Although time-management games are all very similar in presentation and structure, every once in a while I will gladly sit and play through one of them. This time, it was Supermarket Mania 2 and its hectic micro-management of successfully running a grocery store.
As the story goes, in this sequel, Nikki heads to Tinseltown where she is to help uncle Ross running his chain of supermarkets. Just about every story has a villain, and so does this one: Mr. Torg is plotting to ruin uncle Ross’ plan and sabotage Nikki’s brave efforts to keep things running smoothly.
The game will take you through six levels composed of about 15 stages each, with specific goals to achieve (for example, don’t let anyone leave unhappy or don’t let the shelves go empty). With simple point and click mechanics, you will be doing everything from stocking shelves to mopping the floors. Your displays need filled before the customers arrive, so Nikki always begins her day with a full cart, distributing goods among the displays.
Of course, it’s not all that easy, since there will be several little “obstacles” to make your work day complicated. There will be thieves trying to take whatever they can get their hands on. There will be little girls who decide to hop around on her scooter causing things to fall and garbage appear. Garbage and dirty floors will make customers slip, fall, drop their shopping baskets and leave.
Not having the right stock or baskets will make customers unhappy (a smiley face above their heads changes color from green, to yellow and finally red). A delivery man will come around to the window asking for three items. Celebrities will shop around like crazy, making everyone else stop in their tracks just to watch them. Finally, there is a little boy who insists on running away from his mother all the time.
Upgrades make things simpler though, and these will be offered to you at the beginning of each stage. If there are upgrades available, arrows will be displayed on the item that can be improved. Click on anything that you can upgrade to find out what the next item level does and how much it costs to upgrade. Your shelves can be upgraded to fit more stock and to charge more per item, working stations can eventually have helpers, your cart can carry more refills, the bakery can work faster and produce more in one serving, and your mop can become an automatic vacuum cleaner.
There are also other bonuses like decorations, a TV and a jukebox which contribute to customers’ happiness. Three special items are also available: cookies (increase everyone’s happiness instantly), detergent (instantly cleans the floor) and energy drink (which basically gets Nikki moving in bullet time for a short while). The best part of having enough money to upgrade your store is that you can go back and replay the earlier stages with these upgrades, making it easier to achieve the goals and get expert scores. There are also achievements to be earned, but these are just milestones and don’t give you any extra bonuses or unlockable content.
While Supermarket Mania 2 is fast-paced, hectic and fun, it does get repetitive. The stores layout doesn’t really change, and it would have been nice to customize the position of your displays to make things more efficient. The customer base doesn’t change either, but at least certain stage conditions will offer a little break from the usual routine, by having an all pizza sale or people specially attracted to milkshakes and fruit juices.
If you don’t mind repetition, this might be the casual game for you. As for me, Supermarket Mania 2 was a bit too much like my retail day job: hectic, repetitive and with annoying customers to make my life difficult. But at least playing the game was somewhat more fun and I don’t have to do it for 8 hours every day!
Special thanks to Michael Meyers and G5 for providing a copy of this title.