The Sims on Your IPod

As I was browsing the iTunes store in anticipation of any new games. My heart raced, and my palms got sweaty as I saw The Sims is now available for my iPod to take with me where ever it is I may go. I can't wait. Besides that, I love bowling.

The Sims Bowling is fun, addictive, easy to learn and play, and challenging. It is sure to keep you coming back for more and more ten pin action.

The game as to be expected is pretty basic. You choose a character and customize him or her to your liking. Which is cool to a point. There are some drawbacks to this though. Why have custom shoes; if you can't see them? Pretty silly really. All the little things you can buy at the shop seem pointless too. Its almost like the boys at Electronic Arts just threw them in the mix to make it look like there is some depth to the game when there really isn't. This same ploy holds true to all the cool stuff that pops up in your house after you return home from your night of bowling. Looks cool, but can't use it. Just more useless eye candy.

Its costs 5 Simoleons (thats Sim Dollars) to bowl a game. You make money not by winning as one might suspect, but rather going home, and clicking through the very boring and repetitive screens and hoping that you have a goofy 2 option message comes up.

The controls are very simple. Use the center button on your iPod to click the power meter as it rises, and falls. If it goes to high you will fault. Next is the aim meter. The long line that swings back and forth, the more power you have, the faster it swings. This part of your bowl is the most challenging aspect. Its very difficult to get it to stop exactly where you want it to. Don't fret, because here comes the fun part. The hook. You can really give it some juice on this one. It is not difficult to stop this particular meter where you want it to.

Once the bowling ball is flying down the alley at a rockets pace there is a very annoying shortcut that can bring this missile to a halt. You can get instant gratification by just clicking right after the ball leaves your fingertips. It basically just sets you up for your next bowl or to the computer players turn. If your impatient it then just turns into a game of trying to get the power, aim, and hook meters lined up just right to get your strike. Who needs animations anyway, right?

The choices are simple. It really doesn't matter what you pick. Either you do the moral thing, and help your buddy move, which in turn gives you popularity points, or you charge him an arm and a leg to make some extra cash to spend at the Pro Shop.

There are only a handful of these huge moral dilemmas so it really doesn't matter what you choose to do.

The background banter that is playing while you are bowling is a very short loop. It lasts only a minute or two. It gets old very quick. I would recommend turning it off, and or turning your own tunes on and playing with them in the background.

Some things that dearly need to be implemented into this game is some sort of tournament system. Its gets really old scrolling through and picking a computer opponent to play against. There is a random feature but that doesn't really matter. All the computer played characters play at the same difficulty level so you might as well being playing Don every single time you sit down to play the game. Although Cathy is much more attractive.

It would have been nice to see a wagering system implemented into the friendly bowling matches. Also a Tournament of Champions would have been cool. Possibly a few more characters would have been an additional bonus. In general just a little more depth.

With all that negativity going on you might think why should you even bother getting or wasting your time playing this game? Well, its fun. Thats why.

Its very easy, fun to play, and extremely challenging. Try bowling a perfect 300. It doesn't come easy.

All negativity aside The Sims Bowling is still a lot of fun and is a good time killer for the train ride back from work, or just some idle time at home.