Monopoly

	Developer: Sega	Publisher: Sega
	Release Date: 1988	Also On: None

Stuff like this just doesn't work most of the time, it doesn't. They seemed to figure it out rather quickly in the 8-Bit era, and few boardgame titles were actually programmed. If I want to sit down and play one chances are I own it and I'm going to play it with friends on the floor or something. To really make a boardgame worthwhile in game format, you need to throw something out there that makes it worth the money. Monopoly, as you probably could already assume, does not.

Graphically, you can't expect much in Monopoly, and that's one of the first problems. The board is a simple square, the pieces look fine and are animated well in the game proper, but other than that that's about all you see. From the main play screen you get to see your pieces moving on the board close-up, but that's about it. Hardly any ending and barely any cinematics other than house building and going to jail. You need more variety and especially lots of extra little features here and there, something to catch the player's attention, otherwise there's nothing to get me to play this over the real game. Overall, not so good in this category, pretty drab.

Good grief, the sound in Monopoly is terrible. The main theme is fine, but almost sounds like the programmer (who I happen to know) wrote everything two octaves higher than they should have. Likely a limitation of the sound chip. There are generally no in-game effects to speak of, and the main theme running through the entire game is fitting I suppose, but quite annoying at the same time, best described as elevator music for a nursery. Again, if you decide to program a boardgame, make damn sure you make it look flashy and sound good.

As for the gameplay, Monopoly pretty much has nothing going on that's different from actually sitting down to play it. There isn't much to say about the game itself, anyone who reads this review knows what Monopoly is, there's no doubt about that, suffice to say it's all recreated here. The one bonus to getting this is that everything is done automatically by the Master System, so of course you don't have to worry about shuffling cards, filing money, putting away pieces or any of that, so it does have that bit going for it, but that's it. The problems don't make it any better than it could have been with this bare minimum of an advantage.

First off, the interface is pretty counterintuitive. I can't really explain why, the manual explains everything you need to do, but when you try it it just feels wrong. In fact, I actually had to read the manual to figure out just how to start a game with me and the computer. Took about ten minutes to try, get annoyed and then a few seconds to read the manual, but it shouldn't have taken any time. Second, although this game has the advantage of you being able to play alone against up to ten computer players, even on the expert setting they're so infantile it's hardly worth it. Monopoly was programmed with some pretty basic AI, the computer will repeatedly ask for a property it wants at the same price, never dealing. It consistently functions on the limits, doing as much as it can on each turn instead of being frugal now and then, which makes it rather easy to destroy. Third, and finally, sure, you can play with a ton of people in this game, but the main problem is that other than not needing to shuffle cards and such, it's the same damn game. In fact, arguably, it's shuffling money, being a mean banker and such that makes playing Monopoly fun in the first place.

Monopoly was actually one of the first real boardgames that was programmed. The Master System version, in fact, is pretty much one of the granddaddies of this type of game. However, though it may have been something of a challenge to program, it's not that creative in my opinion. All they had to do was translate it to a computer and that's it. Without throwing in something special, a better AI or at least some interesting animations and sounds, there's really nothing here to call creative.

I have no reason to play Monopoly again, and neither will you. The NES version is leagues better with an even better interface, a proper AI and interesting graphics and sound, so you can forget me trying the Master System version. I almost regret owning it. As for length, I suppose if you wanted to sit down for a quick game alone then this is the game for you, you can play a thorough game in about an hour tops, depending on how many players you select. The question is do you really want to?

Monopoly for the Master System proves how programming a boardgame can easily go bad. It's the same as the real thing sitting in your closet, the computer can't play worth a damn, the graphics are drab, the sound is infantile, there's simply nothing here worth the original fifty dollar pricetag. Why would I buy this for 75% more (at that time at least) than I would for the actual game? Seriously. My only hope is that my friend Steve doesn't read this.

Graphics:	2.5
Sound:	3
Gameplay:	5
Creativity:	5.5
Replay Value/Game Length:	2.5
Final:	3.7
Written by Stan	Review Guide

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