Handmark Monopoly
Handmark
Price: $29.99
O/S: Windows Mobile for Pocket PC 2002
For Axim Users Dot Com
By 2_hotty
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Is there such thing as a board game port? Handmark's Monopoly is exactly like playing the board game. As you would expect, everything from the original game is there, including some rules that you might not remember. Did you remember that if you land on a property, but you don’t have enough money to buy it, it goes to an auction that all players can bid on? I didn’t. I’ll never forget it again thanks to this game.
This game is an absolutely perfect electronic example of the board game that made us feel so superior over our friends when we were growing up. Auctions, mortgages, trades, they’re all in here. Packed in an exact, mini replica of the board are the pieces and the property cards. The game is customizable in the options menu, so you can change some of the regular Monopoly rules. Can you honestly say you’ve played an entire game of Monopoly the way Hasbro intended you to?
You can play against the computer opponents, which have 8 different styles of play. The fun part is after you’ve played it a while you can actually start to predict what items they will sell, or what they will try to buy. It’s almost like playing a friend. Only the computer will never ask to borrow money.
Or, you can play against friends on one PPC, or by beaming the moves through IR. This is a very cool function of this game because it means you don’t have to pass your PPC back and forth. This eliminates your buddy grabbing it by the screen, getting greasy fingerprints on it.
This is such a perfect port of the board game, that I really only have one con in this review. The game takes a while to play. It’s just like the board game. This isn’t something you can blow through during a boring conference call. I know that this is an issue that is unique to me, and probably won’t affect the majority of people reading this, but I thought I should mention it. Games on my PPC are like time fillers. We all have desktop computers that we can play games on for lengthy periods of time. What I look for in a PPC game, is something that I can get in and out of quickly, but still feel like I entertained myself while I waited (or whatever). Saving and reopening a game just doesn’t appeal to me much. As minute as that is, I just don’t want to take the time for those extra steps.
I like to rate products on a scale. Most people will look at the scale first, then look over the review before deciding on a purchase. I like this. I’m all about optimizing your time. That’s why I got a PPC in the first place.
My only complaint being that the game takes a long time to play through it will not affect my rating of this product. That being said, and considering the fact that Handmark could not have reproduced the look and feel of the board game any better, I give Handmark Monopoly a well-deserved 9.5 out of 10.
For more information go to:
http://www.handmark.com.
Price:
$29.99.
Linear Mode
