This is a real weird trip to make in 2023, but some family wanted to feel nostalgic so we got an emulator to run our old CD.

The board is from an era where a family game night was a single board game played over a long period of time, unlike the newer Game of Life games for PC or Switch. The board is more interesting than newer versions, and the game offers two modes that interact with tiles only slightly differently. One mode offers slight variations for landing on tiles, including mini-games that are either randomized money drops or memory match games.

I feel that buying a house in this game offers absolutely nothing to the gameplay or outcome. It's such a weird aspect that I'm not sure why it's not calculated to the total score - or more visible in the game somehow.

I think the most interesting part of this game is its presentation. It's not interesting because it's neat or good to look at, but it's an absolutely bizarre time capsule of the 1990's.

There's really poorly drawn MS Paint comics with narrated jokes that are so intensely cringe-inducing that I threw my back muscles out. Then there's laughable 3D cut scenes that are ugly by today's standards - like really bad test animations for Toy Story or Shrek. The game presents a lot of heterosexist, homophobic and racist tropes that were outdated from cultural norms even long before the CD-ROM was initially released. Also, the music is oddly decent for its time and production value.

There was a shift into what The Game of Life 2 for Switch became, which didn't take enough from this board or game to be much better.

I would only recommend replaying this for nostalgia, creating a video essay on bigotry entrenched in 1990's popular culture or for a good laugh at the "so bad it's good" of the animation and jokes.

Reviewed on May 24, 2023


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