"The best flight-sim out there, save the world or destroy it!"

SimCopter is the best Sim-game by far. When I first saw SimCopter on a shelf at the store, I thought that it looked pretty weird. Maxis doesn't normally make flight-sim games, but this isn't your normal flight-sim. It isn't like the other Sim-games, where you have to make something with a certain amount of money, but you have to use the money you make by earning it to buy better copters and equipment, and then you get to accomplish more missions and advance to more levels. Sounds pertty tedious, but once you buy the game (which you should, no doubt about it), you'll find out soon enough what I mean. One more thing, I think SimCopter should win an award for "Most Easter Eggs" because it has the most cheats out of all the Sim-Games.

GRAPHICS: Top notch, you can control the level of detail they have. For instance, you can speed up the game by taking the texture out of the objects in the game. You can also see individual people walking around the street, four out of five times you will end up saving them from one thing or another. You also have a very handy map at your disposal, that is very detailed and helps you locate key buildings, like police stations or hospitals.

SOUND/MUSIC: The music is the worst category, because it gets so tedious so quick. It has about two or three selections that get boring real fast. The sound, however, is a whole different story. You have a two-way radio that a lady is always telling you to go to the scene of a robbery, fire, etc. and where they are located, which is cool to a degree. There are also your basic sounds, like your chopper chopping and people screaming for your help.

STORY: What story?

CONTROLS: Kinda complicated, although you get to set which buttons do what. The default setting is the Up arrow key moves forward, the Down moves you back, the Right turns you right, and Left turns you left. Also, E gets you in and out of the copter, Q propels the copter, and W decreases altitude. Then there are lots and lots of other stuff, like lowering your Bambi bucket to get water, etc.

DIFFICULTY: Not too hard, not too easy, just my style :) You have about ten missions, which aren't that hard, only really long. What you do is you have to earn points and cash by completing missions like dispersing a traffic jam, putting out a fire, catching a criminal, and things like that. And adding cheat codes makes it even easier. Basically, an excellent difficulty setting.

GRAPHICS: 9/10

SOUND/MUSIC: 8.5/10

STORY: Irrelevant, no story

CONTROLS: 8/10

DIFFICULTY: 10/10

OVERALL: 9/10 (not an average)

FINAL THOUGHT: Save your money and buy this game, everyone will love it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/00, Updated 01/11/00