Collection essentials #87: Monopoly (NES)

It shouldn’t be a surprise that companies made video game adaptations of popular board games as early as it was feasible. With Monopoly being so popular, it has seen a great many renditions in video game form. This NES version, however, is my favorite of all the ones I’ve seen. I got to play it in my younger days, too. I think my neighbor Jason might have had it. But regardless, it was another one of my early NES games that mom grabbed at a yard sale.


Why is it my favorite Monopoly? Not merely for nostalgia, actually. This is basically a board-game-to-video-game conversation executed to perfection. The main advantage of having a video game version is the convenience of not having to set it up or mess with physical objects, plus there’s the opportunity for a little extra charm with things like music, sound effects and graphics. Monopoly on the NES has everything you’d want. It’s really easy to get into, snappy and fast-paced if you want it to be, and it has a pleasant bit of charm to go along with it. When I fired up the game and started a match against the computer to take the photo above, I intended to just do that real quick and shut the game off, but I got addicted and played the entire match instead, seriously!! This game is hard to put down. I’ve looked at what the next Monopoly games made by the same company for the next generation of consoles was like and I just think they’re straight-up worse. Kudos to NES Monopoly for being a very unlikely essential!

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