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Best Pack Yet!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: March 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I think the Sims Makin' Magic is the best pack that Maxis has made. In the original game and the other packs, it was basically all the same. Wake up, eat, shower, go to work, eat, watch tv, call a friend, go to sleep with maybe a vacation or date in there or something. But, in MM, it's like a whole different world! Spells, potions, charms, dragons, and for the first time ever in The Sims, actual competitive games. The duels with the magic ingredient vendors are something totally different then any other element of the game. Also, unless you know the cheats (which every one does), in the original you have to play by the rules. In MM, the rules are bent and stretched which is very different. Another change is that Sims can actually live in another "town." If you earn enough MagiCoins, you can move into a Creepy Hollow lot which is right in Magic Town! It's really cool, you even get a different mailbox and trashcan and your road isn't paved! But, ok, back to all the changes in the game, there's still more! Yet another change is that there's different buy and build mode music for when you're in Magic Town or Creepy Hollow. I think that's because listening to the same creepy songs is really dull. There's more to discuss, but this could take all day. I like all the changes and hope you will too. I think the game has a whole new feeling and gave the original some spice. I totally recommend this pack to anyone who loves the original and the other packs but is ready for a change.

Beware, your sims are witches and wizards, AWESOME!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: September 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

this being the grand finale for the original sims, they made it grand! they gave you new powers, you can now control other sims lives completly, and not just the ones you create! you can cast love spells to make the process of love a little quicker, mind control sims to make them do as you please, transform gnomes and flamingos to come alive for an amount of time, and if someone annoys you, just turn them into a frog! you have all new items and and a new town. you can also do another spell that makes the game all worth it! if you have the sims 'Unleashed' you can transform your pet into a new sim to add to your family! it gives you new looks for your sims, and an all new currency! 'Magicoins' they let you buy spell items and new houses in Magictown that give you special powers and items you get in the regular game. this is by far the best expansion they have came out with!

They should make this for the Sims 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: December 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Sure, it will make #2 unrealistic, but it is a whole lot of fun! Imagine how great the graphics will be if this was a Sims 2 expansion pack! I could only imagine how many more spells and reactions there will be if this was made into a 2 expansion pack. But, being it is still in old school form, it is a pretty fun, pretty addictive game. I can't believe how much the price went down!

Get it while the getting's good. You won't regret it. It combines a sort of Harry Potter-type world, complete with roller coasters, mummies, a skeleton maid, and magic crystals.

woo!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

man, i feel like harry potter. i can turn people into toads and make garden gnomes come to life (which by the way, those little boogers are hilarious). some of the spells/charms are pretty lame and it took me forever to get all the ingrediants because my sims always have to pee and sleep. after only an hour out in magic town, they're already fainting in the middle of the road... so ya know, all the cars get ticked off because they can't drive past them. crazy sims. but really, this game is fun (unleashed is still my favorite.. i just love those dogs.) but buy this makin' magic business and have a ball! it really is a great time.

Gameplay as good as ever- though some of the spells....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: November 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

seem a bit useless. For example, there is a spell that gets rid of all your dirty dishes. Unless your sim is a pig and for whatever reason can't afford a maid, this charm is a waste of ingrediants.

But besides a few lame charms and spells, this expansion pack isarguably the best e.p. MM adds many new aspects to the already great sims series. First and foremost, your sims no longer have to eat beans and meatloaf for every meal! (Or whatever that stuff is...) Now sims can bake cakes, pies, breads and if you want to get daring, you can find the special ingrediants that will turn your sim into a donkey! You can now also press your own nectar and store it so that your sims may loosen up with friends in the future. Besides the food, there are a variety of spells and charms one may cast, but be sure that your sim has high logic and mechanical skills (at least higher then the person they indend to cast a spell on), otherwise the other sim will not yet the spell be cast on them. Believe me, this is not a good thing, because whether a spell works or not, the ingrediants you used can not be reembursed. Some ingrediants are not so easy to get, like the black rose. (the only way you can get it is from an obsessed fan, aka you need SuperStar to get it.) But dont worry. Some ingrediants that seem difficult to get a hold on are only an easy quest or simple barter away! Just talk to the neato venders at magic town.

Overall, this is an awesome game, and a great finish to the sims series. It comes with the Sims 2 preview CD, which is worth taking a look at. also consider looking at sims 2 fansites, because this game looks better then the orginal, if that is humanly possible. So buy this game, and make some magic!

A solid finish for The Sims

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Makin' Magic is the final expansion for The Sims, as The Sims 2 will be released in September. Although Makin' Magic is not my favorite expansion, it is a worthy end to the original Sims series.

As suggested by the title, Makin' Magic allows your Sims to become magicians by creating charms and charging spells. The spells and charms can be used for a variety of things, such as gaining friends, taking care of the house, and making money. If Sims cast enough magic, they can get magical growths at their home that will give them special abilities, or at least look pretty sitting on the lawn.

Magic Town, a new away-from-home area, supports the new aspects of the game. Your Sims can get ingredients, ride roller coasters, and mingle with the new magical Sims who live in Magic Town. Parts of Magic Town resemble a traditional carnival, while others are spookier. If your Sims accumulate enough MagiCoins, the currency of Magic Town, they can move in to one of three lots in Magic Town.

The charms and spells are created by adding ingredients into two different magical machines. The ingredients are gained in a variety of ways; some can be made at home, some can be bought in Magic Town, and some can be earned by doing quests for the magical vendors.

There is a good variety of magic that your Sims can perform, and magic isn't the only benefit to this game. It offers many ways of making money; your Sims can now mix nectars from elderberries and grapes, which sell for a good 500 Simoleans if your Sim has maxed their cooking skills. The nectar can also be put into a new bar and served for your Sims to drink. If nectar isn't your thing, your Sims can spin golden thread or make butter to sell.

Most of the game is excellent, but getting the ingredients and sparking the magical growths can be challenging. The quests that vendors send your Sims on are sometimes frustrating. A variety of hacks have been made available to the online Sims community that make magic a snap, but for those who do not wish to cheat, it's not so easy.

Some people have had qualms with the loss of realism that comes with Makin' Magic. The previous expansions, while sometimes slightly far-fetched, were mostly believable, but Makin' Magic changes that. I was skeptical about the game before buying it, and I feared that it might not live up to its predecessors. However, I was not disappointed; Makin' Magic is a worthy end to the Sims line and it will help to hold you over while you're waiting for The Sims 2.

And Finally the BEST EP for The Sims...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

At first I wasn't going to purchase the newest expansion pack to The Sims, Makin' Magic, since Maxis was (at the time) releasing The Sims 2 in March 2004. I thought that I could wait. But after reading many reviews and visiting The Sims website for screen shots, I changed my mind. Although I didn't go out and buy it, I got it as a Christmas present.

I thoroughly enjoying playing this EP over the others, before this one was released Unleashed was my favorite. Makin' Magic simply makes the other EPs better, albeit cheating especially if you make the charm to become famous or use a love spell on your unsuspecting date downtown(warning if you use your spells other then your Sim's property or Magic Town, the Spellchecker will fine you). Other features present in this EP that were not in other EPs, is that Sim children came become adults (The Sims 2 not only do they become adults but they actually go through adolescence) via the Age of Instant charm, although watch out if your Sim child doesn't have high enough grades becasue they will turn back into a baby! There are many other spells that can be cast in Makin' Magic ranging from banishing Sims from your lot or conjuring up a feast fit for a king, to having the skies rain piles of gold on your lot.

One of the features that I like best about The Sims Makin' Magic is that the Sims can finally cook something other then the Maxis mystery meal. They can bake! Anything from homemade bread to cakes, and pies, however they can still have the same old mystery meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Another feature that I like is that the Sims can have their very own pet dragon! The dragons are so cool, but you have to watch out that they don't torch items on your property, one of my dragons torched the couch and killed my whole Sim family.

Even though Maxis is planning on sometime releasing The Sims 2, I still say that Makin' Magic is a must have in the Sims collection. After all Maxis has yet to release The Sims 2 and keeps pushing back the release date.

As Fun As in Harry Potter

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I read and watched Harry Potter series. One day this expansion pack is available on the game shop. I bought this expansion pack and installed it. It is just as fun as I tought before!

I can learn spells, cast it to objects or even myself. :D I can go to secret shops in a Mystery Town and buy odd ingredients needed in my mixture. When I have time, I went to the Mystery Town via special hole in my backyard and I played some games there. I can also meet other wizards and have some battles with them.

New clothes, furnitures, objects, and some other stuff are included in this expansion pack, making it possible for me to create my own Castile. :D I use stonewall wallpaper to wrap all my walls, plant some old-abandoned-well and dead oak tree, use antigue doors and windows, and select 'magic and ancient' furnitures instead the ordinary. I just love it! XD

One too many

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 13 / 26
Date: November 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I trust EA with making excellent games, but even I can't help but wonder if this was a high-concept attempt at a Harry Potter cash-in. If you're a die-hard Potter fanatic, this expansion might appeal to you, but a lot of people don't like the fact that the series has gone in the opposite direction of an everyday-life simulator.

After Unleashed (the best expansion IMO) the game takes a solid five minutes to start up and will take up multiple gigs of hard drive space. And that's assuming you haven't downloaded any fan-created content from the web.

Makin' Magic is not an great expansion, but it's decent for adding a couple more hours onto a franchise well past its prime. With The Sims 2 on its way, there's not much reason to spend money on Makin' Magic. I'm an unabashed Sims fan, but after seven expansions it's time to stop.

Great but... still has some problems

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As you know, Sims in the Original is just like human beings: work, play, build house, make friends, etc...
Yet, it is not good because it missed a lot of items we have. But in later expansion, lots of more items were added.
Hot Date Ex. helps them (Sims) make a date, Unleashed helps them have pets, and have more places to live, etc... Real great!
In Sims Makin' Magic, it helps them make magic, spells and charms, and have lots of other items like beanstalks, oversize flowers, etc... It is great, too. And lots of faces are added. Those faces are just O.K, not very beautiful. I can make better faces.
We now have a Magic Town, where we can buy dragons, lots of ingredients to make spells, charms, etc...
Dragons are great, too. Thay have feelings. If we don't take care of them, we must take care of fire. They will burn all the house with just their breath.
Spells and charms are great. They let Sims do more things like having a big meal, being a ghost, or have their gardens watered by the clouds, etc... Best of all is money falls from heaven to Sims' house. I can have $6000 more after selling all treasures.
Music is the best compared with other Ex.s. You know, it sounds great, mysterious.
One real big problem is that the non-player characters act so delailedly. When I need to buy something, they put their hands up, down, to the right, to the left, etc... Overall, waste of time. It takes me lots of time to wait for them to complete their actions. They waste almost 2 times as long as the non-player characters do in Sims Unleashed Ex.
Another small problem is that is seems just so far away from our lives. But that is O.K. As I say it is just so small. But you know it makes the Ex. funnier.
Believe me. If you haven't got one, let's have one and see the differences between it and other Ex.s.
It is one of the two best Ex.s to me: Unleashed and this one.

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