SimCity 2000

"The only portable SimCity is a good one."

Opening Remarks: When it comes to non-PC versions of SimCity, the gaming world has seen better days. For that matter, it's seen better days when it comes to GameBoy Advance ports in general. So before you even turn on this game, it's got two things going against it. Actually, three things since it has Destination Software's name on it, the developer of some of the worst GBA games to ever see the light of day. But unless you've got a Pocket PC, this is your only bet for a portable SimCity. Let's grit our teeth and take a look.

Gameplay: I should start by saying that SimCity 2000 has never been my favorite edition of the game. I always preferred the original, especially the wonderful Super NES version. SC2000 added some features that made the game somewhat of a chore to play, such as water pipes and subways...which is why I'm glad the GBA port has removed these aspects. Some Sim fans may not like it, but I see it as a good thing. Unfortunately, they also removed some aspects that made the game fun, such as hilly terrain. All the land in this version is flat. Some other exclusions are the animations of people and cars - you no longer see them moving around your city - and the game never tells you the population of your city.

Time passes at a reasonable enough pace (the Super NES version was obnoxiously slow) but if you want it to move slower, that option is available. Most of the options can be changed in game, instead of having to quit and change them in the options menu when you start up the game. For every action you make - lay down a section of road, place a building, etc - there is a "Please Wait..." load time, but it's very short, about a quarter of a second. I'm not complaining about it, just pointing it out. I don't want people to think it detracts from the gameplay, because it doesn't. You can change tons of things in the options menu, such as whether you want disasters to occur, the tax rates, funding for different departments, and so on.

During gameplay you'll get all sorts of notifications. First, there is plain text that scrolls across the screen telling you if pollution is high or the people demand so-and-so type of building. Then there's a help screen that pops up every now and then offering tips and advice, which can be turned off in the options menu if you find this to be annoying. If there's a major problem in the city, a newspaper will pop up hinting at the problem in the headline. And finally there are "go to" notifications, which you can turn off in the in-game option menu. These basically just automatically move the camera to a part of the map if a problem is happening there.

There is no Tutorial mode, so if you've never played a SimCity game before, you may need to check out an online guide to get an idea of how things work. There are scenarios to play through, such as riots and a nuclear meltdown, but there are only four of these. Also, while you can choose between different land maps to build your city on, there are only four to choose from. Neither of these are huge faults, but it would have been nice to have more options. Considering that all the terrain is flat, it probably wouldn't have been so hard for the developer to create and add a few more maps.

Now, my biggest problem with this game is the fact that the designers chose to port it instead of its predecessor, SimCity Classic. SimCity 2000, with its isometric camera view, does not translate very well to a console or handheld. The game was designed for a PC and the mouse controls are difficult to translate to a directional pad. They should have instead ported the original SimCity, which worked fine on the Super NES (some even say it was better than the PC version) and would have worked much better here than SC2000. However, I can't just sit around thinking about what might have been. We didn't get SimCity, we got SC2000, and it's a worthy enough game, and the only portable SimCity available.

Pros: Good all-around portable SimCity package.
Cons: A lot of minor quirks can add up.

Graphics: Very sharp and clean looking. When you start out, the camera is zoomed in way too closely, but you can change this in options. (Remember how I said there are tons of things you can change?) As I previously stated, there are no animations of people and cars moving around your city. It's no big deal, but it kind of takes away the feeling of liveliness in your city, don't you think? All of the menus look good and have easily identifiable symbols to let you know what they're for. The other menus, such as annual tax summaries and the such, are all compiled logically and the text is easy to read.

Pros: Sharp looking,
Cons: Lack of animation around the city.

Sound/Music: There is no in-game music, which isn't such a bad thing because the music in other versions is repetitive as hell and you usually end up turning it off after five minutes of playing anyway. The music on the title screen and in the menus is nice and the sound quality is good, but it's nothing memorable. The sound effects are a little lacking, it's not as if there's a huge amount of action going on at any given time, so you don't really need a ton of sound effects to accompany it.

Pros: No in-game music.
Cons: Lacking sound effects.

Play Control/Game Design: Seeing as the game was designed for the PC and had mouse and keyboard controls in mind, it's going to be awkward playing this game on anything other than a PC. Credit must be given to the developers, however, for doing a good job. While the controls are still awkward, I think they're about as good as they could have gotten. (Certainly much better than the terrible Super NES version of the game.) A bar on the left side of the screen scrolls through your city-building options such as power plants, residential, commercial, and industrial zones, police departments, and so forth. Everything is very intuitive and easy to reach. This menu is small and doesn't get in the way of the in-game happenings. Tapping the L button toggles back and forth between the building menu and your city, and R brings up your camera options. Navigating the other menus such as tax figures is easy. This system works very well overall.

Pros: Very intuitive and easy to use.
Cons: Still a little awkward.

Improve: If you're going to give us a port of a SimCity game instead of making a new one, at least give us the Super NES version of SimCity Classic.

Recommended if you like: As far as I know, there are no other city simulation games for the GBA, but if you want a life sim game, there's the excellent The Sims: Bustin' Out.

Final Words: I really would have preferred a port of the Super NES edition of the original SimCity, but that's not reality. Reality is, they ported SimCity 2000 instead, and it's a good port of a good game. It could have been a great port of a great game, but that's neither here nor there. I really wish they would port SimCity Classic, but since this game was produced in limited quantities and therefore probably never sold many copies, a new GBA SimCity seems doubtful. Since that won't happen I'll take what I can get, and what I can get is a really nice version of SimCity 2000 for GameBoy Advance. If you can find it, I definitely recommend picking it up.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/04