Monopoly (Jewel Case)
by Hasbro Interactive
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Category: Video Games
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Product Summary
Brand: HasbroFormat: CD-ROM
Platform: Windows 95, Windows 98
Model: 04-22237
Publisher: Hasbro Interactive
Accessories:
Video Game Reviews of Monopoly (Jewel Case)
Customer Review: Pretty good for an old product
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had a lot of fun playing Monopoly on my brand new PC with this product, which I purchased from an online auction service since it's an old product no longer manufactured.
I have few complaints. I'm running it on Windows XP (Media Center Edition), and, as old as it is, it works without a hitch. Some have complained it won't run on Windows 2000 and that's no surprise -- a lot of programs that ran on earlier editions of Windows won't run on Windows 2000, which is one reason Windows 2000 wasn't out there all that long before XP premiered.
Another complaint, that when you set up the game with all the rules and features you want, you have to do it every time you play the game isn't correct. There's very definitely a menu choice to save the features set-up as you've chosen, so that each time you fire up the game, it will play the way you've chosen.
As to the computer cheating, well, there are two set-up menu choices, one to allow the computer to cheat, and one to allow players to cheat. I didn't choose either of those options and the computer doesn't cheat, and it won't let me cheat. So I can't understand those who complain about the computer's cheating ways -- if you don't want it to cheat, don't pick that option.
Here are my only complaints. The game board display takes up less than 1/4 of my screen in the upper left hand corner, leaving a huge amount of blank space. I'd like the game board to fill most of my screen so it's easier to see. The displays to the left that show which properties are owned by whom, and how much money each player has, should also be larger. With the game board's small size, it's hard to see where the individual tokens are sometimes.
My other complaint is the amount of time it takes for all the various .wav files and animation to play each time a token lands on a space. I've turned many of those off because it slows the game down to a crawl. With some experimentation, I've found that some are essential because they convey the status of each piece of property and show who's getting money when rent is due. But other animations are simply a waste of time and try my patience. And some of the .wav files are just annoying to hear again and again.
Speaking of .wav files, there's a short, concise sound associated with each token. It's useful to hear the sound played when it's time for a particular token to roll the dice, and the same sound is played when a token is awarded money -- by passing go, by collecting rent when another token lands on property the first token owns, by drawing a Community Chest or Chance card that awards money, etc. But some of the sounds are really irritating when you've heard them a hundred times during the game. The cannon, for example, has a gunpowder explosion sound. The battleship has the loud, deep honking sound of a ship's klaxon. I don't use those two tokens anymore when playing against the computer.
The iron has a steam hissing sound (not too bad) and the thimble has the single "kling" of a small bell. The shoe has a skipping, scampering sound. Those aren't bad. The scottie dog's "arf, arf," however gets old fast.
One of the fun things is being able to pick optional game rules that are popular among Monopoly players, but not official according to Parker Brothers. For example, I've chosen the option where you get double the $200 salary if you land on "Go" instead of just passing it. I've also chosen the option where fines and assessments paid go into a fund whose current balance gets paid out to any token landing on "Free Parking." I've also turned off the option that any unowned property not purchased by the token who lands on it gets put up for auction. The auction process is actually quite annoying to me -- it takes too much time.
There are some things that are useful when you get used to them. If you land on an unowned railroad, you'll hear the train bell clanging with the train sitting in the station. If owned, the train moves away from the station while blowing its horn a couple of times. If mortgaged, there is no train and the station is in deteriorating condition.
For "street" properties, the animations are amusing. The cheapest properties show up as the city dump and the most expensive are like fancy estates, with various depictions in between as values increase. Each has a fence and a gate. If unowned, the gate's open and there's a "for sale" sign posted." If owned, the gate is closed. If mortgaged, there's a chain and a padlock on the gate.
Another option worth choosing is to "gray out" mortgaged properties as well as unowned properties. You can tell the difference immediately because mortgaged properties have a small "deed" icon on them with the black-and-white side up. But having them grayed out tells you the status and you can see at a glance which ones are still up for sale, which are owned, and which are mortgage.
You can also look at the status table to the left of the board and see who owns what. It takes a bit of getting used to, but there is a system where you can tell who owns any piece of property quite readily once you've learned it -- it's not hard.
In the end, it's exactly like playing Monopoly with the original American game board, according to the rules you like, and it's quite a bit of fun.
One tip: buy every piece of property you can, and the moment you get control of an entire color group, get hotels on it as fast as you can afford to buy them. The one who gets control of a couple of color groups and gets them built up will win the game, and if you do that, you can actually beat the computer a lot of the time. The computer is programmed to do just that, so it might beat you, too.
All in all, it's a great game simulation, but they should have provided a "zoom" option to enlarge the display, and they should have come up with some less annoying sounds to represent certain of the tokens.
Description of Monopoly (Jewel Case)
An Updated Classic Monopoly Returns! It's the World's Most Popular Board Game brought to life! Acquire wealth by buying and developing the Monopoly properties you know and love while avoiding bankruptcy and staying out of jail. You can own it all! Build hotels and watch your rents skyrocket! Play with House Rules or make up your own!Searching for new thrills in your pursuit of pure capitalist success? If you can limit at least some of your ambitions to a board game, you're in luck. Monopoly is here, and with integrated Internet connectivity, you can now challenge other Monopolists worldwide.
The classic game--updated for the PC--still gives you all the satisfaction of being the proprietor of Park Place and Boardwalk. It also lets you weasel your way out of jail with a thin excuse for a card in your (virtual) hands. Keeping to the visual appeal of its 1930s characters, the software also boasts animated versions of favorite board pieces.
While Monopoly is obviously a strong choice for a family of players, don't kid yourself that you'll beat the game every time in solo play. If you're not paying close attention, the package's superior A.I. engine is likely to see that you'll wind up broke. This is a rare success story of a classic game that makes the jump to a new medium. The creators of Monopoly deserve a firm handshake and slap on the back, and a big roll of funny paper money. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Hasbro Interactive has managed to make an old-time favorite even better. This version of Monopoly includes the features we have loved for years--Boardwalk, Community Chest, Go Directly to Jail cards--but enhances enjoyment with some new features. Players can completely redesign the game board by importing their own images or using the included clip art. The 3-D graphics have never been this detailed--you can take game play down to street level and actually see your tokens dance around the board as they pass through the extravagant neighborhoods surrounding Park Place or the down-and-out areas along Mediterranean Avenue.
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