Different but the same is the theme for My Sims: Kingdom on the DS. Some of the characters are the same, and obviously the name, but there are many marked differences between this game and its big brother for the Wii. It is probably best to really look at them only as two different games with the exact same name. You have new equipment at your disposal that you did not in the other game. This game also jumps from the standard Sims equation using mini-games. I feel that this is maybe too much of a divergence from the Sim path, as too many of the games are cookie-cutter and intrusive.

The actual characters look good. There are plenty of choices and options to make your Sim look unique. The external environments seem spread a little thin, as you can pass areas that have nothing in them. The map has a very squared and boxy quality that does not really fit in with the fluid look of the characters. The graphics for the interior of the houses are well decorated and populated. It was strange to see such a huge disparity between interior and exterior graphics.

The Sims' theme was just as loud and clear here as its Wii big brother. I imagine doing sound for the portables can be limiting, so I am not knocking the sound in whole, but the music's repetitive nature quickly wore on my patience for this version.

The Nintendo version Sims' games tend to have more story than the PC versions. Here, in My Sims: Kingdom, a mysterious and mischievous individual is stealing things from all over King Roland's domain. Just like the original My Sims, you will gather essences to create the items you need to carry out your tasks. To do this, you will use Dr. F's Essence Extractor and the Synth-O-Tron. You collect blueprints, gather your essences, and build your objects. The only "new" caveat over the Wii version are the mini-games.

The mini-games are used to earn cash to purchase items. I was happy with the number of mini-games, because it did break up the grind. If you were used to the My Sims franchise, you have learned to embrace the grind for essences and completion of blueprints. Fishing is also a great break from the grind, but you already get to do that in the other versions. These same mini-games also seem to be hit or miss. Some are fun and addictive, and others are hard to control and boring. The only issue is that when you separate the good from the bad, you may find yourself with few options.

There are plenty of quests and missions to keep you busy grinding for days after you finish the main mission. It is not as strong in this regard as other options you have on the DS, but I do not believe you will be disappointed in the number of options for continued gameplay that you have.

There was nothing particularly difficult about My Sims: Kingdom. There was no real area of mystery or puzzle to figure out. It was as much on rails as it can be, without becoming an interactive movie. When it came to the mini-games themselves, there were some moments where you could describe some frustrations, like the controls to the kayaking mini-game. I would not go as far as to call any of the mini-games challenging. This is a game for kids, so they tried to hit that mark. I actually feel that for once, they have aimed way to low and made it too easy to finish the game. I think if you tried very hard, you can finish the actual game in a single 15-20 hour sitting. Again, you would have other stuff to still do, but the main storyline would be out of the way.

I was quite happy with the control layout for My Sims: Kingdom. I am very old school when it comes to the use of the stylus for games. I either, one, want it to be used all of the time, or, two, put up out of my way. I liked the button layout the way it was for all of the tools you use. You could use your stylus to move around the world, or you could use the D-pad. My preferred method was the D-pad. I made great use of the sprint function as well. Time is a mechanic in this game, though only just barely. Your Essence tool would run out of batteries, and the only way to fill it up was to let it recharge overnight. There were some events that occurred at specific hours of the day, but the deja-vu factor with other games just doesn't hold up well. I think that the feature was not used to the full extent it could have been.

The game does its job well enough. It had all of the elements you would expect to see from the Sims. I could not help shake the feeling that this game was trying to compare itself to other offerings, but did not spend all of the time it needed to do so. As for it being a Sim game for the sake of being a Sim game, it was a marked difference from the Wii game it is based off of. It is hard to say if more mini-games or a few less would have made a difference. It would definitely have benefited from a little more of the sandbox elements that made the series popular.