MySims take a big step away from the tried and true formula of all the Sims games of the past PC eras. MySims looks to focus more on building and the environment s and even changes the whole look of the franchise by moving to a super cute Japanese anime style and feel.

Presentation and Graphics: The environments, characters and buildings are all very colorful and fun to look at with different accents to help convey the emotions of all. The user interface was done very well and incorporates the Wii remote accessibility well into the game. 4 out of 5

Sound and Music: The music in the game is very cheery and gives the game a bubbly happy feel, which changes with the mood of the environment. The usual Simlish makes its return, which at times is funny and at others kind of annoying. This is probably the most constant category when compared to the older generations of the Sims games. The music stays true to its roots but it would have been great to have actual music or the ability to play your own tracks. 3 out of 5

Gameplay: MySims has you take control of one main avatar and create a unique town that draws in more inhabitants. The town was run down and your job is to make it thrive by creating vibrant buildings for new members of your community, each with their own personal likes/dislikes. The game focuses heavily on the design of items and uses the Wii remote almost like a computer mouse, the user interface tries to be as intuitive as possible and does a pretty good job.

A major part of the game is the creation mode where you can create unique homes and unique furniture. When you encounter a new inhabitant they willa sk you to build them a home to live in and then they will give you missions to go build them specific types of furniture to outfit their home. Each character requires different styles of furniture, i.e. happy, sad, fun, etc. These styles are achieved by finding different types of essences, these essences are harvested by finding them in different locations of the town or by triggering them form characters you interact with. Essences are the only form of currency in the game and are used for everything like painting items and walls.

The major drawback of the game is that it just boils down to a simple game of harvesting essences and then building furniture to make you town happy. The major thing is the furniture building, the houses can be a simple box with a door. The furniture takes some getting used to making but once you do, it is old hat pretty quick. The little quests to make furniture is all that is offered in the game and the relationships between you and others is not as deep as regular Sims players may hope. 2.5 out of 5

Online: There is no online capabilities or for that matter interaction between your Wii game and your DS game, which is a shame. The game screams for downloadable content, which it is lacking very desperately. It would be great to have the ability to trade your Sims characters or even import the DS version to your Wii or vice versa, A big let down in this category. 1 out of 5

Lasting Appeal: MySims is fun when you first turn it on and make your character and set him/her loose on your newly made town. After you recruit your first few citizens in your town and get a couple of stars the game gets a bit repetitive and once you fill your town and reach full star status there really isn’t much to do afterwards, This may make for a good rental for those Wii users looking to try out some new style Sims action. 2 out of 5

Final Word: MySims took a shot at something different but come up a bit short, This is a good title to have for the Wii seeing as it is fairly unique but does not offer enough depth to keep people interested, Hardcore Sims fans may be turned off by the lack of control of the citizens of your town and the fact that nothing really negative can ever happen to your avatar. For me it was fun when I first began but then just became a simple collection and build game that didn’t keep me engaged.

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

1 = Not worth the bandwidth.

2= Demo is enough, not worth your money.

3= Game is good, depending on the price, seriously consider picking it up.

4= Worth your money. Should provide some good times for quite awhile.

5= Buy the game. Lock your door. Pick up a case of beer. This could take all night.