Hey, Sim fans!  The folks at Maxis and Electronic Arts have been paying attention to all those suggestions you have made since The Sims was first released and the proof can be found in The Sims:  Vacation, the newest expansion to this ever-increasingly popular game series.  It should be noted right up front that you only need to have the original game installed to add this expansion pack.  Additionally, many of the items that were added in other expansion packs have now become available in this new expansion.

With The Sims:  Vacation expansion, you will find that the vacation of your dreams is just a phone call away!  Simply call a cab to go on vacation and for a mere $500 a shuttle will arrive to whisk you away to the boat waiting to take you to Vacation Island!  The view from the boat gives you a glimpse of all that awaits you on the island.

You can choose from a wintery snow resort...a forest retreat...or a beachside resort.  You'll also find a variety of accommodations at each type of resort, ranging in cost from the low end rustic settings to the high end luxurious settings.  Each of the nine resort areas on Vacation Island are fully customizable so you can make changes to all of them, if you like.  Just remember to make all your changes before you begin gameplay because you can't go back and make changes later.

Taking a look at the three snow resorts located along Old Volcano Way, we find Alpine Reserves, Penguin Acres Compound and Al Pine's Winter Wonderland.  The first, Alpine Reserves, has very few amenities and is basically undeveloped.  There are a couple of igloos for sleeping (adults can also choose to play here)...a common bathroom area for using the potty or showering...a barbecue and picnic tables...a campfire which offers group activities like roasting marshmallows, telling a story, and singing...a small fishing area...a couple of fortresses for snowball fights...a rental shed where you can rent fishing poles, picnic supplies, snowman kits, and metal detectors for hunting for treasure.

Penguin Acres Compound offers more a bit more in the way of amenities.  Here you can rent an igloo for sleeping and use the common area for showering and going potty.  Take care of all those hunger pangs with hamburgers you make on the new GluttoNibble XL BBQ or treats you can buy at the Snack Stand.  There is a Postcard Center so you can stay in touch with all your friends at home...the Slope Style Ski wear shop where you will find winter wear for both adults and children...The Au Natural Rental Shed which adds the bow and arrows rental at this site.  In addition to the archery ranges found at Penguin Acres are carnival booths like the Strength O Meter, Bust-A-Clown, Captain Popper's Dart Game and the Chicken Toss Game.  Be sure to visit the Carnival Prize Booth to see the great prizes you can get with all those prize tokens you earned playing carnival games.  Adults and kids alike will be clamoring around the Blaaanko Snow Pipe to get in on all the snowboarding fun.  Check out the two new video games, Sim Mars and ST2-Barky's Revenge, located in the game room!

The most luxurious of the three snow resorts is Al Pine's Winter Wonderland.  Here you will find a spectacular lodge featuring two sumptuous new buffets, the Chow Sum Phat Buffet, and both of the new fireplaces being offered in The Sims:  Vacation expansion.  Both the Amazin Blazin' Jumbo Fireplace and the Mantelpiece fireplace feature mantels where you can display your vacation momentos or other prized possessions.  Snuggle with your honey on the new Polar Bear Rug in front of the fire for a romantic moment you are sure to remember.  You'll find a video game room as well as a winter wear clothing shop which also features a gift center and postcard center.  Outdoor fun includes the all new Ice Ape Snow Slide plus the Blaaanko Snow Pipe and Snowball Fortress mentioned before.  Take care of all your rental needs at the rental shed.  Two new Redwood Hot Tubs are available here as well.

The three forest retreats are located along Lagoon Moon Road as it winds its way down the mountain.  These include Bear Essentials Lodge, Ranger's Ranch Compound and Wren's Fens National Park.  The most luxurious of the three is Bear Essentials Lodge which features log cabin accommodations complete with bath and buffet tables for the highest hunger pleasers.  This resort displays for the first time the new AquaFluvium Shower-Tub and the new Reflecto Wall Mirror.  Here you will also find the new Volleyball Court and the Water War Fortress, complete with a huge supply of water balloons.

With Ranger's Ranch Compound comes the first chance to sample sleeping in the new Sili-Camp Tent.  The accommodations at this resort are meant to help you commune with nature.  There is a common area that offers showers, dressing booths, a trash compactor and a dishwasher!  A separate common area supplies two porta-potties and two sinks.  Outdoor activities include fishing, water balloon fights, archery ranges, and searching for treasure with a metal detector.  Lots of money, souvenirs and other treasure can be found when you use the metal detectors or fish!

Wren's Fens National Park is basically undeveloped and offers the minimum of amenities.  A tent for sleeping, common area with porta-potties and one sink, rental shed, picnic table and barbecue are found here.

Moving to the sandy beachside resorts located along the lower end of Lagoon Moon Road, we find Reclaimed Public Beach, a mostly undeveloped area that compares equally with Wren's Fens National Park and Alpine Reserves.  These three areas are begging for your attention!

The mid-class beachside resort is known as Sunset Beach.  You can either sleep in a tent or out under the stars in one of the lounge chairs found scattered about this area.  There is an inside common area complete with showers, stall potties, sinks, trash compactor and dishwasher.  There is one buffet table or you can ease hunger pangs at the Snack Stand.  Activities here center around the volleyball court, the small pool which features a water slide, fishing, relaxing in one of the hot tubs or just lounging in the sun.

The Palazzo Palms Hotel is our final beachside resort and certainly offers the most luxurious accommodations of the three and perhaps of all nine resort areas.  The spacious rooms and baths have a more tropical atmosphere as does the outside decor.  There are two water slides as well as a diving board for the large pool.  Other outside activities include Volleyball and building sandcastles with kits found at the rental shed.  There is an outdoor bar area on the second floor where you will also find video games and a jukebox for dancing under the stars.  Along the boardwalk you will find all the new carnival games like Whack-A-Will, Captain Popper's Dart Game, Chicken Toss and Bust-A-Clown.  Here you will also find a Carnival Prize Booth where you can trade in all your tokens for souvenirs.  Everyone here is decked out in their beachwear finery and you can outfit the kids in new duds at the hotel gift shop where you will also find a Tourist Gift Center and a Postcard Center.

I have just named a few of the new items that come with The Sims:  Vacation expansion pack.  Some of the items cannot be used at home as they were designed solely for use on Vacation Island but many of the new items will appear in your item selection areas and can be purchased for your homes.  Among these new items are a number of different curio cabinets and shelving units where you can display your vacation souvenirs and other prized items.  There are also new walls and floors available with this expansion pack that will give you an almost unlimited number of wall and floor selections.

There are a number of new characters that come with this new expansion pack.  Be sure to take the time to speak with Kana, the Vacation Director.  She has answers to many of your questions about Vacation Island but she also keeps track of how you are enjoying your vacation.  When you participate in lots of the activities and keep your Sims' moods in the green, you are given points.  Enough points might just earn you a special trophy!  Finding fish and souvenirs and playing carnival games all contribute to your vacation score, too.

Each of the resort areas also feature special characters who are in costume and are there to help keep your children entertained.  Be sure your kids get to see Marky Sharky at the beachside resorts, Archie Archer at the forest resorts and Betty Yeti at the snow resorts.  Allowing your children to become bored can lead to them getting out of control.  Kana will warn you if your kids are acting up and will fine you so it is important that you keep them under control.  If you are not able to do this, Kana may even tell you that you will have to leave so keep those kids in line!

It's time for you to stop reading about The Sims:  Vacation and start playing!  Just remember that whether you want to get away for a romantic rendezvous...a family vacation...or a little time on your own, your dream vacation is just a phone call away!

NOTE:  Previous expansions have offered new neighborhoods for your Sims.  Each neighborhood has its own vacation area that you can develop and many new families, homes, downtown areas and vacation areas can be downloaded from The Sims Exchange on www.thesims.com  or other Sims fan sites.

The Sims:  Vacation is rated T for Teens.  Parents of younger teens should be aware that there are suggestive themes and items in this expansion...particularly the hot tubs, igloos and tents.

Minimum System Requirements include:   Windows 95/98/ME, Pentium 300 MHZ or AMD K6 processor, 64 MB RAM (128MB RAM required for Windows XP and if other expansion packs are installed already), 4X CD-ROM, 700MB Free Hard Disk Space plus additional space for saved games, High Color at 800x600 resolution, 2MB Video Card with DirectX 7.0 compatible driver, DirectX 7.0 compatible sound card, keyboard and mouse.

Install:  Easy install with installation wizard.

Gameplay:  9.5.  The engine that is used for The Sims series is phenomenal and very easy to use!  There is absolutely no limit to character development or replayability.  If you make a character that you come to dislike you can delete and make a new one.  There is no time limit, either.  It is conceivable that you could still be playing The Sims 10 or 20 years from now, although by then there will no doubt be numerous improvements and additions made for the series.

Graphics:  9.5.  The graphics of The Sims game series are spectacular and you can expect the same quality from The Sims:  Vacation.  It is the quality of the graphics which has helped make The Sims the top-selling PC game of 2000 and 2001.  This is as good as it gets, folks!  

Sound:  9.0.  Sim talk has always taken time to get used to but there are many different voices and a lot of work has gone into conveying what the Sim characters say in a very expressive way.  In The Sims:  Vacation, the background music in the buy and build modes seems to be a mixture of Island (Hawaiian) music with a Swiss Alps yodel!  What might have turned out to sound quite hokey is actually a lively mix that will have you trying to sing along in very short order.  (Those of you who hate it can always turn the sound down or off!)  As far as sound effects are concerned, I've never heard better!

Difficulty:  2.0.  Since this is an expansion product, users will already know the basics and there are no new control aspects to address.  New users to the series will find The Sims to be very easy to learn with a very low learning curve.

Concept:  9.0.  The popularity of The Sims game series is evident when you see that it has been the top-selling PC game for the past two years.  The enormous number of Sim fan sites on the web are another indicator of the game's popularity that cannot be ignored.  After all, where else can you develop your skills so that you work your way up the ladder of so many different professions and still find time to meet other people, fall in love and get married and then become a parent all on your computer screen?  The entire scope of this game is simply phenomenal!

Multiplayer:  N/A  at this time but keep your eye on the online version coming soon.

Overall:  9.5.  I know...I know...that is as near perfect as you can get but that is the way I see The Sims and the new expansion, The Sims:  Vacation!  I have all the expansions.  I play the game several times a week for an hour or two...or three!  As a consenting adult well above the age level determined proper for this game, I enjoy every aspect of the game.  I do not, however, find some of the game's offerings appropriate for young teens or younger children.  You can form your own opinion on that.  For me...The Sims is immensely enjoyable to play, there are no limits set on character development or playability time factors, and I love to build and furnish homes for my Sims to live and grow in!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

After thought!  In reading back over my review, I see many other things I could have mentioned but I had to draw the line somewhere!  This was only supposed to be a review...not a book!