While I'd hardly consider it a classic (I don't really think a title based off of a board game could ever qualify as a "classic"), Monopoly for the NES is a very good way to kill some time. It's just a good game. In fact, I'd venture to say it's one of the best board game based video games ever made (wow, what high praise).
Why do I say it's so good? Well, it's hardly innovative - it is based off of a board game from the 1930s, after all. It doesn't have the best graphics ever put on a gray cartridge, either. What it is, is the most important thing a video game game be: fun.
The game follows the official Monopoly rules very closely. I can't off hand think of any errors in this department. In fact, the game probably knows the rules a lot better than most people who pick up the dice and play it in board form. For example, there is no "passing" on an unwanted property: any unsold property must either be purchased or auctioned when someone lands on it, a rule which, in my experience, is known by very few Monopoly players. The only "problem" I can think of here is that some will be disappointed that the game doesn't give a way to use any of the house rules that many people have become so used to, such as putting all tax money into a pot to be collected by people landing on Free Parking.
You can start games with up to 8 players, which can either be human (even with only two controllers) or computer. The way CPU players is implemented into the game is very well done. Rather than just having an impersonal "CPU" as one often finds in games of this sort, there are 8 individuals built into the game that you can choose to play with, each with his or her own personality and playing style. For example, Ollie - depicted as an old grandfatherly like fellow - is really somewhat of a pushover who is prone to make some rather poor decisions. On the other hand, Arthur - who's picture is reminiscent of a rich business mogul or the like - is shrewd and stingy. It's very difficult to get a deal done with him - at least one that isn't completely in his favor.
As far as the actual game play is concerned, its easy and, like I said, fun. You are presented with an overhead view of the board which clearly shows where each player's piece is as well as (and this you'll really find yourself paying attention to) where houses and hotels have been put up. the B button rolls the dice, after which a cute animation comes up of the player's chosen game piece somehow moving to the appropriate space. From there, you can either buy a property, send it to auction, pay rent, or access your control menu to make trades, mortgage property (if you need to), or even just check out who has what properties. The control menu is a very nice feature and has almost anything you can imagine you may need in the course of the game.
In fact, there are so many ways in which this game shows you the information you'll want that I'll just have to settle for this one screen shot - I can't choose from all of them to show you any more.
Now, is there bad? Well, yes. Every game has its little annoyances. In this case, it's really a matter of things which require patience. Every time - yes every time - a player lands on a property and needs to pay, the game shows an animation of a cash register eating the appropriate amount of money. It does get old pretty quickly, especially in an 8 player game. It's also sometimes annoying when two of the computer players decide to work out a trade. Sometimes, its pretty unobtrusive but other times they get into a back and forth where one will knock down his offer, then the other brings it back up, then the first knocks it down again, and then the other brings it back up, and so on. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it's certainly annoying.
That said, the time involved may be the number one reason to play this game. It's Monopoly - but it doesn't last for hours and hours. I, personally, love this board game, but its just a game that can get soooo drawn out that I just want it to end, and I can rarely find people who are willing to play with me out of fear it will end up drawn out. Because the video game version does all the cash handling, this rarely happens. Games hardly ever last longer than an hour - if even that long - and there's even a few options to start the game with property already distributed or with a timer set to limit the game time even further if you want. So, if you're like a lot of people and have a love/hate relationship with Monopoly, the NES version can be a great thing.
All in all, it's really one of the games I find myself coming back to the most. The replay value is just infinite - every game is different. And finally, it is, like I said, fun! Give it a try sometime.
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