Game Reviews

I'm a big fan of Monopoly. The love I have for the game stretches back to my early childhood, playing with neighborhood friends on the back porch during sunny summer days and with my father at the kitchen table rounding out some evenings. In fact, I was so obsessed with Monopoly that I would even create fictional NES Monopoly leagues complete with hand-kept statistics, playing my own games against computer opponents and watching AI-controlled games do the rest. Needless to say, Monopoly strikes a chord with me, so it should come as no surprise that I was drawn to Monopoly Streets as the game grew closer to its release. Being able to play the classic property trading game on a current-generation console both on my own and with others around the world sounded great to a fan like me. Everyone knows how a basic game of Monopoly is played. Players roll dice and work their piece around a board, buying properties as they go in attempts to create monopolies with like properties. Other players who land on properties another player owns must pay rent, which varies depending on the value of the property and whether players have opted to build houses and/or hotels on properties that are part of monopolies. As players begin to go bankrupt due to rent and fees they can't afford to pay to other players, the last player standing wins.

Monopoly Streets successfully manages to both stay true to how the game is supposed to be played in its classic form and give gamers some options to keep their rounds fresh and unique. It certainly has its flaws and I question some of the design choices the developer made, but overall, Monopoly Streets proves to be a functional version of video game Monopoly that will appeal to those looking for a new home console version to play on their own or, better yet, with folks online.