The Urbz: Sims in the City

"Hip Hop meets the Sims"

Instead of an opening statement lets skip right to the review. For the fact is...I cannot think of an opening statement.

Game play (10/10)
This game is just sheer fun. Well...not exactly sheer fun...just hard to put down. No matter how much you hate it you can't put it down. You move around with the d-pad and interact with items by pressing A. It works much like the GBA version of Bustin' Out. Unlike normal sim games on this one you actually get to do your job. You get paid for how well you do on your job also. They pretty much break them up into mini-games. Depending on your skill points you get promotions if you do well enough. All the old motives of the Sims are still included which is one of my favorite parts. It's also fun to move into a new house. Setting all your stuff up is quite fun. You also get to actually choose what you say to people. Each person has their likes and dislikes of what to talk about. Finding out is up to you. There are also many ways to make money besides just the mini-games, such as making wood carvings on work benches. There is also lots of decorations for your house and such which adds some goodness to the game. You can also make your own recipes by blending food products such as chocolate and apples to make something in which you put in the oven. If you have enough cooking skill it'll make into something nice. Speaking of skills there are new ways of earning skills. You can now go to school for anything except for strength and I believe...charisma. Pets are another thing that you can have on this game. These aren't your normal pets though. They are your cool DNA spliced pets. My favorite is the Jackalope. As I said before, very addicting, and very fun.

Story (10/10)
This game contains a very good story. Apparently some rich old dude in which you encounter many times on your adventure, wants to buy out the whole city of Urbania. It is basically up to you to stop him. This doesn't sound too interesting, but you will find many plot twists that are sure to frustrate and/or excite you. In the beginning of the game, also, you answer a series of questions in which somewhat tell you your personality. You become either a "Richy", "Streetie", a "Artsie", or a "Nerdsie". Each "rep group" as they are called have dislikes towards another. This can cause controversy in who you want to be friends with. After all, who doesn't enjoy insulting a person? All in all, a very good story.

Graphics (6/10)
This game really bombs in this area. It looks good, but it's about a step lower than what the DS can do. Very cartoony sort of graphics which make it funner to look at. When you're talking to someone, however, the person you are looking at usually looks pretty good. Nice animations in some areas/cut-scenes. Actually, a few cut-scenes that are very fun to watch, because they usually are a big part of the story. All in all, OK graphics, but a more 3D style would have been better.

Sound (9/10)
The Urbz has a lot of cool tunes. Tunes that you'll start to hum to yourself when walking around your house after you put down your DS. You could break-dance to almost any song. Even the supposed "blue-grass" style song on this game is very catchy. Just the sound affects are kind of annoying sometimes. Like, for instance, when your Urb is hungry he'll point to his mouth and whimper like a dog...like a flippin' DOG! It's annoying, but you get used to it. They also use the sim language when they don't want to do something. Speaking of the sim language it is used in conversations when you're talking to someone. It's not quite as annoying as it was in other sim games though. Good tunes make the sound of the Urbz excellent.

Lasting Value and Replayability (10/10)
I almost guarantee you this game will take you more than 20 hours to complete. There are 7 missions in this game. 7 may not sound like a lot, but some missions are supremely long if you have no idea where to go or who to talk to. Even if you do there are certain things that must be completed in order to advance. Some missions take up to about 6 or 7 hours. If you go for all the extras, and completely complete the game it's about 40 hours on your first time through. (without the help of guides and such) And after you complete it that time...you'll want to complete it again. This game will last you a long time, PERIOD.

Pros
-Addicting
-Fun
-Sweet mini-games
-Extra activities to earn money
-Sweet tunes
-Conversation control
-Long lasting and replayable
-Rep groups add new style to sims
-DNA spliced pets

Cons
-Graphics don't live up to DS potential

Ending Statement
If you do not yet have this game, I'd suggest buying it. I really liked it, and you probably would too...Word?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/08/05