the cutting room mirror

Monopoly (Game Boy)

insert mustache man one-liner here

To do:
Bugs page/Unused text: Reports of a blank screen in GBC version that follows receiving mortgaged properties from a bankrupted player; screen is supposed to display text on how to unmortgage.

Regional Differences#

To do:
Check European GB version

Japan

US

The "HOW MANY PLAYERS?" screen is much more bland in the Japanese version.

Japan

International

The GB version's change was simpler.

Japan

US

Monopoly_jpn_gb_title_02.png
Monopoly_jpn_gb_title_03.png

Monopoly_us_gbc_cast_1.png
Monopoly_us_gbc_cast_2.png

The computer opponents are completely different between the Japanese and US versions. This change is GBC specific. The names of the opponents are Yasushi (ヤスシ), Yone (ヨネ), Taku (タク), Hitomi (ヒトミ), Tomo (トモ), Ryohko (リョーコ), Mayu (マユ), and Ken (ケン).

GB

US GBC

Monopoly_gb_us_cpu.png
Monopoly_gb_us_cpu_two.png

Monopoly_us_gbc_cast_1.png
Monopoly_us_gbc_cast_2.png

They were also touched up for the US GBC version.

Japan

US

The title screen was made somewhat more interesting (and Rich Uncle Pennybags became even whiter!) for the US GBC release. Note that both US versions omit the option to choose the number of Game Boys.

The Japanese GB version has a Japanese title, something that was omitted from the later GBC release.

To do:
Add the rest of the animations from the Japanese GB version as an animated GIF.

file:Monopoly_jpn_gb_pennybags.png

An addition to the Japanese GB version is an animation of Rich Uncle Pennybags jumping around with a property card, played every time someone buys a new property. This was omitted from the later releases.

Super Game Boy#

Monopoly was later re-released for the Game Boy Color in Japan and was given a few Super Game Boy features, though it dropped four-player support. There's your get out of jail free card.

The US Game Boy Color version does not have any SGB support.

Cutscenes#

The Japanese Game Boy version contains various cutscenes, a few of which were also used in the NES version. However, they are not in the US version of the game.

Miscellaneous#

To do:
Check which board the Japanese versions use.

  • Only the versions published by Hasbro Interactive (European GB and Japanese GBC) use a full-screen logo.
  • As expected, property names and currencies were changed for each region. The Japanese and US versions all use dollars, while the European version changes the currency based on the language:
    • English: Pounds (£)
    • French: No symbol (just numbers)
    • German: Deutsch marks (DM)