Tomodachi Life Puts You In Charge: Game Review!

Tomodachi Life is a hilariously creative new game for the Nintendo 3DS that you absolutely won't be able to put down, and it released June 6!

Nintendo invited Sweety High to be part of the Tomodachi Life Welcome Committee, providing us with a free copy of the game before its release so we could be among the first to bring you our thoughts on the game!

By the way, starting July 2, a free demo of the game will be available in the Nintendo eShop, so be sure to check it out!

In Tomodachi Life, you're in charge of your own island where pretty much anything can happen! The fun starts with the creation of your own Mii characters who are more customizable than ever!

All of the familiar aspects of creating a Mii remain intact, but in Tomodachi Life, your characters also speak! You can play with the controls to change the way your Miis sound, and tailor their personalities to make them move, talk and emote just like their real-life counterparts!

Once you've set their stats, the game will sort your Mii characters a personality type, from the easygoing optimist to the confident go-getter! There are 16 personality types in all, and you're going to want to create as many of your friends, family and favorite celebrities as you can to see them all in action!

But you'll also be able to share Miis with friends, and download special characters, including some of our favorite stars, Debby Ryan and Zendaya!  Shaq, Christina Aguilera and Shaun White also can make their way into your game! Click here for details on how to import them!

Once your Miis are created and start interacting within the Tomodachi Life world, the sky is the limit, but you've got to make things happen! Based on their personalities, Miis may become friends or even form romantic relationships!

Your characters on the island live in the Mii Apartments. By peeking through the window, you can see if they're home or if they need anything. Throughout the game, you'll learn to look forward to seeing thought bubbles above their heads!

A black squiggle means your Miis want something, whether they're hungry, want something new to wear, or want a change scenery inside their apartment. Sometimes, you'll find that they just want to practice their impression of someone else in town, or show you a funny face!

An orange face in a Mii's thought bubble means he or she is considering making a new friend, while a pink heart means they're contemplating a relationship with another Mii!

When you see a green, the Mii wants to play a mini-game with you! They range from a mini football game to tile matching, identifying shadows and pixelated images and lots more! Best of all, if you win the game, you gain a prize!

Interactions with your Miis are rewarded. When they're happy with what you've done for them, their happiness bar rises, and so does the amount of available cash in your wallet!

You'll want to spend your money wisely throughout the game on items like food, hats, clothing and interiors for your apartments. If you play your cards right, you'll get back more money than you spent when you share with your Miis!

For example, there are hundreds of food items in the game, with prices ranging for the $.30 bread to $50 filet mignon. Every Mii has their own personal taste preferences, but it's up to you to figure them out, and their stomachs will only fit so much food!

If they absolutely love what you've given them, their happiness level will shoot up and you'll get lots of money in return! Each Mii has a food they love so much that it'll trigger a cutscene that sends your character blasting off to space!

However, your Miis will also hate some foods. Some foods will even bring their happiness levels down, and each Mii has a most-hated food that will terrifyingly turn them grey and cause them to melt into the ground. The scene is the stuff of nightmares!

Miis also have preferences about the hats, clothing and interiors you buy for them. As their happiness rises, their levels go up! When your Mii levels up, you can give them all kinds of items to improve their lives, including a new catchphrase or karaoke tracks to sing and customize at the Concert Hall!

But your individual interactions with your islanders are just the beginning! Miis will befriend each other, with your help, based on their personalities in combinations you never imagined. Who knew your gym teacher would ever be so close to your favorite Disney Channel star?

They might also try to form relationships! It can be hilarious to watch a Mii ask out one of the other characters you've created, and heartwarming to see as their relationship develops. You might even get invited to a Mii wedding, and get the chance to babysit for their new child after the couple moves into their own place!

Miis won't form friendships or couples without your permission, but denying them can come at a cost. Telling one of your characters they're not a good match for their crush can leave them under a literal raincloud of sadness, and it's up to you to cheer them up until they feel like their normal selves again!

Throughout the day, there are a number of events throughout the island to participate in! Morning, afternoon and night markets offer special items at discount prices. You can also participate in disc throwing, barbecues and trivia games with the characters you've created, as well as the daily Tomodachi Quest RPG with your Miis as warriors are mages as they fight against in-game items.

Early birds and night owls might be at a disadvantage with Tomodachi Life, as the islanders spend most of the night hours asleep. However, you can sometimes take a peek into the dreams of sleeping Miis, making for some of the most zany and outlandish scenes you've ever seen! Better yet, an item from the dream materializes for real and gets added to your collection!

We've covered a lot of the game, but those are just the basics of what you can do in Tomodachi Life! The quirky scenes and fun gameplay will keep you coming back to unlock new items and interact with your characters every day!

However, there's only so much to do at any given time in the game, so if you're looking for a game you can play for hours per sitting, you might be disappointed. Personally, we found that the format makes it easier to unplug from the game and come back later!

We also hadn't had a chance to play with the StreetPass features of the game before its launch, but we are super excited to test all of them out and expand our Tomodachi Life experience even further!

Curious about Tomodachi Life? Check out their official website here to find out where you can get a copy or download it digitally! You can also check out our previous game reviews here and join us at SweetyHigh.com to share reviews of all of your favorite games!