"A good game for long-time SimCity gamers, but newbies watch out"

SimCity 3000 is, in essence, a city simulation game. It gives you the power to do everything a mayor would do- build buildings, put ordiances into effect, tax residents. But although it gives you a wide range of abilities, it also limits you to, well, being a mayor.

Forget running it- starting a city is an amazingly huge task in itself. You start off by picking its graphical location, then start the task of putting in the basics. Water and power lines. This was my first SimCity game, and it took me months to learn how to properly put in the essentials. Once you start playing (finally) you must build buildings, zone areas, and put up with complaining citizens, advisors, neighboring cities- after a while, you don't even read what they're saying.

Now don't get me wrong, this is an excellent game, but just the fact that it is so difficult to simply start a city. If it wasn't so full of meaningless tasks and complaints, I would have found this game quite appealing. SimCity 3000 is a very difficult game at first, as it takes a while to figure out, but once you have become a master at all of the boring, meaningless chores it becomes rather fun.

I slaved away at SimCity 3000 for weeks until finally finding cheat codes for it, which made the game a little more bearable.

Graphics in this game are moderate to good, although the viewpoints are rather old- fashioned. 3000 allows you to zoom in far enough to see people and cars, which makes the game a bit more realistic. The music is very easy on the ears, and you can turn off songs you don't like in the options menu.

As far as replayablility is concerned, the game is fun for a few months, but won't last you in the long run. If you're looking for a long term winner, keep away from this game. Also, when you start the game up, don't expect just a quick fun fix. It'll take you hours and hours of planning and grunt work to get a city up and running. Don't take this game lightly. Of course, if you are a hardcore gamer who likes difficult games, this is the one for you.

Worth the $60? Maybe. Depends on your tastes, or rather, the size of your allowance. Not a game to save up for months for.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/02, Updated 01/07/02