SimCity Creator

Sim City Creator

Rating: E

Score 4.5/10

             The SimCity series has undergone a lot of changes.  Since the first version was released on the Commodore 64 in 1985, this series has been available for nearly every platform, changing slightly each time.  This new game takes on the Nintendo Wii’s unique controller.  This game is only available on the Nintendo Wii.

             Even though the first SimCity was on Commodore 64, the first and only one I had ever played was on SNES.  It was fun, simple and creative.  You could make the greatest city ever, and then destroy it with multiple disasters.  It was surprising how difficult the Wii version was to play.

             When I first started Free Play, I went straight to the menus.  Looking gingerly through the menu, I found three plants.  One of those was a Power Plant, essential for running my city.  Since the plants were unnamed, I didn’t know which were which, so I selected all of them.  I made a small residential area and a small commercial area to get started.  After I put Power Lines connecting all of them, I waited for power and population.  None appeared.

             I went to the assistants I had hired beforehand for guidance, but not one of them gave me a decent answer.  They complained about their lifestyles and cracked lame one-liners.  After checking the tutorials, I found out I needed water.  I went back to Free Play and stopped at the menu.  Should I have a Water Tower or Water Pump?  I took both and connected all the areas to them.  Still no people appeared.

             After checking with my assistants, one complained he wanted roads.  No problem – I’ll just make a few roads and people will come.  After I got to the menu again, another decision – Roads or Railways?

             I took roads, but I knew pollution would be a problem afterward.  During the placement of the road, my hand twitched and the road went off screen.  I fixed that and then gingerly placed the road down.  Population?  Zero.

             I check the tutorials again, to see if I missed a step.  I didn’t find anything.  I checked my assistants again – nothing.  They’re lucky I pay them at all!  One mental breakdown made me put roads, water pumps, and power lines all over my city.  After my mental breakdown, the impossible happened.  The population grew.  Finally!

             It doesn’t get much better than that.  The game has pointless one-liners and is riddled with typos.

            Online is lacking and is a major disappointment.  If fans crave a SimCity game and are considering getting this game, I would recommend downloading SimCity for the SNES on the Virtual Console instead.