Digital clearly felt the need to re-introduce The Hat, The Iron, The Car and all the other strange player pieces to a new audience.

Gameplay

If you haven't played Monopoly before, the concept couldn't be simpler. You must travel around a board using your skill and judgment to accumulate wealth by buying and trading in property whilst avoiding nasty things such as tax and fines. It's this accessibility mixed with the open-endedness of Monopoly that has allowed it to stand the test of time, and while you can still play the classic version there are also enough options to pretty much customize the game exactly the way you want. Firstly you can alter the game time by either setting a clock or dealing out a selection of properties at the game?s start. This effectively means you start mid game and the unpredictability of this feature does occasionally make for a more challenging game. There's also the ability to alter the awards and fines meaning a step in the wrong direction could, in theory, instantly bankrupt another player. It?s also, as you've probably guessed by now, a multiplayer affair but rather than link-up with other players you simply have your turn and then pass it onto the next player. You can opt to play against the computer but they do tend to be a little harsh in auctions. Another nice option (especially for our European readers) is the ability to change the language at the front end meaning that not only are the instructions and on-screen prompts in English, French, German or Spanish, but the board is too.

One thing we found a little too rigid compared to the board game is the fact that if you land on an open property you have to do something with it and there's nowhere to switch this option off. You could be purchasing it, selling it to the bank or entering it to an auction. Beware of the latter though as your opponent will never allow the property to go for less than the real price making the whole process a little unfair really. On the other hand if you've been a little too spendthrift and depleted your funds then you may have to allow some of the more desirable plots go for less than half of their value. Another thing we didn't like (and this is true in all board games) is that you cannot ?cheat? without the computer noticing. A great example of this is rent and whereas in the board game a landlord can easily overlook a sitting tenant for the period of time you're... well, squatting, which is usually followed by you taunting said landlord the instant you leave, in the GBA version as soon as you arrive you must pay up! Finally, and strangely, for a game that can last hours there's absolutely no way of storing your data. No battery backup, no pass codes, no nothing and while this has been overlooked in other titles it's absence here is inexcusable and completely nonsensical.

Controls

Simple and intuitive with a huge amount of on-screen tutorials and explanations should you lose your way or indeed your instruction booklet.

Graphics

While the majority of board and card games are less than impressive in the visuals department Monopoly is a bit of a departure in that there does appear to have been a bit of time and energy dedicated to how the game looks. Firstly the board is a kind of three quarter view and not the top-down adopted by the GBC version or the rather awkward angle that the last GBA outing took. This is a much clearer than the previous efforts not to mention more pleasing to look at, as are all the menu and interface systems. Animation is clearly at a minimum but you do have the player pieces leaping from one square to another which is much more impressive than the sliding or shuffling which we'd expected.

Sound

The soundtrack whilst pleasant enough is reminiscent of 1980s synth. music, which never quite reached it's full potential, from the band members? viewpoint anyway. Other sounds are mostly generic but let's face it you're not playing this game to be wowed by the audio.

Final comments

GBA titles aimed at young adults or indeed fully grown ones are a bit sparse to say the least and only Telegames' best selling 'ultimate' series or Ubi Soft's excellent Scrabble spring to mind. Thankfully ZOO Digital?s Monopoly can safely join these quality titles providing family friendly entertainment whilst retaining the various aspects that made the board game so satisfying to play in the first place. It's not without its problems though. The lack of battery save was a huge oversight especially given that most games we played (with only two players) exceeded an hour. Even so this latest electronic outing for Monopoly is incredibly entertaining so if you?re sick of losing your houses, hotels and chance cards down the back seat of your car (or indeed any mode of transport) then this could be just what you're looking for.

Pro: Faithful Conversion.
Con: You Can't Cheat or Save.
Final score: 6.9

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