You may pass Go, but don't pass on this great remake.

Board game remakes in the video game world can be hit or miss. Some take a simplified formula and make it overly complicated. Others will try to update an age old mechanic and ruin it completely. While some get it right and not only make it quite enjoyable to play in front of the television, but make it more feasible than pulling out the game from the closet and setting up pieces of the game you can lose or vacuum up.

Over the years the Monopoly franchise has had many video game versions. Some captured the essence of the classic board game, while other versions over complicate things by adding more than the necessary enhancements to make it enjoyable. Monopoly Streets does a great job of bringing the board game to the virtual world, but adding enough visual prosthetics that don't bog down the already pick up and play formula.

The traditional values stay the same in Monopoly Streets. Pick an icon, roll the dice, move around the board, buy up, trade, and auction off property, avoid landing on jail, and in short, monopolizing the entire board until all of your opponents are bankrupt. The same holds true in Monopoly Streets, but adds to the traditional board game look a new city that is alive and kicking while staying close to its roots. Sure you can still play on the classic look or variations of that look if you please, but there is just something more interesting in how the city is built and condemned as you progress throughout the game. When you accumulate more assets you are shown a building diagram that compares your worth comparatively to the rest of the players. This building motif grows and diminishes depending on how your worth is established throughout the game. What's more, when you build homes or hotels onto property, not only do you see the buildings pop up on the landing space in 3D, but depending on the "neighborhood" you will see the differences in property value in the design of the structures as well. This adds more personality and a wonderful cartoon charm to the game. Tag this along with the animated pieces and avatars that go along with them. Granted, some of the characters that accompany the pieces are annoying, but that is nothing than pressing the old bypass button won't cure. If you play on the Wii or Xbox 360 you can choose to use one of your own personal avatars or Miis within game. Lastly, if you want to play this game with a friend hundreds of miles away or even with fellow Monopoly fans, there are online options you can choose from as well as the ability to play with a welcome group of real people.

Thankfully the developers didn't touch the formula, and you can even customize a lot of the rules to play the game and alter things such as Free Parking and more, but if you want to add a little value to the game, there are some decent unlockables such as new boards and cities that will give each new venture into the Monopoly world a little diversity. You earn currency by your success each time you play Monopoly and with that currency you may purchase new pieces, boards, and cities. There is promise of DLC, but I guess we'll have to see how much the game takes off before we hold our breath for new cities and boards that don't currently exist. If given the opportunity, EA could really make a killing here if they borrow from the idea of themed Monopoly boards found in stores. I mean who wouldn't want to play in the Star Wars, Harry Potter, Simpsons worlds, etc. While I'm sure there are certain licenses they could not acquire, EA does hold enough of them to include them into future DLC if they so desire. One example of how cool this idea works is the included Landmark City found in the game. This city board recreates the game but uses things like the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben as backdrops for your purchase pleasure. It certainly adds more value and is an opportunity I hope EA doesn't let go to the wayside.

Granted, gamers who never liked Monopoly in the first place will find little to care about here as well. But if you have a hankering for some bankering (okay, not a word...but I needed a rhyme) then Monopoly Streets brings you into the 21st Century of gaming, without taking away from what has worked well for over 50 years. In short, it's Monopoly, only prettier and easier to get out and put away than the board game. Now if you excuse me, I need to roll doubles to try and get out of jail.