Fortune Street (Wii) Preview

Itadaki Street: Dragon Quest & Mario is arriving in time for the series’ 20th anniversary celebrations in Japan, although a firm release date has yet to be confirmed, and in the same year as Dragon Quest’s 25th anniversary, the popular RPG from Yuji Horii. This particular entry into the board game marks not only the first time it will have appeared on Wii, but will also be the debut outing in Western territories under the altered name of Fortune Street. This surely has to be a working title, as even the Japanese name drives home the point that both Dragon Quest and Super Mario-related characters are to be featured, unless Nintendo wants to ensure it is kept as a separate entity to Mario Party 9 to avoid confusion. Fortune Street is not being developed by either Nintendo or Square Enix, though, which may surprise some, with AQ Interactive actually at the reins. This is the team that co-developed The Last Story on Wii with Mistwalker, as well as making Animal Resort for Marvelous Entertainment on Nintendo 3DS. Given the group’s experience with Wii, it is not shocking Square Enix has turned to an external team to handle Fortune Street.

The beauty of Fortune Street is that AQ Interactive is including a Beginner’s Mode to not only encourage newcomers from the Japanese market to sample the new offering, but to also ease in Western gamers that have never heard of Itadaki Street at all, or have and just presume it is exactly the same as Monopoly and overlook the complexities that make it a far more engrossing experience. Fortune Street is definitely inspired by the popular property-related board game, with players aiming to make the right property purchases on the game’s board, but they also need to buy stocks and take part in various mini-games in order to gain as much money as humanly possible. The stock market element only opens up in the advanced mode, with newcomers having to work through the beginners’ mode successfully to have a chance at earning even more money.

Players are to jump onto the various boards on offer, corner the market and make a fortune in what is similar to a gaming version of real estate and stock marketing business, albeit with a fun twist, rather than ruthless back-stabbing and high levels of stress. The aim is to race around a board, attempting to accumulate as much money as possible, whilst buying, selling and trading property with friends and family in the most efficient manner to win the overall game. Being on Wii there is the obligatory option to use the motion controls for shaking the die that leads to movement around each board, but there is also the positive inclusion of localised online play across the country using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. There has been no confirmation that this feature will be included abroad, but it would be quite surprising to exclude it, even if it is a region-specific mode.

There were a total of thirteen Dragon Quest and twelve Super Mario characters in Itadaki Street DS, and it has now been revealed that the following will initially be available to play with from the Mushroom Kingdom: Bowser, Lakitu, Yoshi, Daisy, Peach, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, and Birdo. As for the Square Enix side of the table, the line-up so far is:
Bag o’ Laughs, Tails Brigade, Jessica, Angelo, Princess of Moonbrooke, Bianca, Slime, Alena, Kiryl, Heal Slime, Young Yangus, Carver, and one of the main scoundrels from the Dragon Quest universe. There is also the possibility of bringing a Mii into proceedings in the hope of out-smarting a Heal Slime, plus there are other characters and even game maps (there are more than fifteen so far) to be revealed in the run-up to launch.

Shops can be bought, symbols can be collected that are traded for cash in banks, specialist investments can be made, as well as making strategic land purchases to ensure anyone unfortunately landing on your area will have to foot the subsequent bill, especially if the stores on said land have been levelled up over time thanks to other retail sectors on adjacent land. Grab properties that are currently without owner, invest wisely and collect enough gold to deposit in the bank to win the game. You have to be in it to win it, and Fortune Street definitely looks like a potential goldmine for Nintendo and Square Enix.