Not your pappys SimCity

I have been a SimCity player ever since the beginning. I bought the fist edition way back in 1991 and have been hooked ever since. When SimCity 2000 came out, it blew my mind. It took me a while to get into the new style of play, and while I just wanted to plop and go, and make a HUGE city I had to actually think about it. Soon I was addicted to the new system. SimCity 3000 came out on my birthday and it took it to another level. SimCity 4 added a LOT to it and made it even better. There was one thing missing from all these previous titles though; a smooth visual interface that lets you get INTO your city and see it through your imaginary friends eyes.

SimCity 5 let’s you do just that. Yes, the drawback is the limited city size. But when you look at product per tile it exceeds the first and second generations by a lot. It just requires more tile for developments. My rating for this version is very high due to the involvement you get aside from growth and population. Now you have to think about placement, traffic etc. It’s like a thousand minigames in one. And once you reach the ability to build futuristic buildings it takes on a completely different life.

I feel like a lot of these naysayers haven’t really played through the enitre game. Once you max out your boundaries you have to do what all modern cities have to do at some point, build up and not out. With the future pack you can build a huge city, but just like cities like Singapore and Tokyo growing out is no longer an option, so building towards the sky is the way to go.

Billy Lazer about SimCity™: Complete Edition