SimCity (Super Nintendo, 1991)

The game SIM CITY was released for the Super Nintendo gaming System back in 1992. The concept of Sim City was not a new one, having been released a few years previously but for other gaming systems.

Sim City is a game that can neither be won nor lost. It has a very simple objective...take a chunk of land, develop it and build a thriving mega city. Sounds easy? Well...it's not *quite* that simple.

In the game, you have to deal with many problems that a real city would have. As you build your dream city, people move in and the city grows, But then you get issues such as having a to set a yearly budget, watching out for pollution, crime, housing costs, employment issues, taxes, etc.

You can adjust how fast "time flies" in the game...from very slow to relatively fast. (I love the see the change of seasons!) Sometimes you have an unexpected natural disaster occur and you have to clea up the mess! You have to keep an eye on what is happening and try to head off problems before they become too big.

I first started playing this game when I was 15. My 2 brothers were aged 12 and 6 at the time. We ALL loved this game...yes, even the 6 year old! And we all learned a lot as well, about city planning and how things work. I never thought that I would learn anything from this video game, but sure enough, the lessons did come in handy to me later in life (civics classes and political discussions).

The game has WAY too many land masses to choose from (1000) but you can name your city and save up to 2 games. If you choose, you can play the practice mode, to get a hang of how things work. Or, you can take on a simulation mode where you have to try to solve certain problems (such as pollution, aftermath of an earthquake or excessive crime).

ONe thing I learned about this game is that there is a lovely "cheat" code...it was a little tricky to pull off at first but completely worth it, as you end up with $9,999,999 in your fiscal budget! I won't explain it here, but just search for it on the internet and I am sure you will find it. (If you can't, email me and I'll tell you about it...just visit my ebay store LITTLE TOYS FOR BIG KIDS and you can contact me from there)

This game won a ton of different awards when it came out...from "best simulation game" to "most educational game" to "game of the year". The music is soothing, and the game strangely addictive. The controls are relatively easy to use and you get a great sense of accomplishment when the city you built from scratch is doing well.
Maybe too well.
Maybe (to make things a bit more exciting) you feel like requesting a Godzilla attack...so that you can clean up the mess. Yes...you can do this!

I first played this in the late 1990's. While it runs slow, the game has quite a lot going on. Turn it off for a while and come back to an environment which has warnings, needs, and if not dealt with could cost you your job as Mayor.
Very detailed, considering you have to do all phases of development from clearing bare land to streets, Rail, Parkland, ect. If you build some type of improvement and it does not do well, then there's the Bulldozer which will wipe it out a block at a time! I have not played it since 1999, but I sure remember a lot of it. I now own 3 different Sims games making this one special. Enjoy!

Yep -- This is the one that got me addicted to all of those Sim games...

OK, maybe it's doesn't live up to the in-depth graphics and scenarios that make the more recent Sims so great, but it's the simplicity that makes the SNES Simcity so ADDICTIVE!

Unlike the newer versions of SimCity, there's a lot less to juggle, which may make it a bit less challenging that SimCity 3 or 4, but allows you to be very creative and laid back.

Unlike the more recent versions of SimCity that allow you to customize your landscape, you're forced to pick pre-built tract of land. A nice bonus is when you complete the scenarioes, you can unlock a tract of land known as 'Freeland' which gives you all land and no water -- a must for those trying to build to a Megalopolis!

The music is almost hypnotic, but fortuneately, it changes with ever step your city takes (or can be turned off completely).

Probably the best quality of this game is the replay value. I've spend more time in front of the TV with this game than any other. Each time you feel that there's a whole new challenge awaiting in building a better, larger, more efficent city!

Overall, it may not be as glamorous as Simcity 3 or 4, but it's a far step UP from its original PC version! Super Nintendo fanatics -- this is a MUST have!

I used to play this game when I was in school, when I had much more time on my hands. I loved playing it. I never really got as far with it as I always wanted to, however. Back in the day, my brother and I would each start a game. There's a cool feature that allows you to save up to two games at a time. My brother and I were able to go right back to our own game, right where we left off. Alot can be done to this game as far as building your city and maintaining it. You can also start a city and then just go about your regular daily activities while the game continues to grow on its own. It's alot of fun and highly recommended.

This game is a simple game, and if your terrible at games, and always lose, well here is a game that everyone can be winners at. It's simple really, all you do is build your buildings, and help your town grow. There's a small variety from what you can build. You can build residentials (houses), commercials (stores), and Industrial zones (work). You can also build power plants for your power, and parks, and many more things.There's also disasters that happen, (Only if you want them to.) But it's really not a bad game, It's fun, and when your board it passes time.