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"The Jet Gamer" Game Review: Sim City "SNES"
10 years ago
Another one so quick? Yes, it is a bit quick for this one, but I had been playing it off and one while doing the last game as well.
Sim City
Ahh, an old game that I've played for many years. This is one of my first games so long ago on my SNES and one that I have come back to from time to time over the years. There is just something about it that always has drawn me back, since it was in that group of firsts for me. However, does the game hold up all these years later? Let us found out shall we.
Gameplay
The simple goal of Sim City is to build a city. That is it. It really is as simple as just build a city that brings in a positive cash-flow so that you don't go broke, and to allow the city to grow through its very levels. The various levels of the game are village, which is less than 2,000 people, Town, between 2,000 and 10,000 people, City between 10,000 and 50,000, Capital between 50,000 and 100,000, Metropolis between 100,000 and 500,000, and finally the Megalopolis which is 500,000 plus people in a single city. For someone that wants to claim an expert at the game, your ultimate goal is to make a megalopolis, which is very very difficult with the space given and the games mechanics as there are very specific ways you have to figure out how to play in order to make a megalopolis possible. If you don't do it right, then reaching that population goal is near impossible. However, for the casual player, there are tons of different ways in how to make a city and experimentation is the game. Other than this, there are also various scenarios in the game as well where you can try and fix broken cities in a given amount of time that have a big problem with them, be it Crime, Traffic, or natural disasters such as Earthquakes, Floods and Bowser Attacks. And yes, I did say Bowser attacks, since this is the SNES version of the game. If you can figure out some of the mechanics of this game be it on your own or help from outside sources, then you can really make some nice impressive cities in this game. However, there is still that nice casual element out there for everyone to make whatever they want out of the game and still get some nice fun out of it. Whatever you choose to do, it is fun either way, but it casual play or serious play trying to make a megalopolis.
Story
There really isn't a story in Sim City since it is sandbox game. There is a bit maybe in the scenario mode, but I wouldn't really count that as a story mode. So, for a sandbox game like this where it is more about your imagination and building skills, story simply gets a not applicable here in this category, which doesn't hurt against its score at all.
Graphics
The graphics in this game aren't that bad really, even by today's standards in my opinion. While the newer Sim cities do obviously look nicer, for the time this came out, the simplicity of it really is a welcomed thing. The cities can still look nice and well designed over time though when you feel yourself done with them. The simple graphics it has still makes them look so impressive when they get larger, or even when they are smaller little cities. Really, my only complaint with the graphics is the lack of building variety in how the buildings look. When the cities get larger, the buildings all do start to look the same and less varied as they could be. It would be nice if buildings would end up looking differently by the time they develop instead of them all looking the same. The variety of buildings on the menu isn't that great either, and the gifts that you can get in the game are so limited, so cities do start to look a little similar to each other over time. Still, they can look very nice to the eye, despite the limited variety of buildings that show up for the player.
Sound
While the sound effects in the game are a bit limited, the music in Sim city is just awesome to me. It is actually a sound track I wouldn't mind listening to for awhile, and in fact I did the other day while I was in the car as the music of the various city levels and some of the other music in the game really is catchy and nice to listen to after all. Some music is better than others, but when the music of a game can start to make you hum it and you can remember it for years later even after you haven't played the game in a long time, I'd say the music definitely did something right. I'd definitely recommend at least giving it a listen, as I think it is for sure some of the better music on the SNES, though not the best of course, but it is up there.
Control
The main things you do with controls in this game is move the cursor around the screen to do what you want to do in your city and the various information menus you need to look through that tell you info about your city or your problems. I'd say navigating between them is pretty easy and there is a button to quickly move between menu buttons as well which can speed things up as you move the cursor around. Really, my only complaint with controls is that the cursor is a bit slow at times as you are moving it around in the building area of the map. I can't be terribly upset at this though as this is what you get when you go from controlling a cursor with a mouse to a d-pad. You can't move a d-pad as smoothly as you can a mouse so obviously the cursor is going to have to be slower and move more on a grid than a free roam cursor would be able to do. Still, it isn't that hard to control and you get used to the slower speed sometimes as you may simply move the screen around some to make it so you don't have to go that far to place what you want to place in your city.
Replay Value
With the large number of maps to play on, the various strategies that you can use and just the general creativeness of this game, the replay value is perfect for this game. The fact I have constantly come back to it many times over the years just to try a few new cities or to constantly try and make a megalopolis city, just shows how replayable this game really is. Any game that can keep you coming back that often and allows you so many different strategies of success is definitely rating high on the replayability. You can try the scenarios over and over to try and do them better, faster, which is always a nice little challenge as some are easier and harder than others. Sure, there are some frustrating moments when you realize a strategy isn't going to work out, but that's the name of this game. You experiment and try different things for fun or serious play. Either way, just go out and have fun and keep coming back for more as that is the point of this game!
Overall, I would say that Sim City for the SNES does definitely hold up today's and is still worth a try for anyone that enjoys strategy and building Sim games. If you have tried any of the more current Sim City games, go back and give the original a try. You won't be disappointed in this at all in the experience you get. I would recommend everyone that enjoys the genre to at least try it once. While there are some simple flaws with the game, the positives far outweigh the very few flaws with the game.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Sim City "SNES" a nine out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: NA
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Control: 9
Replay Value: 10
Overall: 9
Sim City
Ahh, an old game that I've played for many years. This is one of my first games so long ago on my SNES and one that I have come back to from time to time over the years. There is just something about it that always has drawn me back, since it was in that group of firsts for me. However, does the game hold up all these years later? Let us found out shall we.
Gameplay
The simple goal of Sim City is to build a city. That is it. It really is as simple as just build a city that brings in a positive cash-flow so that you don't go broke, and to allow the city to grow through its very levels. The various levels of the game are village, which is less than 2,000 people, Town, between 2,000 and 10,000 people, City between 10,000 and 50,000, Capital between 50,000 and 100,000, Metropolis between 100,000 and 500,000, and finally the Megalopolis which is 500,000 plus people in a single city. For someone that wants to claim an expert at the game, your ultimate goal is to make a megalopolis, which is very very difficult with the space given and the games mechanics as there are very specific ways you have to figure out how to play in order to make a megalopolis possible. If you don't do it right, then reaching that population goal is near impossible. However, for the casual player, there are tons of different ways in how to make a city and experimentation is the game. Other than this, there are also various scenarios in the game as well where you can try and fix broken cities in a given amount of time that have a big problem with them, be it Crime, Traffic, or natural disasters such as Earthquakes, Floods and Bowser Attacks. And yes, I did say Bowser attacks, since this is the SNES version of the game. If you can figure out some of the mechanics of this game be it on your own or help from outside sources, then you can really make some nice impressive cities in this game. However, there is still that nice casual element out there for everyone to make whatever they want out of the game and still get some nice fun out of it. Whatever you choose to do, it is fun either way, but it casual play or serious play trying to make a megalopolis.
Story
There really isn't a story in Sim City since it is sandbox game. There is a bit maybe in the scenario mode, but I wouldn't really count that as a story mode. So, for a sandbox game like this where it is more about your imagination and building skills, story simply gets a not applicable here in this category, which doesn't hurt against its score at all.
Graphics
The graphics in this game aren't that bad really, even by today's standards in my opinion. While the newer Sim cities do obviously look nicer, for the time this came out, the simplicity of it really is a welcomed thing. The cities can still look nice and well designed over time though when you feel yourself done with them. The simple graphics it has still makes them look so impressive when they get larger, or even when they are smaller little cities. Really, my only complaint with the graphics is the lack of building variety in how the buildings look. When the cities get larger, the buildings all do start to look the same and less varied as they could be. It would be nice if buildings would end up looking differently by the time they develop instead of them all looking the same. The variety of buildings on the menu isn't that great either, and the gifts that you can get in the game are so limited, so cities do start to look a little similar to each other over time. Still, they can look very nice to the eye, despite the limited variety of buildings that show up for the player.
Sound
While the sound effects in the game are a bit limited, the music in Sim city is just awesome to me. It is actually a sound track I wouldn't mind listening to for awhile, and in fact I did the other day while I was in the car as the music of the various city levels and some of the other music in the game really is catchy and nice to listen to after all. Some music is better than others, but when the music of a game can start to make you hum it and you can remember it for years later even after you haven't played the game in a long time, I'd say the music definitely did something right. I'd definitely recommend at least giving it a listen, as I think it is for sure some of the better music on the SNES, though not the best of course, but it is up there.
Control
The main things you do with controls in this game is move the cursor around the screen to do what you want to do in your city and the various information menus you need to look through that tell you info about your city or your problems. I'd say navigating between them is pretty easy and there is a button to quickly move between menu buttons as well which can speed things up as you move the cursor around. Really, my only complaint with controls is that the cursor is a bit slow at times as you are moving it around in the building area of the map. I can't be terribly upset at this though as this is what you get when you go from controlling a cursor with a mouse to a d-pad. You can't move a d-pad as smoothly as you can a mouse so obviously the cursor is going to have to be slower and move more on a grid than a free roam cursor would be able to do. Still, it isn't that hard to control and you get used to the slower speed sometimes as you may simply move the screen around some to make it so you don't have to go that far to place what you want to place in your city.
Replay Value
With the large number of maps to play on, the various strategies that you can use and just the general creativeness of this game, the replay value is perfect for this game. The fact I have constantly come back to it many times over the years just to try a few new cities or to constantly try and make a megalopolis city, just shows how replayable this game really is. Any game that can keep you coming back that often and allows you so many different strategies of success is definitely rating high on the replayability. You can try the scenarios over and over to try and do them better, faster, which is always a nice little challenge as some are easier and harder than others. Sure, there are some frustrating moments when you realize a strategy isn't going to work out, but that's the name of this game. You experiment and try different things for fun or serious play. Either way, just go out and have fun and keep coming back for more as that is the point of this game!
Overall, I would say that Sim City for the SNES does definitely hold up today's and is still worth a try for anyone that enjoys strategy and building Sim games. If you have tried any of the more current Sim City games, go back and give the original a try. You won't be disappointed in this at all in the experience you get. I would recommend everyone that enjoys the genre to at least try it once. While there are some simple flaws with the game, the positives far outweigh the very few flaws with the game.
Overall, in my opinion at least, I give Sim City "SNES" a nine out of ten.
Gameplay: 9
Story: NA
Graphics: 8
Sound: 10
Control: 9
Replay Value: 10
Overall: 9
pouar
~pouar
Just don't buy the latest Sim City. The one with the always on DRM.
