Gameboy Advance - Urbz: Sims in the City, The

Format
Gameboy Advance
Publisher
EA Games
Developer
Griptonite Games
Country of origin
US
Genre
God sim

The Urbz : Sims in the City

By David Rasmussen
5th Mar 05

Here we go again! Once again we have a new Sims to go over, this time the GBA version of the Urbz... yet for all intents and purposes they might as well have entitled this game "The Urbz : Sims Bustin' Out 2" since it's pretty much a sequel to the first GBA Sims game!

And, to make it worse, this game is out on BOTH the GameBoy Advance AND the Nintendo DS... yet the Nintendo DS doesn't have the "prequel" Bustin' Out so I wonder how the story is on that version...
Oh, right, the "story". You start off living in an apartment building that has just been bought up by Daddy Bigbucks from Sim Valley (the location of The Sims : Bustin' Out) and you soon find yourself out on the streets (after you manage to get out of jail)!

You land on your feet fast enough, and soon are doing the same things you did in Sims : Bustin' Out, from "missions" to mini-games, only to find there's a story along with your quest to climb the Sim ladder!
That story is how you need to save the city you call home, Miniopolis, from the advances of the terrible Daddy Bigbucks, and keep him from tearing the city down so he can rebuild it as a "theme park" city with pay windows and tourist trap shops and so forth... whatever.

Then things get all weird when some strange subplot takes over and you end up with an ending that... well, not to spoil it but this most certainly is not an ending I haven't seen before from a Sim... and I don't mean that in a good way. Still I guess it's original, even if it seems rather out of place in a game like the Urbz.

As for characters it looks like Daddy Bigbucks is not the only Sim Valley resident to relocate to Miniopolis as you'll run into several characters from the old game, as well as new characters, all separated into "rep groups". Yes. Rep groups. One of the things that DID make the passover from the big game to this, however there are less "rep groups" than there are in the major Urbz version of this game. All the rather disturbing rep groups that would have been hard to explain in a E for Everyone game were the ones to get the ax.

The four "rep groups" in this game are the Streeties, the Artistes, the Nerdies and the Richies... but for all intents and purposes they might as well be interchangeable since they all are toned down for that E rating, which means with the exception of their character traits (what they like and don't like) they are all rather easy going once you get to know them.

Your placement in these groups are NOT chosen by you, as it is in the Urbz big version by the way!
It's chosen by how you answer a set of questions poised to you at the start of the game! Depending on how you answer you'll be put into one of the four "rep groups"! As you play, and become more solid in your group, you'll eventually be given a specific set of missions that is unique to your rep group... oh, and if you get to know other rep groups enough you'll also get rep missions for these groups, but you might as well not stress too much over these since you won't be rewarded for these. The big rewards only come from satisfying the rep missions for your own group, so stick to that first if possible.

Yes. Meeting and greeting people IS important in this game! And once again the way you do it is to make selections of conversations ala Bustin' Out, only this time it's pictures with descriptions than dialogue sentences. That's a bit of a drag in comparison to before, and only the Nintendo DS version has the dialogue sentence selection process like Bustin' Out to choose from, which is abit sad since it means I guess I'll have to buy the Urbz on NDS once I get that just to try that out!

Oh, back to meeting people. Once again it helps build your rep., which is more important here than in Bustin' Out since you also build specific rep points with the groups you encounter... best way to "cheat" that, by the way, is to keep going back to Sims you talked up to 100 points and make sure it stays at 100 points (they re-give you their rep point you earned from them over and over again so you can keep your levels steady).

Speaking of keeping things steady you'll notice that your health/comfort/etc meters drop FAST in this game! Far faster than it did during Bustin' Out for the GBA! This seems to be a major micromanagement problem since you'll have to go potty, or sleep, or eat often which means it's harder to do things... but this is just to urge you to find beads to buy Xizzles!

What are Xizzles? Xizzles are special skills that slows down the decay of your meters (which probably is a mimicry of the special skills you learn in the big console version of the Urbz), but you only have five to start with (that you can purchase via the usage of beads you earn from making friendships (75 relationship points) and looking EVERYWHERE for randomly hidden beads) and the only way to buy more Xizzles is to link with other players and visit their towns... major hassle if you ask me, having to link with others which means having to find other players of The Urbz in order to increase your Xizzles you have on hand!
And if you're like me then you have a hard enough time finding games to review, let alone actual people who own BOTH a GBA AND a copy of the game you happen to be playing at that time, let alone someone who has all that AND is willing to "link" with you via gamelink cable for any length of time! So without a doubt this part of the game is downright frustrating, and a negative mark on the game since it requires you to hunt down other Urbz players (and link with said players) just to nail all your Xizzles (one needed to play a special mini game located at this clubhouse which is probably only accessible in multiplayer mode since I can‘t seem to get access to it even after beating the game!)

Speaking of major hassles it's also a major hassle to get assigned certain "rep" missions that (for a few of them) take A LOT of effort to complete! Pick up 100 pieces of litter, for instance. Another example is to insult Daddy Bigbucks (-50 relationship), which can't be done until -- well, I can't say since it's a spoiler info moment, but don't worry... you'll know when the time is right to secure this "mission" objective!

As for the heart of the money making venture in this game, aka the mini games, the mini games are all new with absolutely no mini games from "Bustin' Out" here to speak of. But if you mastered those mini games you should at least have a heads up on the skills needed to begin to master these games! And, yes, besides the new games you'll also have things to recycle (half of which are brand new things)!
Overall I have to say that, in this regard, the game is a brand new experience! Heck, even how you move from place to place (living wise) is new! Instead of having to fulfill requirements like in the previous game, this game you can "buy" a place to live by clicking on the rental sign and move in on your own without assistance! That's convenient!

As for crime/fire management? Instead of purchasing fire alarms and burglar alarms you simply find the thing that looks like a water heater in your apartment and click that on. Why? That thing handles everything from house heating (which lowers your bills), fire (the highest thing you can buy is a system that extinguishes fires) and a burglar system that has a 100% guarantee of protection against crime (at highest level)! Oh, and one thing which helps you bring up the hip-ness of your house so you get points with your pals as you invite them over to visit (another new thing)!

Instead of one vehicle you have three vehicles. A better motorcycle, a tribute to Michael J. Fox with a hoverboard like skateboard designed after the one in the Back to the Future movies called the "MJFoxfire", and a boat for traveling on water (which is necessary to go to certain locations that can't be reached any other way). Very nifty thing if I do say so myself.

But there are also downsides to this game.
I wasn't too happy about the ending, which I thought was downright weird and freaky.
Unlike the previous Bustin' Out game you CANNOT link this to your GameCube and a copy of The Urbz for the GameCube! You can't use these mini games in The Urbz (GCN) and you can't download your character from The Urbz (GCN) to this game (which you could with Bustin' Out) which is one major downer in gameplay!

What if The Urbzs isn't your thing, then? Sure, The Urbz might not be for you and if you were hoping for it to have the link up version where you can download a character from the big Urbz on GameCube to play it here then you might be disappointed... but even then with it's few failings there is still some merit ot this game. You just have to figure out if you're ready for the mini Urbz of Miniopolis or not!
Breakdown time! Stand ready!

The Urbz Breakdown the 2nd
(the 1st being the Breakdown of The Sims : Bustin' Out for the GBA)
What's Hot? - I liked the first one, yes I did. The Sims on the portables don't seem to fare well with some players, but for me I figure it's portable Sims so at the very least it'll fill the gap in your need for The Sims (or in this case The Urbz) until you can get back to your big machine to play it there.
With all the new bells and whistles on this version I still like these Sims (Urbz) games on the GBA! If you need a Urbz fix in portable form you'll be nailing either this or the Nintendo DS version for yourself!

What's Not? - Of course if you are NOT into the Urbz then you won't be getting this version. And if you are into the Urbz you might be disappointed that it doesn't have as much of the bells and whistles of the big Urbz game, let alone some of the features that made Bustin' Out fun.
Gone is the ability to take your character from the big GCN version and download it into the GBA game so you can start off with loads of simoleons and skill points... then again considering you lose a lot of your skills in The Urbz I can see why these two are not so compatible linking wise.
If you played the big version, and you are looking for a mini Urbz fix this is still recommended, even if it's more like a "Bustin Out' 2" than The Urbz.

The ending of the game was not appreciated by myself, but other than that I don't see much here than the few complaints I had to hold this game back. You should ignore them and not think about it anymore.

Moments to Remember? - It has it's moments. Really. There are lots more places in this game than there were in Bustin' Out on the GBA, and there's even a theater to go and watch movies in (about 30 seconds or so for each movie but it's a good mini-movie) so how good is that!

What to Ignore? - Uh... why is this game so littered with The Sims : Bustin' Out characters?
And, yes, one of those characters is THE Chet R. Chase who has that award of mine named after him, but for his own sake this time out he doesn't speak (he just sells you pizza/soda).

Speaking of other things to ignore... why do I have to go to "school" to up some of my skills (doesn't seem to be any other ways to up certain skills since objects like the easel and workbench are no longer for skill building but for money making)? Why did the ending blow? Who thought of THAT ending anyway?!? Why did it end that way?? And why... do I seem so obsessed with complaining about the ending anyway?!
Uh... that's it... maybe a few more but they're nitpicking complaints. Never mind. Sorry.

Overall? - Basic concept. If you love The Sims : Bustin' Out or The Urbz (or Bustin' Out for GBA) then you'll be signing up for this brand new experience. If you don't even remotely like The Sims at all, however, you'll have a hard time bringing yourself to buy this. It's all a matter of taste.

The ending was not so hot, but the gameplay is solid despite the few flaws with it.
Now if they brought out a Mature version of Playboy : The Mansion on GBA then I'll be shocked... yeah. Most definitely a shock especially since the PS2 version introduces you to a concept EA/Maxis hasn't... mainly Sim Sex... which is kind of strange if you think about it. Yeah. Oh-kay...then I'll buy it because I'd like to see how far they'd go on the GBA since I can't even name 10 games on the GBA that are rated M for Mature... so how rare is THAT anyway... let alone a Sim game that was M for Mature with... yeah.

Oh-kay. Yes. There is Grand Theft Auto for the GBA that has a M for Mature rating... sheesh... how the heck did they make a GTA handheld game! Other than that I can't think of any other game like that.

Uh? Oh. Overall I liked the game, but I'm a Sims/Urbz fan so that's me... uh, anyone know when The Sims 2 is coming for GBA slash NDS? I'd like to see what that'd be like.
Of course if you are not a Sims fan then you won't be buying this version, but that's OK. It's not for everyone, but it's still good nevertheless, so if possible do check it out. Bye for now.

-- David Rasmussen 5th Mar 05

Gameboy Advance Urbz: Sims in the City, The Images