Up and upper

What happened in 2004? Firstly, I was 12, and secondly, The Sims 2, was released. I'm sure a lot of other things must have been going on, but I didn't really care. I loved the life simulation game and spent days playing it in our basement gaming room. And the game loved me too, otherwise I can't explain why the developers immortalized me on the cover pully me by the ars.

Joking aside: The Sims 2 was great and epitomized a successful successor in the video game decade, in which more and more games ventured into 3D optics. Well, the first Sims was somewhat three-dimensional with its isometric perspective and the four predefined viewing angles, but it wasn't until the second installment that we were able to experience the world of our Sims up close. Although this led to various amusing clipping errors and unsuccessful attempts to find out what was really going on under the comforter during this ‘hanky-panky’, beyond these infantile moments of the joy of adolescence, Sims 2 was simply a very well-made game.

Games from the The Sims-series

The Sims (2000)

The Sims 2 (2004)

Instead of just going about their daily lives, our Sims suddenly had wishes and goals in life, the fulfillment of which awarded us points. The world was semi-open and our neighbors' houses were no longer just a backdrop. There was a family tree, a complex character editor and more, more, more of everything. The Sims 2 was the better The Sims and the perfect template for a proper sequel. Of course, this didn't stop publisher EA from consistently releasing the subsequent games without the content of their predecessors in order to maximize profits. Sure, everyone wants to buy the pet expansion multiple times... I digress.

As clear as the verdict is on the actual game, I have to take a differentiated view of the soundtrack. Because it's not a case of ‘bigger, better, more beautiful’, but ‘different’. If only because instead of Jerry Martin, Mark Mothersbaugh, a veteran of the big screen, is now responsible for the score. Although the American has written various video game scores over the years, such as the one for the first Jack and Daxter, the early Crash Bandicootgames and the latest Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021) 2, he is primarily known for his music for the Hotel Transylvania-films, Thor: Judgment Day (2017) and most recently A Minecraft Movie (2025).

My chosen collection of his work is deliberately suggestive, as Mothersbaugh demonstrates a penchant for funny or child-friendly themes in these films. Of course, the man has also composed various more adult albums, but he knows how to write ‘ cute’ music. And that's the music of The Sims 2: it's cute. Friendly. It smiles in your face and hugs you, beaming with joy. Whereas in Martin's work for the first Sims the doubts and moments of pause went hand in hand with the mood of departure and relocation, this score is pure bliss.

What sounds one-dimensional and boring on paper, meanwhile, turns out to be a thoroughly successful coat of paint for the sequel, which, with its cartoony look, comically large eyes and exaggerated animations, saunters more in the direction of light-hearted merriment anyway. Where the first Sims is a serious magazine with pointed jokes, Sims 2 is a Donald Duck pocket book. There are exciting stories in both, only the medium is different. And Mothersbaugh's style fits in perfectly.

The ten tracks of the original soundtrack are excellent across the board and almost all get the top rating due to my nostalgia glasses. The way the eternally loading launcher immediately comes to mind when I play Neighborhood is an experience in itself. But it's not just the memories that make this score special: It's experimental, childish, but not over-the-top. Despite its already small size, it is often repetitive but never annoying.

Makeover combines strings and bongos before falling into a low-quality radioesque break, swelling and rising. This is as unusual as it is refreshing. Busy Sim (as its name suggests) feels busy, the steady beat driving us forward without rushing us. And Simsation mixes shopping center buzz with suburban hustle and bustle.

This variety, the richness of facets, is something that sets Mothersbaugh's composition apart from thematically related works such as Jukio Kallio's and Daniel Hagström's work for Fall Guys . Both are consistently positive, both have that childlike, driving spirit. But where Fall Guys seems samey and repetitive, Sims 2 is versatile. Admittedly, the comparison is probably unfair, as these are two fundamentally different genres: one is the tough fight for survival, an action-packed sifting until only the best is left alive; and the other is Fall Guys. Nevertheless, I can't help but speak of different qualities.

The real highlight for me, however, is the penultimate track on the album: Sim Builder. I don't know why, but I'm almost moved to tears by the simplicity of the guitar (or is it a ukulele?), which incessantly brings rhythm to the action over the steady beat, like a hammer driving a nail into the wall. Maybe it's the thought of a carefree childhood, maybe it's just very well-made video game music. It will be one of the two.

That's when the OST ends, but not the Extended Edition and of course not the inevitable flood of add-ons, which I'll get to in due course. You can find all the information on the fan wiki. Just a few words about the additional files: these are the tracks that play on the radio and TV within the game and are ‘simlished’ versions of well-known genre tropes such as hip-hop, metal or R&B. So in Somethin‘ Real (French Press) we hear classic boy band pop, while Dance the Dawn takes us to Cuba. One thing that excited me then and now was the inclusion of DJ Funktronic, a variation of Sphere by The Humble Brothers. This appeared in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 , also published by EA, and gave the racing game activities in Sims 2 even more credibility.

Although these songs are no longer by Mothersbaugh, they are still consistently well done and fun if you can overlook the nonsensical gibberish in the lyrics. As this can also be said in part about the original songs in real life, this comment is perhaps superfluous. Back to the OST, this album almost gets the top rating from me, but due to the (in my eyes) equally strong predecessor, I can't give it a 5/5. Nevertheless, I give it an unreserved recommendation.