RW Tuesday: Sim City (SNES)
By CaptainSeagull. Wednesday, 8. August 2007, 04:43:03
Every Monday Nintendo adds a few more games to their U.S. list of Virtual Console games. Every Friday Nintendo adds a few more games to their Euro list of Virtual Console games.These games are downloadable from the Wii Shop Channel. The games come from a list consisting of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Turbo Graphix, and the Nintendo 64.
Every Tuesday N+ provides you with one "Retro Wiiview" of one game off one of the lists. The Retro Wiiview is designed to introduce young or new players to some of the "classics" that made gaming what it is today, while also providing a reminder to those who have already played these games, how much fun they really had. This way, whenever you want to download a new VC title, you can have at least one place to turn to see if it was good before you spend those Wii-Points.
This weeks' game: Sim City
Game Price: 800 Wii points
ESRB Rating: E10+
When it was first released, I remember SimCity seeming an odd choice for the Super Nintendo. Perhaps even then Nintendo were thinking about broadening the gaming market. It was actually my friend who bought this game, and I’ll admit to questioning his choice at the time. As soon as I started to watch him construct a thriving metropolis from nothing, however, I was hooked and soon bought the game for myself.
In terms of SimCity games, the offering on the SNES is simple. Based on the original version of the game, the objective is to build a city. There are no specific goals to achieve, and as mayor you are free to design the city in any way you please. There are 3 main zones that are essential for any city to prosper; residential, commercial, and industrial. Keeping a balance between the three is the key to success, but factors like crime, pollution, traffic, and land values much be addressed if you want to keep your citizens happy, and attract new people to your town.
As the SNES version didn’t have mouse controls, all the building of the city is through the D-pad and buttons. This may sound problematical, but once you get to grips with the controls, and the grid-based nature of your city, it actually allows for a decent amount of precision. Once you have chosen your landscape (there are nearly a thousand to choose from), you’ll soon be laying the foundations of your urban empire with ease. You can play the game with the Classic or GameCube controller, while neither live up to the SNES joypad, both work well.It really is rewarding to see your population increase, and half the fun comes with designing the layout of your city. Do you create a mass transit rail system which is expensive to maintain, but better for the environment, or do you use cheaper roads, and suffer pollution and traffic density problems that will occur in time? Do you keep your residential taxes low to attract people to your town, or do you keep your civic services happy by charging more tax? It is questions like these which will keep you thinking about your city long after you have turned your console off.
If you fancy more of a challenge, SimCity offers different scenarios for you to tackle. These basically involve taking control of a city after a disaster has occurred, or when it’s in turmoil, and using the budget and utilities in place to resolve the crisis. This may include a traffic-clogged Bern, San Francisco in the aftermath of an earthquake, or Tokyo after Bowser has attacked (being published by Nintendo, there are a few familiar faces in the game, including a Mario Statue that appears as a reward for reaching a certain population). I personally never really liked playing the scenarios, as the enjoyment for me came in building my own city and watching it grow. They are good for a distraction, but when disasters can hit your own town, it’s much more pleasing to rectify that damage and win the vote of your residents as a result.SimCity on the SNES is a simple and addictive game. In my opinion it’s the best version of the game that there has been, as the later incarnations tended to overcomplicate the game, and make it less enjoyable to play. This was made more obvious with the recent SimCity DS, which tried to do more than the handheld could cope with. If they had just ported the SNES version over, I would have been more than happy.
N+ 8/10
Cost: 800 Wii points
Rating: E for Everyone
- Retro Wiiview by Seaempty
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(6%)
By yeeliberto, # 8. August 2007, 14:32:31
By kawaiipikachu, # 9. August 2007, 23:18:54
By CaptainSeagull, # 10. August 2007, 17:50:23
By seaempty, # 13. August 2007, 19:09:59