Streets of SimCity

"Rather disappointing.."

Introduction:

Streets of Simcity is another one of the Maxis sim games that are oh so popular. I found a copy of Streets at a local department store, and it came in one package with five other Sim games. It was only around twenty dollars, so I decided to buy it. I have never been a huge fan of the Sim games, but I have played most of them anyways. That’s enough of my rambling, though.. Let’s get on with the review, shall we?

Graphics (5.7/10)

The graphics in Streets of Simcity are rather disappointing. They are not bad, but they are certainly not good either. The backgrounds look incredibly pixellated, with the exceptions of the buildings and cars. As a matter of fact, the buildings and cars are actually the only things that look good in the game. I don't know why, but I was expecting more from Maxis. Overall, an average job done on the graphics.

Sound (5.9/10)

If there is one thing that really could have been improved in this game (besides the graphics and controls :P), it would have to be the sound. The sound is incredibly average, just like the rest of the game. The music that you listen to while racing is less than enthralling, as it is not the type of music that I would want to listen to while driving. Atleast you can turn off the music and listen to the radio commercials and the radio DJ instead. Anyways, besides the driving music, the rest of the sound effects sound good enough. There is nothing special to be found here, though, as the sound needs a lot of work.

Gameplay (7.4/10)

When you boot up Streets of SimCity and reach the main menu, you will find five options - new game, load game, player’s choice, network, and car factory. In this section, I will describe those options to hopefully give you a good feel of what the game is like.

New Game

By selecting new game, you will be taken straight into the career mode of Streets of Simcity. The career mode is, basically, the meat and potatoes of the game. In the career mode, you will go through several missions and races on your quest to win the game. If you win your assignment, you will earn points that will allow you to build up your car. Once the car is built up better, you will probably have a better chance of being successful. Despite the fact that you can fix up your cars, it doesn't improve the control much at all. I will get into the control later, though. Overall, the career mode is decent, but most of the assignments get rather boring quickly.

Load Game

By selecting load game, you can load a previously saved game. Duh.

Player's Choice

This is probably the best part of the game. Player's choice will allow you to load up a previously built course and just drive around in it. This is where you can drive through your cities that you made in Simcity 2000, or you can drive through a course you made with the course editor that comes with the game. It is a good idea, but it would be a great idea if it weren't for the fact that the game overall was just average.

Network

Here you can play a game of Streets of Simcity over the internet. That is, only if you can find someone to play against. Personally, I never play network games because they are too confusing, in my opinion.

Car Factory

The final option is another good idea that had the chance to be great, the car factory. In the car factory, you can build your own car, and have it sold in the career mode. You can decide if you want a top notch car that will be expensive, or a crappy car that will be inexpensive. There are several things you can add to your car. You can add tires, an engine, weapons, and mods. You can also give your car a new paintjob, and select from five different frames. Overall, this idea came across a little flat to me, but it is still a good effort.

That just about does it for the gameplay. Moving on..

Controls (4.1/10)

This is definitely the worst part of Streets of Simcity, the control. The control is just plain bad, as it is not very responsive. If you hold down the left or right key for too long, you will go flying that way and will more than likely crash into a building of sorts. That leads me to another problem with the control - crashing. When you crash into a building or whatever, you will go flying backwards in an unrealistic way. Since the control is not the best, you can expect to run into the buildings quite a bit, and that becomes annoying *very* fast. Overall, this is probably the most disappointing aspect of the game. If there is ever a Streets of Simcity 2, I hope the control is improved.

Replay Value (LOW)

Despite the fact that you can make your own courses, the replay value still remains low in my books. The career mode is just average, but it could have been better if not for the boring assignments. The car factory seems like fun at first, too, but the fun wears down soon after. Nothing will jump out that will want you to play it again.

Fun Factor (LOW)

I’ll admit that it is fun to blow things up in Streets of Simcity, and some of the courses have the chance of *kind of* being fun, but overall the game is just one big disappointing idea. The poor control takes away much of the fun, too. Also, one thing that frustrated me in the game was the fact that when you hit a cow, it will break into peices. That is utterly stupid. (No pun intended). Overall, there is not much fun to be had in this game.

Challenge (HIGH)

It’s quite the challenge to go through the ''career'' mode, if you will, because there is lots of levels to play. It gets repetitive fast, so I don’t know if you would actually want to go through the whole game. If you are one of those people that must beat every game they play, then you will be challenged.

Is it worth a buy?

Streets of Simcity is not worth a buy unless you can get it in part of a compilation pack like I bought it in. I know that there is one going around called a ''Sim Pack'' or something like that, and it features six of the sim games for about twenty smackers. It's a rather good deal. Anyways, unless you can find a pack, then don't bother buying it by itself.

The Good:

- Some decent ideas are thrown in the game
- High challenge

The Bad:

- Disappointing graphics
- Awful control

And the Ugly:

- Watching a cow break into peices in the background

Overall (5.6/10)

Streets of Simcity is a mediocre car combat game, with nothing good enough to make it worth a buy. However, it is a nice concept, but the problem is that it wasn't carried out very well. Hopefully, if there is ever a sequel, the problem areas will be fixed.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/00, Updated 11/14/00