For personal reference more than anything else.

Played this for a couple of hours over the last couple of days. Did play it when I was younger but don't really have any memories of it outside of getting it.

So, I have missed three games and while I may get to them in the future, if there's something about this game that was not in 2007 or 2008 that I want to talk about, then I'll still bring it up even if I know it did not originate in this game. Not that I think there's much to discuss here.

This game is kind of boring. It feels unpleasant to play, just slow and kind of awkward which 2008 also had but it feels so much worse here. Some improvements seem to have been made, the tap any button thing is only for submissions now and that's fine, I prefer it over the submission minigame in 2008. There's also a new minigame for pins which is to hold a button until it reaches a small shaded in part of a bar and then release the button in that bar, I kind of like it.

Some scattered thoughts:

• The lack of a HUD is something I really don't like, while there may be other types of games that I'm fine if they don't have a HUD, a wrestling game isn't one of them. The only thing is the bar that shows the player how close they are to getting a signature move.

• I started Road To Wrestlemania which actually seemed pretty interesting and kind of out there which was quite fun but the gameplay not being good made it so that I didn't want to put time into this mode to see it through a lot further than a few matches.

• Create a superstar is good and something that is pretty neat that I don't think was a thing in 2007 & 2008 is a lack of restrictions when it comes to customising wrestlers, in that anything present in this mode can be used by either Superstars or Divas.

• Difficulty seems fine but due to the gameplay, the game felt like a slog no matter what difficulty it was on.

• Character select screen is exactly what I think this series should have, having all the pictures at once and not having to cycle through them one by one.

Its a fine game I think, but compared to some of the other WWE games there's just no reason for me to come back to it, the one thing would have been the story mode but I could just watch the cutscenes on YouTube and probably have a better time. I don't really see me picking this up again.

For personal reference more than anything else.

Played this for a bit because I was in the mood and also to write this. Have played since 2017 consistently for about 3 years before taking a break and only properly coming back towards the end of last year.

My relationship with this game has varied over the years, after getting Sims 4, it became my main Sims game and I could very easily consider it my favourite of the franchise, but due to a bit too much time with parts of the fanbase of this franchise, I found myself questioning this. I took a couple of years away from these games (only playing every once in a while and not for too long) and after coming back I'm kind of where I started again. To my knowledge this is my favourite Sims game and one of my favourite games of all time, I am aware of a lot of the issues this game has but I had it in my head that there were far more problems because thats what other people were saying and I just don't think I agree with this.

To start off with the music is pretty nice, I think I prefer it over Sims 3 which surprises me a fair bit but I don't think I quite like it as much as the music from Sims 1 or Sims 2. During CAS a lot of the music feels kind of spooky or Halloween themed which is very strange but I really like it.

This game also has my favourite artstyle in the franchise as it just looks so nice and colourful, but I also just think that it looks really good and I don't really think it'll age poorly either.

Create-A-Sim is at its best here for me due to a lot of different things, the amount of customisation has increased again but this time you can make certain body parts bigger and smaller by holding the left mouse button and moving it in a certain direction to adjust something the way you want it. This is such a simple way of doing things but it works so well.

There's also less restrictions on some things, as now a sim can basically wear anything, at any time regardless of gender. Not everything looks great and while I can, I don't exactly put my sim in swimwear for a formal event or whatever, but the fact you can do things like this is really handy at times and just a great addition. Another new addition is that you can now add specific aspects to sims, like who they're attracted to, whether or not they can give birth, more options for different gender identities (even if it is kind of stuck with the whole male/female jumping point to start off from) and what things they like and dislike (e.g, sports, activities, types of music). I really like this as it makes each sim feel more unique in a way that doesn't feel quite as restrictive as the turn ons and turn offs from Sims 2. The likes and dislikes can be either chosen from CAS or obtained whilst playing the game, its not the most organic feeling thing in the world and a sims who you've planned to be a singer could realise they dislike singing, but thankfully you've got the option to reject a like or dislike when it comes up.

But going back to CAS, the clothing and hairstyles collection in this game is probably my favourite in any video game. Due to me believing I needed every expansion pack and game pack for a while (which thankfully dissipated during a break from the franchise after the University pack) it means that I've amassed a wide selection and it all looks so nice, there's so much variety due to the different types of clothing from each pack. One of the main ways I can justify having gotten a pack that nowadays I wouldn't have picked up due to lack of interest is that I tend to use a lot of the CAS items from it. Admittedly some of the older hairstyles look a little rough but they've managed to make better ones as more time has passed.

Create-A-Style from The Sims 3 is gone and while I didn't really use it all that much, it was still nice to have and I'm a little surprised its not in this game. There seems to have been an attempt to add different versions of clothes to make up for it and I do quite like the variants for a lot of the clothes, but in some cases an outfit will look nice but there isn't any version of it I like. I will say though, if Create-A-Style is gone because that was the reason why Sims 3 CAS ran like shit and took so long, then I am very much ok with it not being in this game.

Another thing that I think was done better by Sims 3 are traits, they're back again (thank fuck) but there's only three slots rather than 5 which I'm not overly upset about but it is quite limiting and I do wish that it was still 5 or at the very least the amount of slots was up to the player or something. My real issue though is the amount of traits themselves, when I was playing I had all the packs I own installed which was, every expansion up to and including Discover University, every game pack up to and including Realm of Magic, around 5 stuff packs and 2-3 kits (I only bought like two stuff packs and the rest is just whatever they gave away for free) and while I don't know for certain, it very much seemed like there were a lot less traits than the selection in Sims 3's base game going off of when I played it recently. This is honestly embarrassing to me and not even remotely enough, even if they had to reuse traits from Sims 3 I wouldn't care, I find myself constantly reusing the same ones and its just annoying. The worst thing is that in Sims 3 I like to try and have some variety in what I choose, two positive traits, two negative traits and one thats skill based (or at least something like that). In Sims 4 I just don't feel like I can do that as much and unless I make a bunch of sims at once and can have a wider variety in what I choose, it just makes a few of the traits feel like they would be a waste of a slot.

Build/Buy mode is mostly the same but just improved upon again, the amount of items to use is great and some things are a really big help (computer desk that only takes up one square is the most notable for me). Being able to drag a wall to extend it is a great addition. Having a search function is so good. Auto-roofing is not a thing (from what I can tell) when I'm pretty sure it was in one of the older games and I sort of wish it was, I suck at making roofs in these games and if I have the option to not do it then I'll take it.

The game is mostly the same Sims gameplay loop but there's a few new things, multitasking is something that feels so more natural, now that a sim can be at a computer, listening to music and every so often just having a quick conversation with another sim. Emotions are easily manipulated and can create some annoyance with the likes and dislikes system (a painter sim can be bored after having watched a crap film and then if they do some art in this state they may decide they don't like painting anymore which is sort of irritating, but as said earlier it can be rejected) but otherwise I do kind of like them.

As time has gone on more systems and the like have been changed or added to the game, Likes & Dislikes got added, Whims became Wants & Fears and story progression got added. While its nice they've tried to add this stuff, half of it doesn't work and if it couldn't be ignored or turned off in the settings it would be far more of a pain. But, in all honesty I preferred it when the game didn't have this stuff as the game seemed to work better and it really only feels like it got added because of complaints from people who never would have been satisfied in the first place, it just feels like a waste.

Speaking of systems from this game, a few got added by various packs and this game is probably my favourite for the packs as there are quite a few that I love and feel like they really add something substantial to the game. There's the usual mainstays, like Seasons which is my favourite version due to the inclusion of holidays and the calender. Being able to celebrate multiple different holidays (some real, some not) is quite fun and feels like a natural progression of the festivals in Sims 3 where it feels like it adds to the experiences Sims can have in their lives (celebrating with family and friends, on their own, in a new or familar home). But also being able to edit them and make your own is great and is one of the few examples of this game really letting the player have their own way with customisation.

I have similar sentiments for the festivals in City Living, as while there aren't that many and they're probably not the best thing to do over and over again. They still provide fun experiences like finding stuff at the flea market, getting into a friendly competition at the humour n hijinks festival and finding love at the romance festival. But the real highlight from this pack for me is the city, I think San Myshuno is easily one of if not my favourite worlds in this franchise. I'm already a big fan of the cities in these games but this just feels great, the lot traits of the apartments, the karaoke bar and of course the festivals. One more thing I really like from this pack is the ability for sims to work from home for certain jobs, while being an author, artist or musician have always been viable options as jobs in the franchise, I think Sims 4 really does try and make a few more options in having different types of careers that feel and play differently. Even outside of this pack there's the freelancer career, registering with the Ministry of Labor to make certain careers feel more professional and Get To Work.

I came a couple of years late to Sims 4 and even with that Get To Work was the first pack I got for the game and I'm really happy it was. I think being able to go to work with your sims was a common fantasy for a lot of sims players including myself and I think this pack does it as well as it could. Sims 3 did have this with Ambitions but it just got old so quickly and the professions could just get so repetitive. In this pack there's a neat sense of progression meaning you're doing different things as you rank up in the careers and going from, say, cleaning up mess in the hospital and giving the patients their food to actually diagnosing patients and being able to cure whatever ails them is a great way of doing it. The three careers feel different enough from each other so it makes any of them feel unique and more fun. I do slightly wish that there were more active careers though. Running a shop is good fun as well and can feel pretty hectic at times.

Get Famous is easily my favourite celebrity style pack as the acting career is a nice return to the active careers and while it could get kind of repetitive and not work at times it was still pretty good. Fame and reputation are two very neat additions that really add to the mark your sim may leave in the world, also I really like all the different ways a sim can get famous as they all make sense on some level and it helps not make becoming a celebrity get too tedious or boring. The content creator career path is also something that I quite enjoy although there's not much to it I think.

The last expansion pack that I have very positive feelings towards is Get Together which I don't think resembles any of the other packs in the older games and that's part of why I like it so much. Over the years I repeatedly saw people asking for redos of basically everything from the older games and while that's fine and all and it lead to some good shit, I do kind of prefer when the game goes out on a limb and tries something different. Its not even a completely out there conept like Into The Future was but it still felt new. The club system is one of the best things to come to the franchise as it just fits in so well with these games, having your sims be able to join clubs and just hang out with like-minded people is already really nice but the level of customisation really makes it feel like it could be used for so much more. You could make a proffesional club, something a bit more light-hearted like a kids club, a cult, a small group that has a rivalry with another group and even making a bunch of people clean and fix your shit for free under the guise of it being a 'club gathering' is what makes this system work so well in my opinion. This is then made even better by Windenburg being a great world and the CAS being one of the best (for me at least) outside of maybe Discover University, Seasons and Cats & Dogs. This is probably my favourite expansion pack from this game and maybe even in the series in all honesty, I just really love it.

This isn't to say I dislike the rest of the expansion packs, I actually really like Discover University and think that it manages to offer a fun and different gameplay experience from not only the standard gameplay loop but also Sims 3's one from University Life. The only thing is that I just think UL is a better pack. Cats & Dogs is fine, I somewhat like the vet career and the animals are pretty cute, its just not often that I enjoy playing with pets in these games. The only expansion pack I kind of regret getting is Island Living as I just don't use it, I do want to properly play with it at some stage as the world seems like it would be pretty different but I never get round to it. Odd jobs and the CAS are good though so that's at least something.

A new type of pack for this entry are the game packs and I think these are for the most part pretty decent. The best ones I think are easily the Vampires and Realm of Magic pack because they put more effort into these supernaturals as they weren't just an add-on to a bigger expansion pack or all squeezed in together in to a single expansion pack and I think this was a good experiment that in my opinion worked out pretty well. Playing with vampires and spellcasters is enjoyable as there's quite a bit to do with them and it makes them actually fun and a nice change of pace from playing with regular sims.

I also quite like Dine Out (despite its issues) and Parenthood as the Character Values system is a really good addition to me as I don't normally like playing with child sims but this make it genuinely interesting. Outdoor Retreat, Jungle Adventure & Strangerville are fine and are somewhat interesting but I've only played with each like once and while I had a good time I haven't really gone back to any of them. Spa Day is really only saved by a couple of the items and the CAS, this is probably the purchase I regret most but at least I can use it as an example to myself to not get other packs I don't give a shit about (not that I think I would anymore anyway).

Stuff packs I don't really bother with but the two I bought (Cool Kitchen Stuff and Movie Hangout stuff) I really don't regret as I use items from both of those all the time. Kits are also new to this game and if one is free, I'll pick it up and that's it. There's probably a conversation to be had about it but considering The Sims Store in Sims 3 and the fact that EA seems to have been a money-hungry company for a while now and they only seem to be getting worse as time goes on, it just seems kind of pointless. I will say though I do feel somewhat ambivalent towards kits as I've seen good arguements for and against them but eh.

Something that is kind of questionable though is the state this game is in, it usually has some kind of annoying glitch. Simulation lag is a pretty annoying one that's quite common (although I haven't suffered it much for this playthrough), sims being more likely to cheat on each other (I just didn't go for a romance because of this, but I had this at one stage with a sim who had the loyal trait and I kind of hate this glitch) and sometimes theres a slowdown of sorts that needs to be fixed by pausing and un-pausing the game (didn't get this one either this time). It feels like it has gotten worse over the years but its not often or bad enough for me to be too affected (it happens every once in a while or so) and its not as broken for me as Sims 3 is.

Another thing to talk about after having talked about the packs is how much money needs to go into this game for it to get fun. The base game has gone free in the last couple of years which I think is a good idea (even though I think the base game itself is fine) but it was originally a full priced game and then its charging quite a bit for all of the packs. So before my break, I did get a fair few of the packs and after looking a couple of months ago, I've found out just exactly how much money has gone into this game and I don't exactly mind. I love this game and so I've played it a lot and I have basically gained something from every pack even if I no longer think it was worth it, so for me overall the amount gone in has been easily worth it. It also helps that I only ever bought like one or two game packs full price and literally everything else I got was on sale for usually half price, I don't really think the expansion packs are worth £34.99 each but £17.49 is definitely acceptable to me. So taking all of this into account, I think the game is fun anyway but the things brought in by the packs are so good that I don't really mind it for the most part. I think the packs have been the best they've ever been and if its less than half a new game (or from what I've seen about less than two thirds nowadays) (also remembering that I think of these packs at their sale price and they go on sale every five minutes, but I do think the game should have a permanent price cut where everything goes to the usual sale price) and also gives me a ton more playtime with the game, not mentioning the fact that I can just research online whether I want a pack or not, I do think its fine and what the DLC should be doing anyway.

To sort of finish a bit more positively there are once again improvements and general QOL changes from the last game, not quite as many as the jump from Sims 2 to Sims 3 but still. Choosing a career straight from the phone and having all of them available is very nice, also not being restricted to a single world in a save file and being able to go to any of them is an incredibly good addition. It has become really easy to check what age an NPC is and what their traits are after you learn them, there's now two relationship bars again but rather than a lifetime relationship bar and a daily one, its now a much more simple friendship bar and romance bar. Many little conveniences have been added as well like, locking your computer so no one else can use it and choosing which sinks are for washing hands and which are for washing dishes.

But something that I consider an improvement is the difficulty of the game as its now the easiest one, There feels like there's more free time to do stuff without needing to tend to your needs and less surprises happen in the game, it has basically become really good as I've always liked having a fair bit of control over what happens in the game and don't really like it when things go to plan. So even though I think we should get to a point in the series where things like needs decaying, random events and how easy it is to get/lose money or whatever have settings which can be adjusted so that players can make the game the want they want it. I'm just happy that there is an entry in the franchise that caters to my preferred play style.

This game is far from perfect and I really do think that the issues it has should be fixed before EA moves onto the next entry, but it'll probably just get abandoned in a less than desired state. Still though for now my problems with it aren't too big and this game has brought me so many great times and has just been a constant source of fun for me when I play it. I love this game and feel more than comfortable calling it one of my favourites of all time.

For personal reference more than anything else.

Played for over a couple of days because I was in the mood for it and also I wanted to write this. Have played this a lot over the last 10 years and it was my first PC Sims game. Will be like what I wrote for This Sims 2 and will look at how this game feels while taking the rest of the franchise into account rather than trying to look at it on its own or for when it came out.

To start off with, I really like this game and due to it not only being an important milestone in my history of The Sims but also my main Sims game for a fair few years, I'm a bit more positive towards it compared to a few of the other games in the series. With that said though I'm still going to note what issues I have with it.

But first is Create-A-Sim and its a massive improvement over the previous games, there are so many options when it comes to customising your sims, you can make a supernatural sim straight from CAS and there's been an overhaul of the personality system. The points are gone and now there's traits, I really like the traits and I think its the best way of giving sims distinct personalities. While I was playing I saw sims dumpster diving, wanting to tell my sim their plot to take over the world and when speaking to a couple I would learn one of their traits which made me re-evaluate how I was interacting with them (a sim I was considering as the romantic partner for my sim turned out to be unflirty so I decided to scrap my plan and go for someone else). There are a lot of traits to choose from (I was playing base game only and was surprised by just how many there were) and having 5 slots makes it so the sims feel more multifaceted in their personality, even with all the years I've played I still haven't used them all and there are some that I could easily see bringing a new way of playing (like a challenge of sorts). The aspirations have now been replaced by lifetime wishes that also have a fair amount to choose from and I'm also a fan of.

I quite like how the sims look in this game (although I do think that I prefer how they look in other games) and I don't really have the issue of creating sims that look alike, because altering specific parts of them feels like it works quite well and is quite simple. The hair and outfits are generally good and there's a good amount that I really like but due to the time the game/expansions came out, some things are very much a product of their time and in all honesty just look really bad to me but there's enough choice so that I don't have to feel like I choose a hair or outfit I don't like.

Unfortunately though CAS and the game as a whole can have a pretty big problem and that's how it runs. While I don't use a gaming PC or laptop and never have done, the laptops I have had over the years (including my current one) are at the recommended specs of the game (at least going off of what it says on the EA App thing) and yet the game can run pretty terribly if I try to use more than 2 or so packs. If I have more than this then the game will run very slowly and start crashing after about an hour and a half of playtime in a save and CAS will take ages to load all of the clothing options, making choosing outfits in this game feel very annoying and not worth doing just to save me the hassle. I really don't like this as creating a sim is one of my favourite parts of these games. I wouldn't have too much of an issue if it wasn't for the fact that I know this is an incredibly common problem for this game and also that Sims 4 (where I'm pretty sure I've got more packs than I do with this one) doesn't have this issue for me, yet came out 5 years after this game. As it stands though, this is my biggest problem with this game and the reason that I struggle to come back to it.

However, one aspect of this game that is probably the reason why it can run so badly but is also one of if not the main reason I come back to it is the open world. I don't always get a chance to fully explore the worlds in this game but the fact its there and that it really brings something to the standard Sims gameplay makes it one of my favourite things that the series has done. Being able to just go anywhere at anytime is great and even though a lot of the locations are rabbit holes that doesn't really matter to me as the areas that aren't, like the park, beach and graveyard are fun to go to and do whatever in, but also it still makes the world feel real and I just love it. This game being the only Sims game to implement this (aside from the Wii port of this game from what I've seen) really helps the game stand out and gives me a reason to come back to this game as often as I do.

Something else this game brings to the table is an unbelievable amount of what I consider to be improvements, most of the things I had an issue with in Sims 2 are gone. You can have more than one save file, lifespans are not only changeable but are so good that you get a really specific lifespan with each life stage being the length you want it to be. There's a map so its now incredibly easy to get to anywhere you want, you don't need to go out of your way to get groceries or a mobile phone, you actually learn things about other sims and can find out what their personality is like and whether or not they're single. Playing through this game not long after Sims 2 and also re-reading what I wrote for that game really opened my eyes as to how much changed and I am so grateful as it makes the game less annoying and quite fun to play.

As for the DLC for the game, its quite good and it feels like when it comes to this game's take on the series mainstays it manages to get it the most right I think in a couple of cases. University Life is at its best purely because of the open world, that is exactly what a pack like that needs, it also has a gameplay loop that feels different from the core Sims gameplay. Pets is also at its best here as you can actually play as the pets themselves which offers its own type of gameplay that is pretty fun.

Seasons is good as the festivals are nice to do and can just feel like a special moment as its fun to take part in the activities and can be great for something like a family day out or a date. Late Night gets a special pass from me as it was the first expansion pack I got, but in all fairness I do enjoy the city-based packs as I really like living in the apartments. Ambitions is decent enough as while I'm kind of lukewarm on the professions in this pack, I've always loved the inventing mechanic (mainly for when you get the ability to detonate objects as I get great enjoyment from going into other Sims' homes and blowing up their toilet or whatever).

Supernatural is the second pack I got and I really liked it when I was younger and was even really looking forward to it before I got the game which was why I asked for it. But having played the supernatural type sims in 4 have kind of made me look at them in this game and notice how little there is to do with them and how they get kind of boring a bit too quickly. Generations is neat I guess but I don't really use much from it outside of CAS items (probably because I don't play with families all that often). Showtime is sort of interesting but the showbusiness theme doesn't interest me much here (I greatly prefer Get Famous from 4 when it comes to the celebrity stuff in this series) and while I enjoy a city pack for each game I don't exactly feel like I need more than one for each game. World Adventures seems good but almost never gets used by me. Into the Future is admittedly quite a cool concept and I enjoy when an entry in this series will try something different but I don't really think it actually works all that well as a Sims experience and I severely dislike the CAS items from this pack so much and the teleporter appearing two seconds after you start a new game every time (same can be said for recruitment Llama from University).

So while most of the packs offer at least something for me, something to note is that I'm pretty sure that this game has the most things in it. Every pack feels like it brings a high amount of stuff and that is another thing that gives Sims 3 its identity, but in all honesty its something I have mixed feelings on. I like the idea of there being a lot of stuff to do in the game but I feel like if I ever try to engage with it, I don't spend too long before I'm done with it. Supernatural has multiple types of supernatural sims but they just don't feel like they offer much gameplay outside of a five to ten minute play around and then moving on to something else, the professions in Ambitions each feel different from each other and are fun to use like once but then they just get repetitive and then there's just the packs that feel like they do so many little things like Generations but realistically get used once or twice by me before I forget about them and never really feel the need to use them again. There are some things that certainly stick for me though and I use them a fair amount.

The thing is though when the game is itself recommending to not play with too many packs and one of the biggest things about this game is how much there is to do (at least that's the way I see it), it becomes all too apparent just how little time I spend with the various stuff the expansions bring. But saying this, playing with nothing but the base game can still lead to a great time and the game doesn't need all that other stuff to make it interesting as it does the Sims experience really well by itself, I came out of playing base game only still really liking it and that shows what a good game this is at its core.

A couple of scattered thoughts:

• The music is good but I don't quite think its as strong as Sims 2's music.

• Building houses in this game is great and I have no real issues with it.

I think this is a great game and because of when I played it and my relationship to it, its really special to me. I don't exactly come back to it all the time and I do have some issues with it but the good absolutely outweighs the bad here and its more than likely one of my favourite Sims games.

For personal reference more than anything else.

No idea what number playthrough this is but I have played it a lot since I was a kid (not always finishing it or doing all of the levels though). Played through every level. Played with PS1 copy on the PS3.

This is one of those games that gets quite a hefty pass from me purely because I played it so much growing up. I mean, the controls are just awkward, the camera is awful and I really don't think that I could call any level in this game 'good'. The thing is though, its an incredibly charming game that feels like it had quite a bit of effort put into it or did things that weren't necessary but kind of cool. The pyramid in the golf level, the fact that there's a level which is just the Pickle's house but upside down with you on the ceiling and even just the fact that you can explore the Pickle's house in the hub world. While it repeats some level types (collect so many of one thing, get the babies to eat/drink whatever and pass whatever it is around so Angelica can't get to it) it really does try and have a variety, I don't think much if any work particularly well but its still impressive and worth admiring in my opinion.

Most levels are about the same level of quality but there are a couple that are noticeably worse, Circus Angelicus is just so awkward and if you fail at the last section (sometimes) you have to redo the entire level again, Mirrorland as cool as it is, is where the game gets the most tedious as by the end you've collected over 100 balloons, The Mysterious Mr Friend and the last part of Incident of Aisle 7 makes you use this game's crap combat system that just feels so bad. But the absolute worst one is 7 Voyages of Cynthia because Spike controls terribly, he's too big to not fall into the water half of the time and his jump is dreadful, yet the game expects you to do this platforming and avoid the water as it slowly drains his health (all this in a maze-like area where you have to figure out where to go), when I played it I just usually ended up in the water and bypassed the platforming sections as it was less annoying and the level is quite generous with the healing items.

I think my favourite levels were probably the outer space and shadow monster ones as they have a different combat system from the aforementioned levels which is a lot easier to do and just feels better (also that the outer space one is just really cool to me as its so different from everything else in the game and the shadow monster one is amusing to me as it genuinely scared me a lot when I was younger). Chuckie's Glasses is admittedly the level where the camera is at its worst but its the level I always think of when I think of this game, I just really like it. Also levels like Egg Hunt and Gold Rush as while Mirrorland is one of my least favourites despite being the same level type its only negative to me because of how long it is, Egg Hunt and Gold Rush are a much better length and are quite fun as I do like the concept.

Now even with all the problems I had, I was still having a really good time. Its one of the earliest games I played I think and its one I really enjoy coming back to every once in a while, there's just something about it. So even though its probably due to a very heavy bias, I really did enjoy coming back to this game and I know for a fact that I'll still continue to come back to it.

For personal reference more than anything else.

Played it for a little bit to compare with 2007 and to also write this. Have played it before a fair few years ago but not enough for me to really remember playing that much, came back to it a little in the last year.

I went in to this one today not really expecting much, when I've played it recently I didn't think much of it and its the next game after 2007 so I figured at best there'd be a couple of improvements with the only real noticeable change being the graphics as its going from a PS2 game to a PS3 one. I was wrong though as this really seemed to improve a lot from the last game and multiple issues I had with 2007 were now either gone or changed for the better.

Difficulty is the main thing as the game is easier now, the reversal system seems the same but it just felt like I was able to actually reverse moves more often here which stopped fights being incredibly one-sided. Tap any button repeatedly sections are still here, but from what I could tell it was only when my character was on the ground and the time spent on the ground before being able to get up felt a lot shorter compared to the last game, gradually as the match goes on and my character took more damage they would be on the ground for longer but that's how it should be I think. So basically, button mashing isn't necessary for long. This does mean that the submission minigame has changed and I don't think I particularly like it, its just move the right stick until you either can't or shouldn't any more and its just kind of weird and dull.

The difficulty options themselves are mostly better now as normal and hard are fun to play, although they are a bit too easy I think now. Easy is kind of boring but funny at the same time as most of the time the opponent will just look at you and not do anything which makes it feel more like a practice mode perhaps. Legend is actually what I was looking for though as it doesn't feel too easy but its not too difficult either, it feels like a good balance and led to matches I could get really invested in and enjoy playing, there was an initial problem with the opponent being able to reverse basically everything all the time but thankfully this can be adjusted in the options and after that it finally felt right.

Some scattered thoughts:

• Customisation was better in this game as there were more moves to choose from but still the same amount of slots in create a moveset. Create a superstar was also better as while it was mostly the same, it just felt like there were more options and due to the graphical upgrade the characters you can make just look a lot better than the ones in 2007.

• Saving was no longer annoying as shit as the game could auto-save, so even though the game saved just as much as 2007 did, it wasn't constantly asking if I wanted to save or not.

• There are some things where my opinion just hasn't changed, I still don't really care about the career mode and I like the roster although how character selection works leaves much to be desired.

• The soundtrack though is another story as the music seems to be the same kind that was in 2007 but because I haven't really spent time with it I have no interest in it at all.

• There was this strange sense of slowness and awkwardness when it came to movement but I was just able to roll with it and quickly got used to it.

When I first realised that this game was a lot better than 2007, I was admittedly kind of pissed off because it felt wrong to have a higher opinion on this game that I have no real attachment to, instead of 2007 where I have a much stronger attachment. Its kind of a stupid feeling I think but it does come from a place of genuine surprise due to how much of an improvement was made between games, it is wild to me just how much more enjoyable this game is. I may not have particularly strong emotions regarding this game but I really like it and its a perfectly acceptable choice for when I want to play a wrestling game.