The Sims Bustin' Out

Well, folks, it was only a matter of time before the atomic-caliber sized franchise known as The Sims would invade the handheld market.  With The Sims Bustin’ Out making its way to the GBA and every major console platform, any hope of salvaging a life from what was left after the innumerable previous games has pretty much been lost at this point.  But, is that really such a bad thing?  I mean, who needs a real life when you can control the fate of fictitious little Sims that not only do everything you already do every day – such as shower, go to the bathroom, eat, etc – but do them considerably quicker and without that pesky “chaos factor” that all too often rears its ugly head.  But seriously, Bustin’ Out is one heck of an addictive game.  It isn’t quite the same experience as you’ll find on the console versions, but what it lacks due to cartridge storage space it easily makes up for in innovative simplicity.

If you enjoyed the scenario style proceedings of last year’s The Sims, then you’ll be glad to know that Bustin’ Out is of the same ilk.  You begin by creating a Sim to represent your in-game character, though the level of customization you’re allowed is quite limited; Bustin’ Out lets you change the faces and clothing colors but not the clothing styles.  After creating your Sim and distributing the allotted personality points, you find yourself at Uncle Hayseed’s farm in SimValley; a rundown barnyard with plenty of potential.  You’ll build your skills by helping your uncle with various tasks, such as tuning up the old tractor or moving your used furniture out to the barn.  Once you’ve fulfilled enough objectives at your uncle’s farm you can move out into the old Clock Tower, with a roommate and a pet, if you want. 

Gone is the point-and-click interface of past The Sims games, now you are able to freely move your Sim about via the D-pad and engage in conversation with other Sims by walking up to them and hitting the A button.  This will bring up a dialogue box where you are able to choose from a variety of text-based interactions.  While your Sim still speaks sim-lish (on rare occasions), you can specifically choose the phrases you say to each Sim.  Each choice has an affect, good or bad, on your relationship score with that particular Sim.

In The Sims, on the PC, you could choose to talk about sports, cats or whatever, and you never really knew what the other Sim liked until you talked about it. Bustin' Out has more obvious "positive" and "negative" phrases to lower or raise your relationship scores, it's not cryptic, if you call someone a pig, it's gonna lower your score.  Instead of finding out the detective doesn’t like tennis, and lowering your score on accident by bringing the topic up, you can quicken the process by yelling profanities at him out of the blue.  Or, if you’re the friendly type, you can offer him a hug.  And, instead of waiting around the homestead for people to show up at your door, you can explore the suburbs freely and talk with whomever you choose.  What this all adds up to is a handheld The Sims that feels more like a free-roaming RPG than it does a homebound people simulator.

Not surprisingly, your Sims are required to fulfill certain tasks to succeed.  But unlike the previous games, you are no longer limited to the same old interactions we’ve come to expect.  Instead of conducting goal-based business strictly within the confines of your home, you’ll be doing things like delivering gifts to neighbors or mowing your uncle Hayseed’s lawn for cold, hard simoleans.  Running around town is a great way to meet new people and accept new challenges, but the explorable area is big and quite time-consuming to navigate on foot.  Luckily, your Sim won’t have to foot around SimValley for long.  Once you’ve acquired enough cash and completed enough goals, you’ll be able to hit the pavement on two wheels and zoom around on a motorized scooter.

While there is no option to speed up game time as there was in every previous Sims game on the PC and console platforms, this is also a feature that is not missed.  In previous games it came in handy to speed up the game while your Sim sat on the couch for four hours to replenish his or her comfort levels, but Bustin’ Out has quicker recovery rates than any games in the past.  If it wasn’t for the family-friendly themes, one would wonder, by the way the energy bar stays so high, if your Sim didn’t discover Sim-crack.  Regardless, the faster recovery rate is a welcome addition.

An event worth mentioning. At random, you're Sim can get knocked out and be returned to either your Uncle's home or the hospital.  Very Vice City-ish.  One time I went to talk to a boxer and he knocked my sim out.  Another time I stumbled upon Veloci-rooster and a genie came out of nowhere and hospitalized my sim.

Mini-games take up a portion of the game, playing the part of a makeshift job system.  Each game has requirements (ie; two body points) to advance and your Sim gains simoleans by completing the games.  They aren’t presented as games but as actual, legitimate errands.  Mowing Uncle Hayseed’s lawn, for example, is your first job, which your Sim can do once per day and receive money.  Your Sims gain levels in the “lawn mower” field and can get even more money.  You’re given a certain amount of time in which to zoom around on a riding lawn mower and mow weeds while avoiding rocks and your uncle’s flowers.  Mowing weeds will get you simoleans, but watch out for the flowers or you’ll lose money, and the rocks do nothing but slow you down.  Another way to make money is to pick up the junk you find around SimValley and sell it to the Chemical Lab.

Visually, The Sims Bustin’ Out is a sharp looking game that features crisp character sprites and lots of bouncy, flamboyant animations for every in-game action.  The environments are well detailed and the various access points that can be found on certain buildings and structures are logically marked without being overly obvious.  Not being able to rotate your surroundings at will does prove to be troublesome in a few areas where required items are obscured by other objects, but the fixed vantage point in Bustin’ Out isn’t as big a problem as we initially thought it would be.  Plus, whenever an object gets between you and your in-game character it will become translucent, which is a very helpful feature indeed.  The sound presentation in Bustin’ Out is good but not great.  There are a few musical tracks that can be heard via jukeboxes or stereos, as well as a few different genres, but they pale in comparison to the console version’s fully articulated sim-lish tracks.  There are quite a lot of ambient sound effects thrown in that help to immerse the player into the on-screen action, and many will be thrilled at the inclusion of the few sim-lish samples that can be heard when you initiate or conclude a conversation. 

As easy as The Sims Bustin’ Out on the GBA is, it’s surprising that the game offers so much lasting appeal, clocking in at nearly 20 hours.  Fans of the franchise will immediately fall in love with this on-the-go port and thus should enjoy every last minute of game play it offers, but those who weren’t interested in the series to begin with will find that nothing much has changed here.  Nevertheless, the fluid and colorful visuals, addictive gameplay, and sheer variety of things to do makes Bustin’ Out the hands down best handheld-people-simulator you can currently get your handyman hands on.

Gameplay: 8.2

The point-and-click interface that fans have grown accustom to is gone, instead an even simpler control-your-character-directly method has been employed.  Fun and easy.

Graphics: 8.6
The character animations, backgrounds, and various personalities that you’ll run into are all articulated quite well.  Definitely one of the better looking GBA games out there.

Sound: 7.7

The music is pretty sparse, and the tunes tend to repeat, but the sound effects, instances of sim-lish, and other aural additions more than get the job done.

Difficulty: Easy

Getting to the credits of the game is essentially only a matter of talking to enough people, saying the right things, and finding specific items hidden about the game area.  Nevertheless, expect to invest nearly 20 hours before the experience ends.

Concept: 8.9
This is The Sims on-the-go.  I think most will agree that that is a fine idea indeed.

Overall: 8.4

Needless to say, if you’re a fan of The Sims, then you’ll want, no, need to get this game.  Even if you’re not, it’s still worth checking out.