The Urbz: Sims in the City DS Review

Platform: Nintendo DS

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Maxis

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

Look out Sim City because the Urbz have come to town and they will not be ignored! In the Nintendo DS game, the Urbz: Sims in the City, it's up to you to save the city from greedy business tycoon, Daddy Bigbucks, and restore harmony and order in Sim Quarter. With a little help from your friends, of course, this game puts you smack in the middle of the adventure as the star of the show.

Gameplay

On a very basic level The Urbz plays very much like its cousins, The Sims and The Sims 2; however, in this mission-based adventure game there are clear goals to achieve in addition to keeping your needs bars full.

Missions

Completing missions will have you running all over Sim City collecting items, talking to other Urbz, performing tasks and playing minigames. Each mission carries with it six sub-missions to complete in order to get to the next and will have you completely immersed in the story in no time. Only five of the available missions are essential to the main storyline, but you won't want to stop once you've started. Going above and beyond the call of duty in the Urbz: Sims in the City in the City isn't required, but it is essential if you want to unlock all of the mini-games and available locations.

Mini-Games

Playing minigames is fun and will not only earn your Urb much needed cash for household items and other various tasks, but playing most of them will be among your mission goals. With thirteen mini-games in all and five different levels of expertise to gain in each one there is plenty to do. Gaining the highest levels of the mini-games is again, not required, but you will want your Urb to be the best so you can complete all of the available missions.

As an added bonus, eight of the mini-games are playable from the game's main screen and you have the option of playing them at any skill level.

Xizzle Beads & Xizzles

Xizzle Beads that you either find or that are given to you by other Sims are what you will covet most in the Urbz: Sims in the City. Xizzle Beads are traded for Xizzles, which not only give your Urb special abilities and privileges, but depending on which Rep Group your Urb has been assigned to, Xizzles will also help decrease the frequency of filling your needs bars.

Locations

Your Urb will need a house to live in, but running home to use the bathroom can be time-consuming; however, there are ways to get around this. After certain areas are unlocked, and certain characters have clued you in you will be able to store items in special areas around Sim City so your Urb will never be far from a place to call home. One special item in particular will even allow your Urb to carry around a toilet and bed to sleep in!

Difficulty

The Urbz: Sims in the City is not difficult to play. As long as you pay attention to the other characters finding items and completing missions is easy, but not so easy that the game isn't fun.

Touch Screen

The creative use of the touch screen in the Urbz: Sims in the City makes keeping track of your mission goals, friendships, inventory and location within the city very easy. Acting as your as a PDA the touch screen of the DS not only organizes the need-to-know data of the game, but keeps all of this information off of your main screen so you can see what is in your pockets without taking you away from the game. While your Urb is sleeping or taking a shower you can toggle through the screens to see which friendships you need to work on or how many skill points you need to gain your next promotion.

Graphics & Sound

The world of the Urbz is bright, colorful and teeming with attitude. Each section of the city is beautifully detailed and carries its own personality and charm. The personalities of the other characters in the game are also showcased by their appearance. Recognizing the Rep Groups that most of the other Urbz belong to is easy just by looking at the way they are dressed.

Playful background music and sound effects further enhance the Urbz: Sims in the City experience. Each character has a unique voice and their individual mannerisms will have you chuckling to yourself as you listen to them speak in their native Sim tongue.

Summary

If you're a fan of the Sims and you own a Nintendo DS you should give The Urbz: Sims in the City a try. The mission-based gameplay will detour some lovers of the Sims, but if you've always wanted something more from the game the Urbz will fill the void. If you do not own a Nintendo DS the game is also available for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and the Game Boy Advance; however, this review is for the DS versions only and because of the use of the touch screen gameplay may differ in other versions of the game.