It does what it sets out to do: provide a game of Monopoly for Gamecube owners.
The concept is simple: Choose your name, choose a rule set and an environment to play with, then.... play monopoly. The actual game play is solid. The turns are done well and everything stands to what you would expect from the original game. One major flaw is the AI players. On the "Medium" difficulty, they are downright stupid, while on hard, they are over the board. The majority of the time they are at least competent players, but at times they will make downright idiotic choices, such as bidding double for a property of no importance. At other times, they will go through a series of moves that seem as though they know what the next roll of the die will be and are ready to make the most of it..
Against humans, though, the game can be quite fun. The interface is well designed, so getting through your turn is effortless, as is buying, selling, and surprising, even trading. Everything on the board is well laid out and clear so you always know what properties are already controlled, by whom, and where your pieces are. Also, the customizable rule sets are great, offering just enough options without drowning you in the useless things. The controls are also good. The majority is done with A and B, as most of the time you are just rolling dice or choosing whether to purchase a property or not. When trading or building on a property, all the is required is a tap of L or R to bring up an easy to navigate menu. There is never any confusion as to how to do anything.
The different backgrounds, while hardly a selling point, are a nice addition. These include a fantasy setting, a prehistoric jungle, and a space station, amound a few others.They look nice (for the most part) and offer lots of ambient movement for players to look at. Also, all property names are changed according to your backdrop, and while some sound pretty bad, they are, for the most part, decient.
The graphics in Monopoly Party are as you would expect: they get the job done. Nothing less, nothing more. Everything is clear and pretty crisp, but no where near a level of detail such as any "true" game for the system. The animations are so-so, going from the decient background movements to the downright horrible sequences when pieces move from square to square (although these sequences are luckily skippable with the tap of A).
The sound is in a similar league. There's a ching of a cash register when you buy a property, and you can hear your piece tapping across the board as it moves, but theres's little else to note. The announcer seems like a fun, quirky addition at first, but you'll find yourself wanting to hurt him after he says "It's a shame to sell a house..." for the hundredth time. Overall, Monopoly Party is what you would expect: a game of Monopoly. The extra settings help by adding some variety, but all told it's the core gameplay that makes this a solid game. While certainly not a revolutionary title, it does what it sets out to do: provide a game of Monopoly for Gamecube owners.