Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 28
  2. Negative: 0 out of 28
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  1. Weekly Famitsu
    68
    7 / 6 / 7 / 7 - 27 [Vol 788; 23 Jan 2004]
  2. Be it from talking to characters to fulfilling the needs, however without the ability to make money and build larger houses, and the distinctive lack of a variety of furniture this open-ended gameplay quickly wears thin, even making the whole thing less open-ended in practice than in theory.
  3. But the game just isn’t The Sims. You can’t just do whatever you want and the mission driven game is just a little too simplistic to be overly fun.
  4. Electronic Gaming Monthly
    70
    It's sometimes difficult to track down the Sim you need in order to advance a quest, and the dialogue is maddeningly repetitive, but otherwise, Bustin' Out is engaging, original, and just plain fun. [Jan 2004, p.164]
  5. The GameCube and GBA versions have possibly the most exciting exclusive option, with players able to download special mini-games to their GBA which will earn them Simoleons and other goodies to use in the Cube game.
  6. Not a bad game, for The Sims' first handheld outing. Despite its many little flaws, Bustin' Out is still a hard game to put down.

Awards & Rankings

24
19
#19 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
31
#31 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 25
  2. Negative: 3 out of 25
  1. Mar 1, 2023
    5
    The reviews are for a sims game. This is not a sims game. Please ignore everything here.
  2. Jul 9, 2018
    6
    So, with my "Game Renaissance" (so to speak), I've made it a point to replay games that I played as a kid and many of the ones I added to mySo, with my "Game Renaissance" (so to speak), I've made it a point to replay games that I played as a kid and many of the ones I added to my Backlog were games I'd never beaten. I think this is one of those games and to be honest, it was more difficult than I expected. Still, if the average playthrough length is 7.5 hours (on HLTB) and I finished it in 2.5, maybe it wasn't quite difficult enough? I know it's for kids and I played it on the Gameboy Advance so I might not be the target audience; I still had a good time! It was entertaining, funny, slightly challenging, and it felt fresh. As a side-scrolling platformer, it excels in simply entertainment value but it doesn't offer anything you haven't seen before (even if it is 15 years old). Full Review »
  3. Nichole
    Jul 13, 2005
    10
    I thought it was really fun. I hope they come out with another one.