SimTower

"Atleast this game has Santa Claus in it"

This game (according to the manual) started as an elevator sim in Japan (explains all the Japanese restaurants) and for some unknown reason came over here. Why does Japan keep all the good games and we got stuck with games like this?

-The Story-
I guess your as rich as Donald Trump and can go around building your own tower. There really isnt much of a story. Just build a tower and keep from going crazy when you get to five stars.

-The Gameplay-
Like most sim games you have some menus where you decided what to buy and then build it with a click of the mouse. When you begin the game your tower has a rating of 1 star (which will eventually become 5 stars and if your really good you get the ''tower'' rating). To earn more stars you have to accomplish certain tasks like have a V.I.P. stay at your hotel and get a certain number of population living in the tower. You spend a quite a lot of time trying to micromanage everything. You simply have to because the slightest problem anywhere can cause hundreds of people to move out your tower and depriving you of rent. The bigger your tower gets the more problems pop up. Fires will devastate you tower along with terrorist bombs. Who knew running a tower could be so hard?

-The Graphics-
I dont remember exactly when this game came out (early 90's) and even then the graphics were below average. Your basic tower is simply a box. You dont even get to see the outside of your tower. Just stupid near identical offices and restaurants.

-Audio/Video-
There is simply no music in this game. Oh sure you have plenty of sound effects, (I swear im going to kill that stupid bird) from wild life to weather, to the stupid elevators moving up and down. People in the tower dont really move they just kind of appear and disappear.

Replay?
I have only played the game a handful of times and I just do see why I should play a game that can literally play itself. The concept is a good one that just didnt reach it's full potential.

The Final Score
Story: 1 (There isnt a story, so I guess you can make your own)
Gameplay : 6 (Only die hard fans are truely going to be entertained)
Graphics : 3 (Just shake your head and pretend stuff actually looks like that)
Audio/Video : 1 (No music, loud annoying birds)
Replay : 3 (Whats the point of playing again?)

Final Score: 5
Im only getting this game a 5 because this actually could have been done right but nobody wanted to go the extra mile. I would have like to have skywalks or another tower to link to, or the ability to design the outside of the tower. Maybe Maxis will get it right one day?

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/01, Updated 09/19/01