Monopoly / Battleship / Yahtzee / Boggle (Nintendo DS) - Review by Trent

Introduction

Like many people, I had enjoyed the games Monopoly, Battleship, Yahtzee and to a degree Boggle as a child. With those memories still in my head I decided to pick up the Nintendo DS "port" of those classic board games. The four in one pack promises many additions and improvements to allow people to enjoy the game in many new ways. So does the game make you bankrupt after it wins your heart by buying all the streets? Or does it sink your heart with plastic Battleship pieces.

Gameplay

Gameplay works in exactly how you would imagine the actual original games would work, and it is quite tailored to veterans of the board games coming to expect the same experience on the Nintendo DS. For each game the rules are very much tied to the original and traditional rules for each game. You can edit and modify some of the rules to have a game which better suites you. For example in Monopoly the rules can be modified quite detailed, from how much money players get to turns in jail and other rules. Though other games such as Boggle seem to be more restricted in the freedom you get modifying the games rules. You are only greeted with some choices such as Classic, Time Attack, Word Find and Word Count. This is a very similar situation in Battleship and Yahtzee.

The game also includes multiplayer, while no online component exists in the games you can use single cart download play or cart to cart. Each game has its own different gameplay modes and mechanics for the multiplayer settings.

Controls

The game uses the bottom screen for the most part for the controls, though some options are restricted to button only commands. Overall it works but is a quite tacky and undesirable control scheme.

Graphics

Surprisingly, the game looks quite well. Monopoly however has an issue in which, the board looks like a huge screenshot compressed down to some obscure resolution (though the rest of the graphics in the game are quite sharp and polished). Other games however like Boggle seem to be quite sharp and very polished no compression issues with the graphics there. Battleship for example even has custom skins and designs for the board which really brightens things up. I guess graphic wise it's a mix bag, some games work amazingly well with what they have, while others are quite disappointing- especially the menus.

Sound

The sounds and music in the game are very tinny and annoying- especially after a few hours of gameplay. I guess it's very much in its own way telling you to "put it down" and have a break.

Dual screen

All the games are situated to use both screens quite well. It could have been improved a little bit, but overall is a quite solid set up.

Final comments

It seems an alright game at first glance, but slowly you will be playing more and more your favourite games (for me it was Monopoly), realising you bought the game for only one of the four included. After a while the bugs and issues within the game will just make your mind explode, revealing that under the cover is a lesson to be made. This time you do judge the book by the cover, and leave it on the shelf.

Pro: Classic memories of awesome games in a four in one pack- what more do you need
Con: In some areas a few glitches will make you scratch your head, quite boring without real people playing with you
Final score: 6.8

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