Before we even place the first road, a quick fun fact: SimCity comes from Maxis, the studio Will Wright founded in the late 1980s. Will’s earlier work on a helicopter-action editor—Raid on Bungeling Bay—led him to enjoy creating and watching simulated cities more than the actual shooting, and that curiosity blossomed into this game. Maxis did not set out to make another shooter; they set out to make a toy. You can feel that in every menu and pixel.
I like that. Toy is the right word. Alright, Mayor Retro, show me the buttons. We have an empty plot, some seed money, and a blinking cursor. First impressions: the interface is icon-heavy but straightforward. Zone residential, commercial, industrial, run a road through it—watch those little house sprites appear if everything goes right.
Gameplay highlight right away: zoning is pure satisfaction. You lay down a grid of roads, zone an area R-C-I, and then wait. The simulation engine fills in the city organically—houses upgrade, factories smoke, businesses open. That feedback loop of cause and effect is the heart of it. Also, the way you must think about power placement—coal versus nuclear—adds an early strategic layer. Cheap power pollutes; clean power costs more. It forces trade-offs that feel meaningful.
And finances are a steady tension. You can raise taxes and slow growth, or cut services and watch crime and fires rise. The budget screens are a little dry, but the consequences are immediate. Play smart with zoning density and tax brackets, and you can nudge different social classes in different directions. It is almost an urban planner’s puzzle, and I am already imagining future skylines.
Hot tips while we build—let’s jot them down so you do not make the rookie mistakes I remember from the last disk I played:
- Always run at least one power plant early. No power, no development.
- Connect residential areas to commercial and industrial with roads; isolated zones do not develop.
- Keep a buffer of low-density zoning between heavy industry and nicer residential neighborhoods to control pollution effects.
- Monitor the budget monthly. If you run a deficit, cut discretionary spending slightly before slashing police or fire protection.
- Be ready for disasters; a few strategically placed police and fire stations make recovery far less painful.
The scenarios are a delightful diversion from free-form play. We tried Detroit earlier—high crime, aging infrastructure—and it felt like a race against entropy. That is where the game’s scenario design shines: it teaches you through challenge. The engine rewards planning and patience rather than reflexes.
Now for a memorable moment: I deliberately triggered a tornado just to see the chaos unfold. Houses shredded, the budget spiked with reconstruction costs, and then the city rallied back when we lowered taxes to attract displaced families. There is a strange joy in watching citizens return to rebuilt streets. It is almost cinematic, except the soundtrack is a steady hum of blips and clicks—very 1991.
Speaking of cinematic, we must mention the so-called “final boss.” There is no Dracula or evil overlord in SimCity, so the final boss is, in practice, the one thing that will humble any mayor: compound mismanagement culminating in bankruptcy and urban decay. In one scenario we watched the budget spiral, services cut, fires rage unanswered, and then—metaphorically—the city falls. On the SNES port I read about, there is a cameo disaster straight out of an arcade game—Bowser stomps through the town like a giant monster—and that plays like the game’s cheeky acknowledgement that even a sandbox needs a jolt now and then. Here, though, the final boss is systemic: your own choices returned to you amplified.
Areas to be candid about: the UI can be obtuse at first. Many icons are compact and require memorization. The lack of in-game tutorials beyond basic help screens means new players may feel lost until they experiment. Also, the game can feel punishing in its realism—random disasters sometimes strike at awkward moments, making hard-fought growth vanish in minutes. It is fair, but it is also frustrating when the simulation feels arbitrary rather than instructive.
And the sound and visuals, while charming in an era of floppy disks and CRTs, are plainly functional. On a good Amiga or Macintosh port the city looks prettier, but the core experience depends on your imagination and patience rather than graphical spectacle. That said, watching zones upgrade from dirt roads to skyscrapers is deeply satisfying even in monochrome.
Final assessment: this is a thoughtful, open-ended simulator that rewards planning and curiosity. It is not flawless; the learning curve and occasional punitive randomness hold it back from perfection. Still, the sandbox design and elegant simulation make it one of those rare games you return to, because every new city tells a new story.
Agreed. It earns a B. Celebrate the depth and replayability, but be candid about the rougher edges—the interface, the randomness, and the lack of hand-holding. For anyone with a floppy disk drive and a willingness to tinker, this is a memorable toy that can teach you as much about cities as it entertains.
