MySims Party Review

Written by: Tracy Bosworth Posted: 13th May 2009

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MySims throw a party.

MySims Party Details:

	Mini-game Compilation
	Nintendo Wii/Nintendo DS
	EA Games
	EA Games

Out Now

1-4

It’s party time in the world of MySims and they want you to join in the fun. Unlike previous Sims games, you won’t be expected to decorate houses with balloons, buy a cake and control the music … ensuring everyone maximises their “fun” needs. In MySims, you skip the organisation and just have to play the party games. Shame real life parties aren’t so easy!

The world of MySims Party is the same world in which the first game MySims took place. The town is the same, the buildings are the same, the trees and even the town people are the same. The city hall is there too, along with the mayor and as your town develops, more people move in and settle in their own little houses … just like in the original game. Where MySims Party differs, is that there is no real storyline here. The story is as basic as it gets … and as deep as it needs to be. The idea is that your town is hosting a party and an array of fun games have been set up for the townsfolk to compete in.

Predictably, you start by creating your MySim which can either be pre-made for convenience or edited to your liking. You can edit everything from the hair, skin colour, eyes, mouth and even their voice. The game also gives you a chance to edit four character status settings which determine strength, luck, speed and heart and naturally if you choose a high setting in one, you will be forced to sacrifice points in another.

The first thing I noticed here was how awkward the controls were. The Wii remote can be frustrating at the best of times but when you’re trying to focus the pointer on small icons on the screen and it goes everywhere but where you want it to go, you soon find yourself becoming irritated. It takes so long to create the Sim you want, most people will tire of it quickly and settle for anything. Younger gamers may have the patience to persevere in order to create a truly unique Sim.

To a lesser extent, the annoying controls continued out of the ‘create a Sim’ mode too. After the creation of your avatar, you are dumped in your house and have to make your way to the festival site. I immediately became annoyed with the awkward controls here. You basically move the remote in the direction you want your Sim to travel but the character gets stuck frequently, stutters in one place or changes direction erratically. Again, this is probably something that younger gamers won’t mind too much, or perhaps they would find it easier to control anyway … perhaps I just don’t have a steady enough hand but either way, if you experience the same difficulties as I did, your first impressions of the game won’t be too great.

So, then we come to the actual point of the game. The festivities! There are two modes in MySims Party, Dream Festival Mode (which we will come to in a minute) and a simple “Mini Game Mode” which speaks for itself.

Dream Festival Mode is the main “story” part of the game. You and your team-mates (either computer controlled or multiplayer friends) must compete against other townsfolk to unlock house parts, town monuments (making the town more attractive to potential residents) and new Sim options such as stats increase. At the start of the game, most of the 12 festivals are locked and only become available when you complete the easier festivals. Games range from collecting baggage at the hotel (run on the spot, or shake the remote to simulate running … press ‘A’ at the suitcases and run back to the desk … the one with the most baggage collected is the winner), making pizzas (be the first to add the correct topping at the Italian restaurant) or blast the ghosts away over at the haunted house.

The games are varied and mostly fun. Whilst older gamers may only play them once or twice before becoming a little bored, children will probably get hours of fun out of these games and as there are over 50 games to play, there should be plenty of variation.

Graphically the game is bright, colourful and appealing featuring the same characters that populated the original MySims game. The environment is bold and attractive and the game’s menus are decently arranged. The controls in menu screens let it down, however. The audio is also cute and cheerful, with innocent, childish music and happy, cartoon style voices.

In conclusion, MySims Party is a simple, fun game with children in mind. If you can get past the bad control system, there is probably a good few hours of enjoyment in this game but it’s unlikely to be one of those games you will still be playing in 6 months time.

The idea was good but as a single player, this game would probably have limited appeal. The multiplayer was good however, allowing up to four players and if you’re looking for a multi-player game for the children, MySims Party should feature high on your list of possibilities. Children will love the cheerful, silly and cute characters and the games are easy enough for most children to grasp. Adults and teens should probably look for something else.