Another year brings with it the latest incarnation in the ever over-popular and overrated Sims franchise although in this case it's last years game on this years console. Originally released in the autumnal months of 2006; The Sims 2 : Pets offered everything that the previous incarnations contained along with the addition of the ability to create pets for your Sims, now it's the Wii's turn and with the Wii remote in one hand and the Nunchuk in the other, it's time to play god once again.

First and foremost this is a port of the existing Gamecube version as such there is no additional content or noticeable enhancements; what you do get however is a solid and slightly more engaging experience thanks to decent gesture based recognition that does what it's supposed to. Getting the obvious out of the way, you start the game by creating your virtual town and the Sims who will live in it; once this is done they undertake their own virtual lives just as in previous incarnations only this time with the addition of artificial animals.

You get three basic pets to choose from; cat, dog and hamster, from these choices you then select your specific breed and then leave it to one of your Sims to take care of. Your Sim can then enter their pet in competitions or take them to the park where they can interact with other owners; thats essentially it for the animal part as the rest of the game is exactly like every other game in the series released before it.

Building a town, creating inhabitants, customising various aspects and then watching / interacting with your virtual domain; you will most likely know if this type of game appeals to you or not, as this franchise has been going for around a decade now. Is it worth buying if you have already played it on Gamecube? No, it's the same game and while the Wii remote recognition is implemented solidly there are no additional reasons to warrant a second purchase.

Unchanged graphically and audibly with the only "refinement" coming in the obligatory form of 16:9 aspect ratio and 480p resolution, hardly groundbreaking. If you have never played a Sims game before then this version is worth buying over the Gamecube iteration as the Wii control scheme is certainly more intuitive but ultimately it's another port with "waggle" and if your waiting for something new then you may wish to hold out for EA's "My Sims" a Wii exclusive take on the established formula which is set to add new life into this solid but tired franchise.