The Sims 2 Apartment Pets – NDS – Preview

The original Sims 2: Pets was a
million-seller hit for the Nintendo DS, offering gamers the chance to raise pets
and accessorize them in fun ways. Now, EA is prepping the game’s follow-up, The
Sims 2: Apartment Pets. The game will offer more pets, more customizations, and
improved graphics over its predecessor, as well as some fun new minigames. Aimed
at the younger market, Apartment Pets is poised to offer a fun and casual
experience for fans of the series.

The Sims 2: Apartment Pets gives you
the chance to raise smaller animals within an apartment setting, including
birds, hamsters and snakes as well as dog and cats. You’ll also be able to clean
and groom other people’s animals in a pet care business through a series of
minigames. One game had you trying to get a dog to dance around through a
touchscreen minigame where you had to tap an arrow button at the right time,
kind of like DDR with the touchscreen. You’ll have several different ways to
interact with other people’s pets, as well as your own.

Customizing your pets is another big
factor in the game, as you’ll be able to outfit your pets with a variety of
accessories to make them more interesting to look at. These include myriad
clothing options like cowboy hats and themed outfits that you can buy with money
earned from your pet care business.

One of the biggest new additions is
an improved 3D navigation system, allowing you to rotate and zoom in around your
3D polygon-based apartment. The game looks surprisingly good, with nice details
emerging as you get a closer look at your customized objects.

Sims 2: Apartment Pets is a nice
casual DS title that will appeal to fans of the original Sims 2: Pets as well as
the tween audience. Look for it to release later this month.