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A good effort, but this version needed more work.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 43 / 44
Date: December 15, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As a big Monopoly fan, I was wondering when there was going to be a version for Game Boy Advance/SP, or even the Nintendo DS. I was at first excited to hear of this release and looked forward to playing it.

Graphically, it is a huge step above the Game Boy Color version. It is similar to the PC version with the game board's slanted perspective. Although the view doesn't zoom in for a close-up look at the token and the space landed upon, the game displays the deed if it is unowned property, or text stating ownership, mortgage status and rent paid if applicable. The properties and spaces however, don't have legible words and/or property values, just scribbles, except for the four corners, and the Jail space is missing the "Just Visiting" text. The spaces are clearly identifiable though. Dice rolls are done nicely, the rolling process takes a bit too long for me, though the results are easy to see.

The tokens are rendered very nicely, and include the two tokens that were not in the Game Boy Color version: the Battleship and the Cannon; unfortunately, this version, like the GBC version still limits you to eight tokens, omitting the Horse & Rider, Wheelbarrow and Sack of Money tokens, which interestingly enough appear in the instruction booklet. Unlike the box description, the tokens don't "hop, skip and dance around the board", but they all move identically, as you would if you were moving them one space at a time on the dice roll.

The music is fairly nice, and can be toggled on or off, along with other customizable features, like starting money and properties dealt to players at start. One of the game's best features though, is the game interface. Instead of going to separate screens for trading, buying and selling houses, the selections appear right on the screen, with text on screen describing each menu button function. This results in a very streamlined interface allowing you to complete various game functions and get back in the game quickly. In game help is handy; it repeats information in the game manual and comes with a Hints and Tips section, which contains information from Monopoly.com's Strategy Wizard on winning the game.

Unfortunately, the game is not without its problems. Landing on Luxury Tax costs $100 instead of $75, landing on Income Tax always costs $200, rather than providing you with a choice of 10% or $200 (and correcting these settings in Game Options doesn't work). If a player rolls doubles to get out of jail, the game will let that player roll again, instead of the turn going to the next player. I landed on Community Chest receiving the "Advance to Go" card, on a later turn, I landed on Community Chest again and received the same card again, and no other player landed on Community Chest beforehand. When other players go bankrupt, your funds displayed for your token remain the same; no acquiring properties to unmortgage takes place and the game merely states that you win. The game manual also references as an example of a card moving you to another space, as moving you back "(for example, to Old Kent Road).", which is a space on the United Kingdom version of Monopoly. (The Help section in the game calls the space "Meditteranean Avenue").

This GBA/SP Monopoly also doesn't have a save feature as other reviewers have stated, but neither did the Game Boy Color Monopoly version, I have scoured the instruction manual and the GBC game version intensively, and it only states that you must select "Quit" and the winner is the player with the most assets, then the game can be switched off. This GBA/SP version only allows you to press start and select "Quit" and the entire game is gone, no winner, no anything.

Even with the errors and problems, the game is still nice to play, albeit slightly disappointing. If the problems mentioned were fixed and the designers had included a save game feature, (and better playtesting) this game would have been more enjoyable and a much more satisfying addition to a Monopoly fan's collection. If you're lucky enough to have the GBC version and the electronic handheld Monopoly game, it plays much better than this one.

Terrible product

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 30 / 33
Date: December 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game is a very poor product. I always try to consider that GBA is a portable, and as such has limitations. But, there just isn't much "right" about this game. It has nice graphics and an easy to see/read screen. Problems, as others have said include not being able to save a game. Not being able to save a game of MONOPOLY??? You'll really appreciate that after playing for an hour at the airport and losing your game when it's time to board! The music is like fingernails on a chalk board. Mercifully, you can turn it off and keep the game sounds. Other peeves. You can only trade and build on your own turn. When you submit a trade to a computer player, nothing happens until that players turn comes up. Then they generally seem to reject it out of hand no matter how enticing you make it. Also, when a computer player starts to do something with his property, like trade, mortgage, etc....The screen that says what he is doing goes by so fast you can't read what he just did. It's also hard to manage propertys and see others status. But that probably goes with the fact that the GBA is a portable. I probably could have lived with everything else if you just could save a game. Anyway, I don't recommend this to anyone. You'll be sorry. If you REALLY REALLY have to have one because you love Monopoly, wait a few weeks and get for $5.00 used.

Best portable version of Monopoly but with one glaring flaw.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: December 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've played pretty much every portable Monopoly, and this one is organized better than any of the previous attempts. The board looks good, the computer doesn't seem to cheat, the bank manages things well, and the game offers several different gameplay options.

Unfortunately, the programmers made one HORRIBLE mistake: No Saving games! No battery save, no password save, nothing. If you start a full game of Monopoly, you have to finish it (which can take a few hours) or you have to abandon it.

What's truly frustrating is that with this being Monopoly, the programmers would have to know that a game could potentially take more time than someone might have left on their GBA batteries. Sure, if you're using a GBA-SP or DS, you'll be able to get a long charge and probably finish a game before running out of power, but the original GBA may potentially RUN OUT OF POWER before you can finish a game.

Add to the this the fact that every previous version of Monopoly for the Game Boy (and other systems) had the ability to save a game in progress and come back to it later, and it makes NO SENSE that they would design this version without any sort of save ability.

And lest you think this game is a recent creation meant to be used on a newer console (GBA-SP or DS) understand that this "new" GBA version of Monopoly has been available in Japan since the LAUNCH of the original GBA three years ago! All that was done here was translating it to English from Kanji/Katakana! This took them three years? And they couldn't add a battery save?

I'm very depressed by the end result. While the game itself is the best version on Monopoly on a portable, the lack of a save feature forces me to suggest the GameBoy or GameBoy color versions over this one if you intend to play full games. Of course, if you only have a DS (like me) then you have no choice but to use this GBA version.

I would encourage Hasbro, Atari and DSI Games to FIX THIS because it's inexcusable to make an electronic version of a game known for it's hours-long play and exclude the save feature.

I'm miffed, to say the least. Buyer beware.

I'M a huge monopoly fan... but I don't like this game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: December 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love the game monopoly but I DO NOT suggest this game! Im lucky I got the game as a present because I would really have been mad at the waste of money.
First, you can't save the game! I usually end up turning my system off because I can't save and don't want to waste the battery power.
Second, you can't really tell which spaces are yours on the board. If you want to know what spaces you own prepare to spend more time going through the game manager tool to see what you own and do not own.
The music is ok but after hours of playing the game it REALLY gets annoying! It overall has poor viewing of the board and other things such as title cards etc.

Even if you are a huge monoploy fan you shouldn't buy this game.

I bought and suggest the game "Monopoly Party" that is available for Gamecube, X box, and playstation 2. It is a lot better.

new monopoly

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: December 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game except for one thing and it is a big one.................. There is no save game This is crazy because this is a very long game to play a whole game at once............. way to go you stupid programer.

A fun game, no matter what

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 14
Date: February 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have none of the complaints with this game that were in the other reviews. I agree that some options like saving a game or auctioning a bankrupt player's properties would be nice, but they don't get in the way of game play for me. I do enjoy the ability to set as many options as I want, or to play with a variable time limit; no matter how much (or little) time I have to spare, this game is a LOT of fun to play. Seriously. Yes, this game isn't as glossy as many of the games out there, but it still is as fun as a Monopoly game ever was. If you don't care about fancy graphics but want a straightforward game, I recommend this one.

A bigger problem than the "no save" option is...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: January 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

... When an opponent goes bankrupt, they simply quit the game and don't pay any of their debt to the player that bankrupted them. You get a message that the player simply "resigns" from the game. When this happens all of their property reverts back to being available for sale, all of their cash disappears and the player who bankrupted them gets NOTHING! And, just to clarify, all of the CPU players resign from the game in this manner without paying any of their debt, not just the last one left in the game.

This bug means that you can spend most of your money building hotels and knock out 2 of the 3 CPU players without getting a single dollar back, only to then lose to the last player due to a relatively small rent owed. Considering the whole point of Monopoly, this is an unforgivable bug that completely ruins the game.

guy in mn

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: July 14, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this is the worst version of monopoly since the commodore 64 versions. first off no save feature. i guess the guys who programmed this one never play monopoly in their life. second a few times i would be playing this and the game suddenly locks up!!!!!!! so here i have a lot of properties and ready to making some bucks and suddenly on my turn i land on GO and then the game freezes!!! hasn't anyone else had this happen?. well any ways there are a lot better versions out there. even the old gameboy version is much better. take my advice don't buy this one. wait for a new version for the gameboy advance.

Too confusing to finish one game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have tried for HOURS to completely finish 1 SINGLE GAME. I have tried to trade more than once, and NOTHING HAPPENS. After trying to trade, i get frusterated, and don't feel like playing anymore. If I didn't have to deal with that, this game would be easier.

TERRIBLE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is hands down the WORST port of monopoly I have ever encountered.

monopoly is rarely a game enjoyed by small children, so why not give us more options?!

I don't need stupid animations for movement, the game is SOOO SLOWW.. I'd like to finish TODAY! and to add insult to that, there is NO SAVE FEATURE.

Wasted effort, waste of money.

Do not buy this product.

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