"Hitch your wagon to a Superstar."

Capitalizing on the unprecedented success of their long-running series, The Sims, the developers at Maxis continued to keep their fans satisfied by introducing the Superstar expansion pack. As is to be expected for a sixth expansion pack, the release of this game was highly anticipated. And apparently the wait was worth it. Superstar sold with great success and was well received by long-term Sims fans.

The Sims: Superstar enables your sim to become just what the title of the game implies: a smash hit in the world of the Sims media. As children, many people dream of being famous celebrities going to all the Hollywood shindigs. Well, with this expansion pack, you are able to live vicariously through your sim. You have the opportunity to make your sims the rich and famous star that you could never become. There are three tracks to becoming immensely popular in the world of the Sims. You can either dedicate your sim to becoming successful in the music, movie, or fashion industries. And of course, there is a special area of SimCity where your sim will be building up his or her star power, and that place is called Studio Town.

Studio Town is the place to be if you are interested in becoming a celebrity. As with the other special areas of SimCity such as Downtown and Vacation Island, Studio Town is fully customizable. You can opt to leave the area as is or you can tear the entire thing down and rebuild it all from scratch. There are eight lots total in Studio Town. Some of the smaller lots are extremely sub-par. I suggest that you tear down all the smaller areas and rebuild them, because chances are you will be very dissatisfied with them unless you do so. When developing lots, you have the choice of focusing on one specific industry, or you can attempt to incorporate elements of all of them. And then you could also neglect to put any star objects on the lot and devote the whole thing to being an exclusive spa for only those sims who have the highest star rating.

When creating a lot for Studio Town it is important to think of the feelings and needs of your sim. This game enables you to control your sim while he or she is at work. Use this to your advantage. Anticipate what your sim is going to need in order to be the most efficient and to get the most out of a single day. You can't expect your sim to work non-stop for the eight or nine hours that you have him or her in Studio Town. Unlike when your sim goes to work at any other job, his or her needs will decrease just as fast, if not quicker, as when he or she is relaxing at home. It is of the utmost importance that you remember to put concession stands in the lots so that your sim can take a break when he or she gets hungry. Bathrooms are also an absolute necessity, since all sims tend to have weak bladders. Hygiene can be dealt with by those spa treatments mentioned earlier. Your sims can enjoy going for a steam or taking a mud or milk bath. All of these provide for alleviation of hygiene and comfort deficiencies. Also, it can never hurt to throw in a flat-screen TV and a couple of chairs or couches to totally kick back and slack off on the job. Make sure that the lot is beautifully decorated so as to get the Room level as high as possible. And besides, why should your spoiled-rotten celebrity sim work in a place that is anything less than palatial in decor?

Well, Studio Town is all ready for your sim if your sim is prepared to take the plunge into the spotlight. Grab the sim whose life you want invaded by paparazzi and head over to the phone. Phone for a cab to Studio Town for fifty simoleons. In Studio Town, the first thing to do is find a lot to start out at. For starters, it isn't really important which lot you go to. You should probably just familiarize yourself with how the area works on you first visit. Hobnob with the stars and attempt to make connections to the most famous ones. Possibly the most important part of visiting Studio Town the first time is finding Lana. She is the one who will set you up with an agent so you can get your foot in the door. When you've found her and set yourself up in town, you will have an entry level position in the superstar career track.

While in Studio Town, you may notice a few familiar faces. There are a couple of NPCs that have been adapted from reality and put into Studio Town. For example, you may at any given time see Marilyn Monroe, Christina Aguilera, or Avril Lavigne. Andy Warhol can be seen at any Photo Shoot stand. He will always be the one to shoot your Print Ads and Modeling shoots. You can ask for the autograph of any of the three aforementioned celebrities, but you cannot interact with Andy Warhol.

Like other jobs, the superstar career has ten levels, which are represented by stars. You start out with none, but you will fill them up as you progress along the track. And with each level, new star objects will be available for you to use. As a newbie to the scene, you will be limited to performing only as a stand-up comedian or as a singer in small cafes. First of all, it is important to note that charisma is key. If you think you've got enough of it, go ahead and put on a few shows. You will gain fame points depending on how you do on stage.

After performing several times successfully, you will gain half a star. At this level, you can take part in a print ad. It is an advertisement for a popular game called The Sims: Superstar. At one star, you get the ability to record a jingle for a commercial at the recording studio. At one and a half stars, you can perform in a commercial for television. Two stars enables you to model various clothes in front of a camera for ads. Two and a half stars brings you halfway through your ascent to the top, and allows you to act in a soap opera for TV. Three stars lets make an album at the recording studio. Three and a half means you can model on the fashion runway. Four stars gives you the opportunity to create a music video. At four and a half, you can create a movie. And with five stars, you achieve supreme stardom and can use any and all star objects.

After you get to two and a half stars, being a celebrity actually requires work on your part. Up to this point, all you had to do was to tell your sim to use a certain fame object, and he or she would do it autonomously. But when you get into the higher fame levels, you are required to take action. The person who is directing you will want you to emote. You must express the correct emotion three times in a row in order to be successful. There are three choices of emotions, and each may be used more than once in any given string. You are given three chances to get the string correct. You will know which emotions are correct by watching the reaction of the director. Early on, it is very easy to get the strings right. But as you gain more fame, it becomes harder. When you achieve three and a half stars, you are only given two chances to get the series correct.

In the normal career paths that have been in every other expansion pack, a certain amount of Family Friends are necessary for a sim to advance up the ladder of his job. Well, the same is almost true of Superstar. You still need to network in order to move up. But instead of Family Friends, you must meet a requirement of starpower. The starpower needed to advance a level is not necessarily equivalent to the number of friends you need to make. The more famous the sim is, the more star power he or she carries. If you make friends with a very popular sim, your starpower requirement may be met for two levels.

There are special incentives to gaining in star power. After you reach two stars, your sim will be able to make use of the special star trailers that are located on certain lots in Studio Town. These are multifunctional. They serve to improve bladder and comfort. Additionally, if you have a close relationship with another sim who has a fame status of two stars, you can invite him or her into the trailer to play. This will boost the fun meter. My favorite side effect of being famous is the ability to use special doors with built-in fame detectors. These doors can only be entered or exited through by people who have at least two stars. It is perfect for creating a special room designed to pamper your sim while keeping out the undesirable riffraff. You can also put these inside your celebrity's mansion. This way when you throw raging parties, your party guests will be forced to stay out of your private washroom, your trophy room, you name it.

Once you attain a title of Sell Out, a certain problem may arise. If you aren't staying close enough to your audience, you may have the misfortune of running into an Obsessed Fan. This man is exactly what his name suggests. He is absolutely relentless. He will hound you whenever you attempt to go to Studio Town. He follows you back to your own home, even. Late at night when you are asleep, he may come along and leave a bouquet of Black Roses on your lawn. And, the most unsettling thing of all, he may even enter your house. If you have not taken the proper precautions, he may even steal any and all Simmys that you may have on display. There are ways of dealing with him. Your Butler is able to drive him off with a well-placed blow to the face. The police are also effective in removing the trespasser from you property. Lana in Studio Town is also able to get rid of him if he comes to pester you on the job.

As you move up the ladder of fame, be sure to read the daily Tabloid. There are always stories of scandals and success. Additionally there is a Who's Hot list. It lists who the Superstar is, and how the order of supremacy follows after that Superstar. As you gain starpower, you should eventually make it onto that Who's Hot list and hopefully you will attain the rank of number one Superstar in all of SimCity.

If you haven't begun focusing on one specific industry by the time you reach five stars, you should at that point. There are distinct benefits to focusing on one industry. When you do so, the game registers the fact that you are consistently participating in a certain track. Once you become proficient at music, movies, or fashion, you become eligible for a Simmy. To win a Simmy, your sim must be in a good mood, and he or she must have just finished using a star object. If he or she meets the requirements, Lana will come up to you and present you an award on behalf of Studio Town. The Simmy may be gold, silver, or bronze. Paparazzi will also be present to photograph the momentous occasion.

The Sims: Superstar provides for an unlimited amount of replayability. No two sims will ever have the same experience in Studio Town. And the quest to achieve all three levels of the three different Simmys may take an astoundingly long time to complete. As always with the Sims, there is no limit but your imagination. Compared to the other expansion packs, Superstar provides more challenge but less charm. While it isn't the greatest of the add-ons, it is still an essential part of the series.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/07