Decent way to play Monopoly without getting your board out

I got my Gameboy a couple of Christmases ago. I only own a few games, and most of them are retro ones, like Paperboy. I bought Monopoly a while back, and it is really fun. I have spent many hours waiting in airports and hotel lounges playing Monopoly. I always enjoyed the original Monopoly, and still do.

Let's start with the good parts about this game. It is really easy to learn how to play. There are no complicated moves, and it has stayed true to the original version. The Chance and Community Chest cards are the ones that you remember.

The really good part about playing on your Gameboy is that there is no need for a banker! You don't have to keep track of your money, counting and recounting and changing in your smaller bills and don't have to deal with the frustration of all that. It is neat and easy, no pulling out a board and setting up.

You can play against another human player, or you can play against one of the eight players that the computer has programmed. Each computer player has a profile: one is an ex-con, one's a business man, one's naive and trusting, etc. etc. This is fun if no one wants to play against you. If you are pressed for time, there are also a number of preset games. For example, one is called "short and sweet", where the properties and hotels are already allotted to the players and it is simply a matter of chance - who lands on the hotels first, and runs out of money, is out of the game. You can play up to 4 players. I like this game, since it usually only takes around 10 minutes and then I'm done. There are a bunch of other preset games, depending on how you want to play.

There are a few drawbacks to the game, mostly with the computer players. After a few games, the characters become predictable. You know what they are going to do and, ultimately, how to beat them. I don't want to go into all the secrets and take the fun out of discovering them if you are considering buying this game, but suffice it to say it becomes really easy to win after a while. So it starts to get boring...

There is a "trade" option, but the computer characters are not the easiest to negotiate with. It takes the fun out of the live game where you bully and cajole and argue with each other until you get what you want.

All in all, I definitely got more than my money's worth out of this game. I have spent countless hours, Gameboy in hand, trying to work out a trade and build my empire. It is a good one to have in your collection.