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If
you've played the previous GBA Sims game Bustin' Out you'll be instantly
comfortable and familiar with the Sims 2, including a myriad of
mini-games. While most of the gameplay mechanics are similar to
previous installments, there is one important change, no longer having
to track your Sims basic needs.

The
Sims 2 boils the various needs down to one stat bar along the bottom of
the screen. When that falls to empty, then there's trouble but
it's very easy to get it stocked up again. Instead you deal with
one need at a time. If your Sim gets tired (as indicated
on-screen) the green bar starts depleting and until you hit the hay it
continues to drop. This allows you to finish Plot Points (more on
that later) before attending to basic needs. The system is not
without its flaws though. Often a need will present itself very
soon after I took care of it. This happened to me a lot -- I would
go to the bathroom to boost my green bar and a minute later my Sim would
perform the Pee Dance, indicating a necessary trip to the bathroom.
Sims
2 concentrates mainly on telling a story of a weird TV soap opera land,
populated by aliens, crazy characters, and "concentrated"
environments. You're in the employ of a raving Colonel Sanders
type, and as part of a massive "reality TV" setup in the town
of Strangetown it's your job to score big ratings and complete Plot
Points to drive the game forward. It's a setup that works;
however, because you can go anywhere there's a distinct lack of
direction or even very many clues as to where to go to complete the next
Plot Point there's a lot of aimless wandering.
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