The world’s most popular board game is now available on the Nintendo Wii. Play Monopoly the traditional way or the new fast-paced “Richest” edition. But is it better than the regular board game? Read on to find out:

Up to four players can play Monopoly with the regular rules on the Wii. Players can take turns using one remote, or each person using their own. Shake the remote to roll the die and point to the screen to make selections. The Wii does all the pesky money calculating for you! Customize your playing experience with your own preferences in the House Rules option.

Monopoly is notorious for being a very long game, so if you’ve only got a limited time to play, try the new “Richest” edition. This mode mixes the rules of Monopoly with the gameplay of Mario Party. First, select a number of rounds to play. At the beginning of each round, everyone plays a short, arcadey mini-game based on the art on the Community Chest and Chance cards. Shake the Wii remote to run from the police, chase an ambulance headed for the hospital, etc. Whoever wins gets first pick of the four dice that is rolled afterward. Whichever dice you choose indicates how many of your playing pieces will be on the board (so you can have more than one dog or boot or car in this game).

There is no money exchanged in the Richest version. If you land on a property you don’t own, you keep the property, but if you land on someone else’s, you have to give up one of yours. The rules of monopolies and houses still apply here, though. You just have to trade more properties. After Uncle Pennybags walks the board divvying out titles, your money is tallied and whoever has the most money (via property value) at the end of a certain number of rounds wins. Richest is a fun, fast-paced way to play Monopoly and I admire its creativeness and actually prefer playing that way. You can also challenge mini-games that you’ve unlocked separately.

Speaking of unlocking, you can also acquire more boards while playing. Each time you buy a property in either mode of play, you get a stamp in your passport. Fill up a whole page of stamps and you can unlock a different Monopoly board to play on, such as the Futuristic or World Edition boards. Each has its own properties and playing pieces. Monopoly on the Wii is best played with a group of people, and while it’s a decent enough game, I’d wait for the price to go down a bit before buying it myself.

Kid Factor:
Monopoly is safe for the whole family, but older kid gamers who can grasp the more complex rules of the game will get the most enjoyment out of it. Even though Rich Uncle Pennybags explains most of the objectives with spoken voice, reading skill and prior knowledge of the rules of the board game is helpful for some other parts. Monopoly is rated E for Everyone.

OK, it’s poll time! I wanna know what everyone’s favorite Monopoly game piece is! I always pick the iron. I don’t know why, but I do. Anyone have any favorite Monopoly boards? They make everything into Monopoly nowadays. I like my Nintendo Monopoly themed board game. I wish they’d make a Namco Monopoly!

Tags: Game Reviews