"Er.. this is The Sims?"

A couple of minutes into the game, I was scratching my head in confusion. Where were the Basic Needs meters? And is the whole story revolving around television scripts? In short, it seems that nothing in this GBA port of The Sims 2 vaguely resembles its PC counterpart. With the Aspirations and Create-A-Sim parts greatly watered down and placed there almost "decoratively", I was doubtful that this game would do The Sims franchise justice. After all, its GBA predecessor, The Urbz, was a hit and it had a lot to live up for. However, despite its many shortcomings, The Sims 2 does improve quite a bit in the graphical area, but alas it falls short in the game play, and well, the rest.

Imagine you are playing out scripts to garner ratings and to please your ever-picky boss, everywhere you go to is considered part of a studio setting and the items you buy or get are part of the props. That is basically the premise of The Sims 2, where you are part of a television series set in Strangetown. Honestly, I was pretty intrigued by the originality of it all but the novelty wore off after a while after everything turned monotonous. Even the mini-games, disguised as "commercial breaks", get a bit tiring. Not to mention some of the mini-games are completely optional (creating a possibility of totally ignoring them) or simply a rehash from the previous Sims games. The Aspirations have become so simplified it is almost insulting. For example, if you chose a "Friend" aspiration, all you had to do was to have Friend conversations with several characters and you are done for that "episode". Another thing that might send die-hard Sims fan over the top would be that in place of the trade-mark Basic Needs meters is a "Performance" bar. Simply put, it combines all your needs into one, and falls when you do not fulfill a need which pops up randomly, or fail in some of your conversations. This can be annoying as you are not able to keep tabs on which need is about to fall next, and say, a sudden thirst need in a far-flung place could prove troublesome. What I really disliked is that you cannot upgrade any of your skills without buying "skill books", the map and areas of play are severely limited and decorations for your house are grossly inadequate. However, the conversations have become much more interactive and are equipped with a nicer interface. Generally, I was pretty disappointed in how much the game play has changed - for the worst.

Anyone who has played the previous Sims games on the GBA would notice right away that the graphics have drastically improved. The characters are much more sharper and clearer, and the over all visual effect has been enhanced. Everyone in town looks distinctive and vivid. The animation sequences are also quite beautifully-rendered despite the video limitations of the GBA. Players even get treated to an interesting, albeit repetitive, movie sequence before each mission. The mediocre sound effects are passable but definitely below expectations. This is especially so after the refreshing hip-hop grooves from The Urbs last year. I do not even notice the music at times because it is so forgettable, not forgetting to add that there are probably fewer than 5 different background music in all. Characters only make 2 kinds of noises - an approving or disapproving tone. A total let-down in the audio department.

The Sims 2 is incredibly short, and there is really nothing left to do after you complete the game. The most you can do is replay the episodes again and get more points, but that only proves futile because of the limited uses for the points themselves. In conclusion, while this game looks pretty to play, it leaves a sour after-taste as it completely deviates from the original Sims, and falls short on expectations after last year's spectacular showing by The Urbs.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/05