Features

Boom Street
While the real world economies wobble and worry over their lack of wonga, Boom Street on the Wii shows that the virtual economy at least is alive and kicking thanks to this characterful spin on a classic board game...

It's Monopoly at heart; but Boom Street with its Mario and Dragon Quest roster of critters makes its own (Deutsch)mark. Like the age-old perennial family favourite/that bane of family get-togethers, you choose your playing piece (in this case iconic characters from either gaming series) and bound your way round the board, which floats above key locations from the games; playing against the CPU or other local/online players.

Hotel- or home-buying are out though this game is all about shopping for, well, shops. Buy them, increase their value through investment and fleece other players when they land on them. Passing 'Go' (or the 'Bank' in this case) can see you rewarded with moola and a promotion. So far, so Park Lane then; but Boom Street offers a sweet tactical twist to its gameplay thanks to the ability to take a punt on the stock market. For instance, buy stock in a rival's shop empire and then at a key moment, sell them off, leaving your ruined competitor with devalued stock, and feeling more like Lehman Brothers than Mario Bros.

While some will no doubt wring their hands at outbursts of such 'predatory capitalism', the rest of us will simply enjoy this fresh take on a well-worn genre that lets you focus on becoming the Queen (or King) of Shops; and to hell with the consequences.