Douglas's game of the week: The Sims Bustin' Out (GBA)

The Sims has been Maxis's best franchise ever besides Sim City, being the first game where you actually control other people (The original Sims came before Animal Crossing mind you) and their lives, I would have given the game a perfect 10 out of 10 when I first saw it-My sister and I could not stop playing, why, I even missed half of Family Guy and Futurama because of The Sims. Maxis has almost spoiled the thrill of the Original Sims by putting out years and years of expansion packs, starting out awesome and each one getting slightly worse. Playing The Sims still is fun, but almost every one of the Expansion packs just basically slows down the computer.
I had gotten a wrong opinion of The Sims Bustin' Out when I heard about it for GBA-I thought it'd be just like the PC versions, but it turned out to be something different and pretty addicting.
The Graphics of The Sims Bustin Out do deserve some credit-Sure, your sim basically looks the same no matter what colour skin you give them, and they look really weird while walking, but I really like how the characters look when you're talking to them-They captured their expressions perfectly.
The Sims Bustin' out certainly throws some sound at you-The Remix of one of the shop themes plays in the shop and in the Mower Madness video game, but everything else sounds awfully repetetive. Also, some of the voices were ripped directly from the PC version, and some new ones are thrown at you. Gone are the days where all Women sound exactly the same!
The Sims Bustin' out only has you playing as one character, not really like I thought, and because it's only one character, it's easier to take care of your needs, Just imagine if you had to take care of 8 characters in this game. The Controls are executed perfectly, and placing stuff in the house is also good. But this version does not feature building houses, the house you live in is determined by what level you're in, the first 2 levels has you living in your uncle's barn and the 3rd level has you living in a clock Tower and after that, you live in actual houses.
As fun as The Sims Bustin' out may sound, it does suffer from a few drawbacks, such as how the Stuff the store carries is rather Inconsistent, such as one day it's selling an Oven, a Couch, A fridge, and a Chair, and the next day it might be selling a Vending Machine, a bed, a toilet, and a Shower. It took about 26 Sim days to get an oven for my place. Another one of the drawbacks is that the Mini-games are low action, but do pay out pretty well.
Overall, you can get people to move in with you once you build up relationships, and it features Skill-Building, Money saving, Buying, and some of the fun of the Sims. The Console versions are more better-Heck, the GCN version even allows you to link to this. It's certainly not Mandatory to own like Fire Emblem or Mario and Luigi Superstar saga, but it certainly is worth a go if you are a fan of the Sims and have a GBASP (It works for the regular, but is easier to see on the GBASP).
8.50/10

Pros:
-Sims on the go
-Somewhat funny things to say to people. "Cross me and I'll genetically alter your crops!"
-Misson-based-gameplay
-Auctions work well

Cons:
-Repetitive Music
-Easy to lose track of your needs while talking to other Sims
-Low action Mini-Games