by Jay "THE FLEA" Wade
Ever sense Sony lowered its price for game companies to publish games on the Playstation. There’s been a wave of bargain games. One such company is A1 Games by Agetec.
These are generic games with simple titles, Games include; Snowboarding, Racing, Bowling, Billiards, Boxing, Star Sweep and the game I’m reviewing Board Game: Top Shop.
While most all the A1 games are not even worth the plastic the CD is made from, Top Shop does have some replay value.
It’s a board game that plays similar to Monopoly. Your board is an empty shopping mall, each player chooses a character and starts the game. And there’s several different malls to choose from.
A player spins a pencil and moves to the number given. You’ll have to opportunity to buy the space and open a shop. When a player steps on your space, he/she has to buy an item. If you step on a shop you own, you can restock the store. If another player steps on a shop that has no stock he can buy you out and take that space for his/her own. A player can expand a shop if you buy a space next to a store you own. Once a player has bankrupted all other characters or is worth the top dollar amount, you have Top Shop and win the game.
The graphics are laughable, Silly and goofy big head anime characters that make no sense. Why is a shop owner wearing a frog suit? Or a creature that looks like a cat mated with a pokemon?
The mall stores are fun to see, and there’s more then 40 different stores to run; Video, Car Parts, Toys, Video Games, Clothes, Comics, Drugs, Noodles, Hamburgers, Tours, You get the idea.
The sound is well, nothing. A little music and sound effects. Nothing worth mentioning.
There’s even a Story mode, a player challenges computer players to become the top shop, if you win you advance to the next mall. The story is basically you challenge a rival. Simple and generic.
This game is one of the few games for the discounted $10 price that is at least playable.
If you like board game games like Monopoly or the Game of Life, then $10 for Top Shop will be a good deal for you. It’s no eye candy, but its fun for a simple video board game.
PUBLISHER: A1 GAMES / AGETEC
GRAPHICS: 4 MUSIC & SOUND: 2 CONTROL: 7
SECRETS: N/A ORIGINALITY: 8 FUN & REPLAY: 9
OVERALL: 6