Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I must admit that I just bought my iMac last Friday -- therefore, I'm completely capable of playing this wonderful game. But, still -- some of the comments on this site are a bit over-the-top. If you're not completely sure about your system, research the specs (it'll take you a total of two minutes) and, to be extra sure, download the Aspyr Game Agent at Aspyr's website [...]. Run it on your Mac, and see if the Sims 2 meets and/or exceeds the minimum requirements. If it doesn't, you'll know, and therefore you won't have to waste money on a game that won't work for your Mac. I'm particularly bothered by the "even on top of the line specs, it still doesn't work" review. My specs are not technically top of the line (I have an iMac 17" 2.0 GHz Rev. B model, 512 MB RAM), and it works PERFECTLY. The graphics are beautiful, the music amazing, the speed consistently great -- this game is like heaven on my iMac. Considering that the requirements (more over the recommendations!) are pretty high, I can certainly understand the complaints. But on near or "top of the line" specs -- really, use that Aspyr Game Agent program -- it works beautifully. A brief review of the game itself: this game is absolutely perfect, as I've said a couple times before. The 3D upgrade isn't as upsetting as I thought it would be, like it was in Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 (I was a Windows user before last week, bleh). The game is exactly like the first, except with many enhancements. Your sims now have aspirations and fears, which makes for great fun! An aspiration of my sim Mike is that he wants to learn how to cook Lunch Meat Sandwiches. I had him read a cooking book one afternoon, and sure enough, he gained his goal. After which he gained enough Aspiration points to buy the family a money tree. ^_^ Another great aspect of the game, at least to me, is that any two people can fall in love. It's nice to play a game where "different" sexual orientation is automatically assumed to be normal. Also, the way you can customize your Sims is crazy. I'm not talking about the clothing or the accessories (although you get a lot of those) -- I'm talking about the Sim's FACES. You can pretty much sculpt a face anyway you'd like. It's a bit creepy when you realize you've been staring at a person's eyebrows for twenty minutes, trying to get them to your liking. The Sims are now smarter, too. If a carpool is waiting for them outside (say, to go to work), a Sim will automatically go outside and get in the car. I remember this being a pain sometimes in the last Sims game, where they would constantly miss the carpool because of petty problems (cleaning the toilet, etc). Basically, anything you want to do you can. While open ended, it's simultaneously not -- your Sims actually age this time and die. You now have very little time to fulfill a Sim's aspirations (and you'll want to, believe me). However, if the thought of your beloved Sims dying scares you, read the instruction booklet -- they supply a cheat to freeze the aging process, ala Sims 1. When two Sims have a baby, the little thing actually resembles his or her (or it's...) parents. So many improvements. And the game is much more smoother, too. The camera configurations seemed to be much better this time around -- I was swirling around rooms and zooming in and going sideways all the time, without the slightest lag. In fact, this game makes you forget that you yourself have needs -- to go to the bathroom, go to work, go to sleep, to eat something. I can play this game all day long and not care about the time gone. It's mind boggiling how fast six hours can go by. All in all, The Sims 2 is a rather perfect game. I can't think of anything to really improve, and the upcoming exspansion packs will just make everything even more fun and engrossing. Remember to check your specs throughly before buying, though.