Boom Street (Fortune Street) (Wii) Review

Boom Street is a strange game -- it comprises of pure board game related action, which sounds tiresome as a video game but proves to be very enjoyable and strangely compulsive. In essence, Boom Street plays like Monopoly plus…share trading, forced property buy-outs and other extras like vacant plot development, and so on. It is themed around the Mario and Dragon Quest universes, which makes for an unusual but pleasing feel as they make strange bedfellows, yet the sights and sounds on offer look like there is a ton of fan service for fans of both series.

Despite the inevitable dice rolling mechanic, it comes across as a game of skill and those looking for a light family board game need to be aware that this is no Mario Party. There are no between round mini-games and no tedious text mashing or long animations to sit through either. This is a game that takes a bit of time investment to “get” but when it clicks it proves to be quite addictive.

The aim of Square Enix’s Boom Street is to amass a target amount of wealth made up of cash, shareholdings and properties. There is an option to end the game when a set number of players go bankrupt with the winner being the richest at that point. One of the key mechanics of the game is the ability to make investments in your own and opponents' properties, which results in not only dividends from collected rents but also big earnings (or losses) from changing property values reflected in share values affected by development and share trading.

There are eighteen boards (twelve, plus six locked) and their layouts are not simple circuits. There are lots of split paths so that even the roll and move play-style requires some thought. To earn a salary and level up, players must pass through four key squares positioned around the board and return to the bank square so you are forced to visit most parts of the board.

Each board has its own features that arise from the clever use of layouts and the positioning of key squares, which means that while certain tactics will apply generally, chances of winning are enhanced greatly by applying strategies pertaining to each layout. All of the boards have unique backgrounds based on the Mario and Dragon Quest games but they have no impact on the gameplay, which garners this some criticism at certain levels since all they do is provide a change of scenery and background music. However, at least they provide some variety to the overall look of the game as progress is made.

Online and local single- and multi-player modes are supported but for some reason the local multi-player mode has no mid-game save. Whilst some review sites have stated there is a multi-player mid-game save, they are incorrect as there actually isn't -- so be prepared to play a game in one sitting. This is understandable in online mode but it's an odd design decision to not have the option in local multi-player as a game can take a couple of hours and a mid-game save option is available in the single player tour mode. While in the multi-player and online modes, players can instead take a break and select "Out to Lunch," which lets the CPU take over for a while -- and you can select a play-style (more of these play styles are unlockable, for reference). Examples of these are "aggressive," "timid," and so on -- or players can select what opponent character they will be less/more aggressive with.

The single player tour mode requires the player to complete twelve boards, finishing each with a minimum ranking position. Being successful in this unlocks a further six boards, so a fair bit of time in single player mode is needed to unlock all of the boards. Mercifully the CPU moves happen quite quickly and there are options to speed it up even further. Even the default speed is quite quick once character chat is switched off, so beginner players might feel a little bit overwhelmed by it all but this feeling will pass after a game or two. There is an excellent tutorial mode and also a simplified rules option but it should only be used for learning as it removes a lot of the skilful and more interesting elements of the game. There is a free play mode in which the target fund needed to win can be customised, but lowering this while shortening the game time will lessen the skill factor too.

A board game site should actually review this as it is in essence a "pure" board game, albeit one that would be a chore to play as a physical game since the CPU does a lot of calculations (for instance, return on investment on opponents' properties you have invested in, property value growth after investment, and so it goes on). This is a true "video board game."

By all accounts, Boom Street has been going strong in Japan since the SNES days and the design of the user interface is very slick, indicating perhaps that this is the product of several iterations, which is indeed true. The board view and menus are very well laid out and it's actually a pleasure to use such a well thought out scheme. There is no Wii waggle with this game -- the remote is held in the horizontal position like the old NES pad). Boom Street also has a wide selection of characters from both universes to use as avatars, and while in Free Play players can select a character, yet in other modes only the player’s Mii is available. To introduce a bit of variety there are lots of costumes, animations, mascots, and much more to unlock in the single player tour mode that can be used to adorn Mii characters with.

Online mode only allows the display of emoticons as a way of communicating with other players, which is a shame -- this was the game to actually implement Wii Speak with properly, which really would have added something to the online experience. The usual Friend Code system, or anonymous matching at global or regional level, is available. Graphically this game isn't exactly stunning but everything is clear and the characters and boards are well presented. It has a pleasant look overall. Sounds are quite low key and the soundtrack gleaned from both series adds some fun as players spot the little jingles that pop up with different game events.

Boom Street isn't recommended for all, but for anyone who likes the sound of a board game mechanic that is a step up from the mere ‘roll and move’ game, this is an unusual and enjoyable proposition.