A lot of people thumb their nose at board games that have been turned into video games and it's tough not to blame them. Hell, why play a game like Monopoly on the PS3 when you can buy the actual board game for cheaper? Still over the years I'll confess to being a fan of several. Some of my best gaming memories are actually from board game styled video games. As a kid they were typically things like monochrome versions of Life and Monopoly, but as time when on a few original games came out and they provided me with some of the best gaming memories I ever had.

1. Jones in the Fast Lane

This game came out in the early 90's while I was in highschool and I lost a lot of hours of my life to it. The game was sort of my introduction to life sims like Harvest Moon. The game is broken up into weeks, and in that week you have a limited amount of time to go across the board to work at your job, get food, go to school, etc. all in an attempt to make money, get smarter, be happy, and improve your life. The key to winning was to plan out the day so you spent as little time walking back and forth as possible and maximizing your time in the productive areas.

Playing against the PC could be suicide if you didn't play against it at the easiest level, but the real fun was playing with friends. Vicious smack talking would immediately ensue even when it came to character selection. Everyone wanted to be the cool guy (he wore sunglasses so we knew he was cool), and if you somehow got stuck with the frumpy chick you'd be mocked the entire game even if you won. Yeah good times. Oh and for anyone that is interested, the game is actually playable today in a Flash version on several spots online.

2.  Mario Party 1 & 2

And now we move onto my college years and early adult life. And how do I show the world I've become a mature person? Mario Party. I'll assume most of you are familiar with the game, so I'll skip the explanation.  As dorky as it was (and it was) my then girlfriend (whore) and my best friend spent a lot of time with this game. In fact, I bought my 3rd N64 controller specifically for this game. Definitely wasn't as cool as.... well every other game ever made, but god it was a lot of fun being able to play against everyone at once. Loved it.

3. Fortune Street

This past winter Fortune Street ate up hours of my life. As a fan of Dragon Quest I'll pretty much buy anything with a slime on it, but this was well worth it. It's essentially a more evolved version of Monopoly that includes a stock market and a slightly more complex process of building up properties. It's actually very easy to figure out, so anytime you read a review where the game is described as complex, go ahead and write that reviewer off as a shaved monkey who knows how to type. The boards are well done, and Dragon Quest fans are in for a particular treat as areas from the main games and even Rocket Slime and Yangus' Mysterious Dungeon are spotlighted.

The most impressive part of the game is actually the AI. In the event you can't play with 3 other people the AI is ready to take their place and it's very well done. They all have their little quips that are mostly forgettable, but what isn't is how the players all have different strategies and player personalities. Wario will buy up everything he sees. Bowser Jr. will just play as an asshole and try to ruin another player's chances of winning rather than try to win himself. Each character also has a different skill level so the Slime won't be too competitive, but god help you if you have to go up against Princess Peach who is a complete financial whiz and will kick your ass if you try to phone it in.

Anyway those are a few of my favorites. There are others to be sure, but if I had to make a few recommendations of board games to play on a console, you're looking at them.

I almost picked up a wii hasbro family games...game today.