There are so many different and unique versions of the classic Monopoly game available these days, and it’s easy to assume that they will all play the same or similar.
However we found this Mario Kart edition from Hasbro has some rather different playing rules.
Not only are some of the play modes different but so are the playing pieces, the cards and even the money. There are no notes in this one; just coins of even 1 or 5 value. To be honest I much preferred the notes as these feel rather cheap and I can imagine will easily be bent or broke.
The famous metal playing pieces are gone and replaced by Mario kart characters. And there a only four of them meaning only 4 players.
More players can be included but this requires a separate purchase of an expansion pack.
You can still buy properties and the properties still have their custom colours being brown for cheapest and dark blue for most expensive. Then there’s the dice which makes this game quiet confusing. One dice is the standard one with numbers 1-6. But the other dice contains 6 images. Each image being a power up which can also enable special character boosts. It gets complicated and I found myself constantly referring back to the instructions to find out what each dice symbol meant and which character could use which ability. Add to this the varying playing square boosts which enabled further game actions and its fair to say our heads were a little baffled. There is just so much to take in, in comparison with the original game that we are more used to.
The chance and community chest are gone and replaced with a small pile of more action and race cards. Yes there is also a race option which really just involves throwing the highest number on a dice and doing something to annoy others like sending them to jail (that at least stays the same) And as for the banana tokens – I just couldn’t work out what they were really for at all!
The game just has too many actions per turn and it’s a lot to take in and remember. I’m sure it will make a great game for certain people but for me and my girls it was just a bit overwhelming.
