Simcity: The original and still the best.

[Jasoco]

I just wanna take time to express my fondness for the original Simcity. But most notably the SNES version.

Yesterday I found a ROM of the game and loaded it on my PSP. The second that menu music started its familiar tune, my mind was rushed with memories. I hadn't played the game in years. It's just as fun as I remembered.

Sure, since the original there have been 2000, 3000, 4, bunches of expansions, but the original will still always remain the best version in my opinion.

Why? It's simple. That's the answer. It doesn't require you to carefully set down plumbing, you don't have to dive underground to make subways and tunnels and stuff. It's easy to pick up and play. Plus on a portable it's even better. A simple simulation game you can play a little at a time. Especially with freeze and defrost states.

Just too bad I suck so bad at it. It requires a lot of fire stations and police stations to keep the crime and fires under control. And sure, it's all flatland and you can't edit the terrain. (The PC version had this feature in one of its expansions.) And on the SNES version you have to make the hardest decision ever. Choosing which landform out of a total of 1,998 different layouts. (Any tips on ones that give the best land to water ratio? It needs to be big enough to allow growth to Megalopolis status.)

A few of the good stuff:
The music. Each city level had its own music. After a disaster it had new music. It was beautiful music too. SC3 and 4 got some really good music as well, but there's just something about SNES SC.

The graphics. For an SNES game, I was actually impressed back when I got this in the 90's. The buildings are nicely rendered.

The presents. I love the presents. From the ever changing Mayors house to the casino's, banks, police and fire HQ, zoo's, amusement parks each having their own impacts on the city.

The Seasons. This I love. The seasons actually change in this one. I never saw this again in 2, 3 or 4. Why? Why didn't the ground change in the newer games? I love the brown trees to the white snow to the bright green and pink of spring to the summer. It's beautiful. Each month lasts 15 seconds, so you go through a season every 45 seconds. A year every 3 minutes. (On fast)

It's too bad MaxEAis doesn't put out a new but still classic feeling Simcity for the PSP. If it was built for the PSP and had the same simple feel as the SNES classic, I'd buy it day one.

Don't get me wrong. Simcity 2000, 3000 and 4 are all great. 2000 was one I was very attached to back then. But there's just something about the SNES game and the originals that makes them more fun to me.

[Leo_A]

Yeah, beat all the schenarios and you'll get a landform thats all land.

That's the best one to get.

And I think Sim City 3000 was the best one, but I love the music and the introduction to the SNES one.

[SEGA-SAMMY]

This one is a classic. I love the natural disasters the most. The Bowser attack was my favourite When I first played through it it was so unexpected!

This is the only version Ive been ever able to get into. It has a special charm about it imo. :angel:

[idrougge]

I would never classify the SNES version as an "original" Sim City.

[googlefest1]

never mind

[CYRiX]

Its a port of the original...

[Damaniel]

The SNES version is my favorite (and one of my favorite games on the system), and the only game in the series I could actually get into. It managed to capture the essence of the PC version, yet was simple enough to pick up and play without having to deal with a steep learning curve. The music was great, too. :)

[boatofcar]

The SNES version is my favorite (and one of my favorite games on the system), and the only game in the series I could actually get into. It managed to capture the essence of the PC version, yet was simple enough to pick up and play without having to deal with a steep learning curve. The music was great, too. :)

Agreed. I never understood why they didn't port this directly to the GBA instead of 2000 (or 3000?-well, whichever one). The GBA screen is too small for an isometric view of the city.

[theoakwoody]

Thank god for the money code otherwise this game takes way too much patience. I loved the PC version so when I heard it was coming out for the snes I bought it when it was released. I also made the mistake of buying sim earth. Ugh, that game is definitely not for a teenage kid.

[ClassicGameTrader]

I just wanna take time to express my fondness for the original Simcity. But most notably the SNES version.

Yesterday I found a ROM of the game and loaded it on my PSP. The second that menu music started its familiar tune, my mind was rushed with memories. I hadn't played the game in years. It's just as fun as I remembered.

Sure, since the original there have been 2000, 3000, 4, bunches of expansions, but the original will still always remain the best version in my opinion.

Why? It's simple. That's the answer. It doesn't require you to carefully set down plumbing, you don't have to dive underground to make subways and tunnels and stuff. It's easy to pick up and play. Plus on a portable it's even better. A simple simulation game you can play a little at a time. Especially with freeze and defrost states.

Just too bad I suck so bad at it. It requires a lot of fire stations and police stations to keep the crime and fires under control. And sure, it's all flatland and you can't edit the terrain. (The PC version had this feature in one of its expansions.) And on the SNES version you have to make the hardest decision ever. Choosing which landform out of a total of 1,998 different layouts. (Any tips on ones that give the best land to water ratio? It needs to be big enough to allow growth to Megalopolis status.)

A few of the good stuff:
The music. Each city level had its own music. After a disaster it had new music. It was beautiful music too. SC3 and 4 got some really good music as well, but there's just something about SNES SC.

The graphics. For an SNES game, I was actually impressed back when I got this in the 90's. The buildings are nicely rendered.

The presents. I love the presents. From the ever changing Mayors house to the casino's, banks, police and fire HQ, zoo's, amusement parks each having their own impacts on the city.

The Seasons. This I love. The seasons actually change in this one. I never saw this again in 2, 3 or 4. Why? Why didn't the ground change in the newer games? I love the brown trees to the white snow to the bright green and pink of spring to the summer. It's beautiful. Each month lasts 15 seconds, so you go through a season every 45 seconds. A year every 3 minutes. (On fast)

It's too bad MaxEAis doesn't put out a new but still classic feeling Simcity for the PSP. If it was built for the PSP and had the same simple feel as the SNES classic, I'd buy it day one.

Don't get me wrong. Simcity 2000, 3000 and 4 are all great. 2000 was one I was very attached to back then. But there's just something about the SNES game and the originals that makes them more fun to me.

You must of read my mind, I remember way back in the day when there was absolutly NO copies of this game available to buy anywhere around my house. I rented it like 4 times before it was re-released. I think what I like about it is that it has a real "nintendo" feel to it. Having the mario statue and bowser is cool, even if they are small things. The music for some reason is soothing to me even to this day, I get a ton of nostolgia every time I pick this one up. I just picked it up for the first time in years (emu on Xbox) and played it for like 5 hours straight one night a few weeks ago.

As much as I enjoy some of the features from the later simcity games, this one has always been special to me.

[tom]

I only played the C-64 version, it was lousy graphics and even worse sound, but it kept me occupied for many weekends.

[Jibbajaba]

You have just made me want to give this game a try. I was freakin' ADDICTED to SimCity for DOS back when it came out. I always assumed that the SNES version was just a handicapped version of the PC game. Now I will have to give it a go.

When I was a teenager, I actually printed out my city on a dot matrix printer, taped the pages together in the right order, and hung it on my wall as a poster. I wish I still had that.

Chris

[njiska]

The original was great but i just can't agree with you. Sim City 2000 just added so much to the game. 3000 and 4 were crap by comparision.

For some strange reason 2000 had it all for me, the addition of height and the isometric view really did it for me.

[jcheatle]

I'll definitely give love for the SNES version of Sim City. Being poor and having parents who didn't know thing one about computers meant I never got a home PC until I was 17 in '97.

But ah... my friend's copy of Sim City. We played that constantly when we were younger. Great music, great gameplay... surprisingly easy layout for a PC-to-SNES conversion.

Usually we'd use one map where the water cut the board basically in half. Then, he'd input the million dollar cheat code and we'd each spend hours designing our half of the city to see whose was cooler. Being Mr. Environment, my friend always built railroads. I built roads, though, so I could get casinos and amusement parks. Ah, memories... :)

[Jasoco]

Oh, don't get me wrong. Sim City 2000 was a great game too. But for a quick game you want the original. Or SNES version. Not too much being thrown at you. Just simple city designing.

While on the subject of SC2K, back in the day I once played the Hollywood scenario (Control fires created by a UFO (Robotic spider) attack. I beat the scenario and did so freaking well I ended up with millions of dollars at which point I demolished the entire terrain houses and all and rebuilt the city from the ground up.... a few times. Man it was so cool. The first scenario I ever beat. Of course the city was a failure, but I had so much money to spend and never went below 7 digits that it didn't matter. Eventually the entire city was Arcologies. Wow... remember Arcologies? The huge self-sustaining mile high structures that could hold thousands of people. It was like The Jetsons but more futuristic.

I miss Arcologies. Although they pretty much made the game boring when all you have is tons of giant unchanging structures. Oh well.

Just too bad the SNES version of that game (2K) was pretty unplayable due to being really slow and controls being way to hard with the angle of the isometric board. Plus it was pretty much a straight port but done worse. The original was a straight port but done far superior.

Also, I would like to give a shout out to Sim City 4 for having an awesome realistic terrain editor. I really did enjoy it. But the games in all are just too much. Simplistic wins. Original FTW.

[boatofcar]

When I was a teenager, I actually printed out my city on a dot matrix printer, taped the pages together in the right order, and hung it on my wall as a poster. I wish I still had that.


I did that too! I remember it taking FOREVER.

The music in the SNES game is probably some of my favorite video game music, period. The seasons were such a nice touch...


Did the C-64 have a mouse? I can't imagine playing SimCity with a joystick...

[SkiDragon]

That was a favorite that me and my friends used to play. It doesnt seem like a social game, but it was. We took a TV and SNES down to an old travel trailer we had in the yard and played it half the night.

[diskoboy]

I was always kinda partial to SNES SimEarth, myself.

[Lothars]

I love Simcity but I have a special place in my heart for Sim City 2000 now that's by far my favorite Sim City Game

I love it so much fun but both great games :)

[Retsudo]

I liked Simcity 3000 the best.

[Rejinx]

I thought I was the only person that spent months playing Simcity. I just made my list of top 25 games of all time and Simcity is #1 and Simcity 2000 is #7. Will Wright is god. I am about to wet myself waiting for Spore.
Anybody got into the lesser Known Maxis games?
I got hooked on Simtower, Simfarm, Simant, Simlife and El Fish.

[Stark]

Sim City 2000 was way better than the original. Yes the original is less complicated but it's also dull by comparison.

Sim Tower is another one of my favorite games.

[Jasoco]

Sim Tower was HUGE at school back then. It made its way around the entire computer room to every single computer and every single student would spend all class playing it. It was a huge thing.

Then all of a sudden it became tiresome and everyone stopped playing. Then Quake came out. Rinse. Repeat.

I even asked for ST for my birthday and got it. One of my first CD games. Played it to death then stopped suddenly. Just does not have the same staying power. Great idea, just missing the right formula.

I hate to say it but I only got Sim City 2000 from a friend. And never owned SC1 on a computer until 1999 when a cow orker gave me a boxed DOS copy. SC3 on the other hand I did buy myself so no big deal. And 4 was my brothers.

[Jorpho]

And sure, it's all flatland and you can't edit the terrain. (The PC version had this feature in one of its expansions.)

I don't recall such a feature in any official PC version. I thought SC2K was the first one to have a terrain editor.

Other notable PC versions include Maxis's "SimCity Classic" release, which let you load up alternative tilesets (make your city look like a moon base!), and Interplay's multimedia release with FMV clips to announce big events.


Eventually the entire city was Arcologies. Wow... remember Arcologies? The huge self-sustaining mile high structures that could hold thousands of people. It was like The Jetsons but more futuristic.

Apparently if you built enough Launch Arcos they would begin to disappear (refunding you as they did so) to represent their launch into the atmosphere, a la SimEarth. This is tricky to do, though, as SC2K had a limit on the number of "microsimulators" you could have - if you had too many police stations, say, some of your Launch Arcos would stop acting like Arcos.


The original was a straight port but done far superior.

With so many added features, it's hardly a straight port.

SimTower looks pretty cool, but eventually you're just watching elevators move up and down while you wait forever for more money to come in. I've been meaning to try the sequel, Yoot Tower.

So, has anyone ever seen SimCity 64 for the 64DD? Information about that one seems hard to come by.

[Oobgarm]

The SNES version is one of the games that really embodies my SNES gaming days. I guess it was just one of those games that really showed a jump from NES to SNES. It sits comfortably at #32 on my list of favorite games ever. :)

How many of you got the Megalopolis on the SNES? I tried many times, but breaking the 500,000 citizen mark was just too great for me, even with the all-land map.

[Jibbajaba]

And sure, it's all flatland and you can't edit the terrain. (The PC version had this feature in one of its expansions.)

I don't recall such a feature in any official PC version. I thought SC2K was the first one to have a terrain editor.

Wrong. I actually owned the terrain editor for the original Sim City. Worked just like the later ones.

Chris

[Jumpman Jr.]

I've actually never even played the SNES version. I played it a hell of a lot when I was a kid on my PC, but never on any consoles.
I guess I'll have to go give'er a whirl.

[Leo_A]

I hated the Arcologies. Spent months working on my city, only for them to turn into rocket ships and leave for another planet.

[Jasoco]

Which is why I never built Launch ones. I was a fan of the nicer looking black weird angled pieces of art.

Click for Google Image (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://hairball.bumba.net/~rwa2/school/enpm643/Arcology_files/image007.gif&imgrefurl=http://hairball.bumba.net/~rwa2/school/enpm643/Arcology.html&h=215&w=128&sz=7&tbnid=ZT84fzVYsxTYDM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=60&hl=en&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darcologies%2Bsim%2Bcity%26svnum%3D10% 26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN) (It probably won't load but you can at least see the cached image.)

[cyberfluxor]

I'm bringing this topic back up because I finally bought Simcity4 today with the Rush Hour expansion pack. I've only done the basic tutorial thus far and for some reason still feel the original and 2k are better, but I'm sure I'll change my views over time. It already feels like 3k and the bubble effects, but the options and depth is deeper. Once I get a handle on it, I'm sure I'll begin to just love this game. I plan on finishing the tutorials tonight (If that's possible) and read some tips & tricks to get myself on a good start. If anyone has some some interesting info or cool cities let me see a screen shot and how you did it.

[Jasoco]

Due to a thread over here...
http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=85637
I really got a craving to try SC4 out again. So I dug out my Mac CD of it and it asks for a second disc...

It never asked for a second disc before. Not that I can remember! I don't know where a second disc went! If I ever had it! It's been so long since I played it, I can't remember it had a second disc. :embarrassed:

Now I'm sad because I can't play it.

Those screenshots look so good, I really want to play it! I'm tempted to buy it again. That'll make 4 copies we've owned. Two for PC that I can't use and two for Mac.

*sigh* LOL

[Rejinx]

Simcity rules!! but Simcity 2000 is the best game I've ever played period (ignore the water system). I've been saying for years that Will Wight is the Albert Einstein of gamemakers. It is ironic is that Maxis, who makes the most unique games in the world, was bought by EA, who makes the same damn games every year. I just hope EA don't screw up Spore, which sounds like it could be the one of the best game ideas ever.

And yes I am a Maxis fanboy.

[Leo_A]

Sim City 3000 is the best version I think. Improved on the previous two versions without straying too far from the formula. Sim City 4 was a disaster in my opinion.

[Nature Boy]

I actually liked SimCity 4 - maybe I'm a graphics whore, but I *love* not having to put up power lines all over the place (it's been awhile since I've played any SimCity game, but if I remember correctly as long as your zones were close enough to your power station you didn't need power lines, and I *think* that was first in SC4).

I never tried it on the SNES 'cause I had tried Civ on the SNES (one of my favourite games of all time) and didn't think the PC to console conversion worked well, so I decided not to bother with SC. I've definitely enjoyed each version as it came out though (I don't have a copy of the original, but I have 2000, 3000, and 4 for PC :D ).

[whoisKeel]

I never played SimCity 3000 but out of the others, I think they got better each time.

That said, SimCity and SimCity 4 are entirely different games. SimCity 4 is much more simulation and a very steep learning curve. I played the hell out of that game and I never got the really tall structures that you can get in that game.

[cyberfluxor]

Well, I'm still struggling to get big buildings in Simcity4 Rush Hour. I really like the style and realistic gameplay compared to previous versions but will, like i said earlier, take time to get use to and good at building new cities. I have a friend that played it awhile back when it first came out and was sucessful with building huge cities. He's going to show me the ropes and I'm hoping to pick up and do great.

[Nature Boy]

Well, I'm still struggling to get big buildings in Simcity4 Rush Hour. I really like the style and realistic gameplay compared to previous versions but will, like i said earlier, take time to get use to and good at building new cities. I have a friend that played it awhile back when it first came out and was sucessful with building huge cities. He's going to show me the ropes and I'm hoping to pick up and do great.

www.simtropolis.com is an excellent resource for all thing SimCity. You can find some interesting ideas on what layouts work well and strategies exist etc. It's like an entire website gamefaq for the series.

(I haven't looked at it in a *long* time, not having played SimCity 4 in a long time, but I really enjoyed the reading there).

BTW: This thread has prompted me to reinstall SC4 and give it another go! It's games like this that make PC gaming it's own unique experience IMO.

[smokehouse]

Back in the day I was a Sim City junkie. I owned and played SC1 & 2 on the PC and still have SC1 on the SNES. I really like the SNES version. It’s a bit different than the PC version but it is also more user friendly. If you’re a SC fan and haven’t played the SNES version I’d say pick up a copy.

[cyberfluxor]

smokehouse, I'm on the same wagon. I own Simcity for the SNES and Simcity 2k on the Saturn. The SNES version is really nice because it's roughly the same speed as on a classic PC but has a few twists. These few differences also exist on the 2k version, which by the way lags bad. I love 2k but the lag it has on consules keeps my gameplay low.

By the way though, as an update, I've been playing more Simcity 4 Rush Hour and am finally making cities decently fast and making good income to expand and build up slowly. Although I've been training myself with small maps, I plan to move to the big league soon with the larger areas to build a metropolis. When I get a good handle on things I'll let others know what my strat is. :)

[kentuckyfried]

Completely agree. The SNES Simcity is something special and for many reasons. A major reason being that it's a good console Simcity among many clunky and slow SC2K ports.

I think that the SNES Simcity's main appeal is due to it being designed and programmed specifically for the SNES, as opposed to it trying to be like the PC version and failing to portray a 100% playable Simcity, like any of the SC2k's for consoles/portable.

(Anybody else used to secretly prolong the yearly hand-off with a friend when taking turns building by halting the game time by casually holding L?)

And another vote here for SC3k, that game is still kickass.

[GrandAmChandler]

And sure, it's all flatland and you can't edit the terrain. (The PC version had this feature in one of its expansions.)

I don't recall such a feature in any official PC version. I thought SC2K was the first one to have a terrain editor.

Wrong. I actually owned the terrain editor for the original Sim City. Worked just like the later ones.

Chris

Correct! I also had a terrain editor. Cool stuff, I forget what it was called it had a catchy acronym like SCUTE or something like that.

[slip81]

The only one I played was 2000, and it owned my life back in my early years of high school.

I wish Maxis would put out a collection of all the games like EA has been doing so I could run in on my laptop, cause I hate DOSBox and it's inability to utilize my crappy laptop soundcard.

[Jorpho]

How do you mean? Do you only have the DOS version of SimCity 2000 or something? (Even the Windows verison of the original SimCity isn't too hard to come by, particularly Interplay's enhanced multimedia edition.)

[otterpop]

Oh man I loved SimCity!

A friend of mine and I played SimCity together a lot, taking turns building. Once we played it for about a week straight - we'd let it go during what little sleep we'd get to build up tax revenues. Sometimes this would do more harm than good, but was fun either way.

[Poofta!]

i thought the best sim city was 2000 for pc. its just better in every way imagineable...

[cyberfluxor]

Well, going back to SC4RH, I've been doing nothing but easy mode, but started doing more of the strat I used in SC2k with long roads without intersections and huge plots of land on each side for zones. Four blocks thick is the deepest you can get on SC4 RH, whereas three deep was the limit for construction on SC2k. Avenues are great between residential for mass transit and use of 4 lanes that allow the high dense traffic of the closely constructed housing and commercial. It's nice to finally be able to build a city completely off commercial and residential and contain no industry, although the zone advisor bitches about how industry wants to move in, but I ignore it and the city still thrives. Once you have a good city going, connecting it to neighboring areas is really nice because you can save and move to the next section and your new city will build really fast due to the open jobs at the neighbor. It's a nifty trick I'm finding out about, same with trash. Make a neighbor city with the industry tech jobs and land fills, maybe water plants and share with the neighboring cities so they can save room to make more housing and commercial. Another good thing to keep in mind is watch your funding closely. If they say you need bigger schools, just boost the funding for more teachers until your city is wide enough to take a larger school for bigger bus routes. Also if you place parks in the poor areas, sometimes mid-wealth move in to replace the low-income.