SimCity (Super Nintendo)

SimCity

The famous simulation in which one takes the role of a mayor and must help a new city thrive and become a megalopolis. This version, co-developed by Maxis and Nintendo, is widely considered as the best adaptation of the original game. It was only released on Super Nintendo.

Several extra features were made available on this version. Seasons would affect the visual aspect of your town. Some popular Nintendo characters made surprising guest appearances for advanced players who reached a certain stage into the game. This version also featured a few extra missions in scenario mode. SimCity is fondly remembered for offering some of the best musics of the Super Nintendo.

SimCity Review

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Review by Damien McFerran

SimCity Screenshot

Before ‘The Sims’ there was SimCity. This game was on most home computer systems at the time but the SNES port with its exclusive features and additional scenarios ranks as one of the better versions. The SimCity series has never been one to be taken lightly, however the SNES interpretation is one of the more 'easy-going' in the series. As such it is ideal for newcomers.

In this game you will design your own city, a novel idea back when this was released. In addition to that you can deal with a number of scenarios such as dealing with the results of an earthquake or a rampaging crime spree in the city. As major you have to keep the citizens happy.

SimCity Screenshot

The graphics aren't going to win any awards, but they do the job perfectly and the sparse audio and laid-back music is also ideally suited to this kind of game. There are cameo appearances from Mario and Bowser so Nintendo fans will feel they are getting their value for money.

Potentially, SimCity offers months and months of gameplay and as a result represents one of the best value Virtual Console downloads available. If you're after something that offers long-term challenge and wil tax your brain, then you really should download this as soon as possible. Action fans are obviously going to be disappointed by the lack of instant gratification, but if you're after a title that will challenge your grey matter then this is it.

4/5

Average reader rating: 3.92 (61 ratings)

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Screenshots

SimCity Screenshot SimCity Screenshot SimCity Screenshot SimCity Screenshot

SimCity (Video Clip)

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Have your say about SimCity

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1. Bass X0 United Kingdom 20 Feb 2007, 11:39 GMT

I loved the Metropolis music but could never get a Megalopolis city. I always had to cheat on this game too...

2. Shrapnel09 United States 21 Feb 2007, 06:19 GMT

does anyone know the map number for the most area of land, i remember playing this game way back and i thought it was 064 or something like that, either way it was a map that hand a small river twoards the bottom and the rest was all building space. Megalopolis seems damn near impossible to get to, but one must try.

3. Remy Netherlands 21 Feb 2007, 16:28 GMT

It was #061 ;)

4. metallicorphan United Kingdom 22 Feb 2007, 16:48 GMT

okay....how do you get that money cheat?...i think its been disabled for the VC version,not sure....i could leave my Wii on i suppose...

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5. Mendez United Kingdom 24 Feb 2007, 02:03 GMT

I suck at this game! XD
I always end up bankrupt after about 5 years! It does put me off a bit, and SimCity never has been my favourite series but I still think it's great! I'd give it 3.5/5

6. Don-Bon United States 04 Mar 2007, 18:57 GMT

Love this game, can't wait till my Wii points card gets to my house. (It always takes forever).

Btw, Nintendo does not change the VC games from the original, that's why all the glitches in the old games are still there. So the cheat should still work. If not, I'll be kind of skeptical on what they promised...

7. Jake United States 05 Mar 2007, 20:55 GMT

the cheats work on VC download and i need help getting Megalopolis i can only make small Metropolis :( ooo and 1 more thing it sucks for PAl ppl nstc is also been better anyway!!!

8. Jim United States 09 Apr 2007, 15:52 GMT

How do you do the money cheat?!?! Too long ago for me to remember :(

9. Ryan Canada 17 Apr 2007, 03:07 GMT

For the money cheat: $999,999
You have to spend all your money
Set your fire dept spending lower( or police but fire is more expendable)
Then when December comes and the tax screen shows up you have to hold L and click on "go with figures". While still holding L you have to go back to your tax screen and set everything back to 100% and click on "go with figures" ( your figures need to be in the negative for this to work, it may take a couple of years to make sure you'll end up in the negative without getting fired)

Then once your back to your map you let go of L and BAM you have $999,999

10. Mr 64 United Kingdom 23 Apr 2007, 14:34 GMT

The 'God Game' to end them all. Sim City was an absolute phenomenon when it was released back in the late 1980s. Spreading out from it's origin on the Mac and PCs of the era, the game soon became available on every format under the sun - including many of the consoles.

Some questioned why this was one of the first SNES games on VC, but it's a really good game. The basic premise is that you're a Major/town planner of a city and you've got to build it and run it to a profit. You choose how the budget is spent and also how the city is designed and grows. Choose badly and you'll either go bankrupt or design a city that is beseiged with problems such as crime, pollution and traffic congestion. Building the perfect city is not an easy job! And it it wasn't just that, there's always the risk of a natural disaster scuppering your plans. All in all it's very addictive!

The presentation looks like it was lifted straight from the VGA version of the game on the PC and has a style that is very reminiscent of PC games of the era, i.e. very formal and questionable use of colour.

It's worth downloading as it's still got a simple charm compared to the complexity and overblown nature of the latest additions to the series. It's release might also encourage Westwood to release the Megadrive port of Dune 2 to Virtual Console - now that would be worth shouting about.

11. Nathan Walyer United States 13 May 2007, 09:02 GMT

I have this game, and I like it. To answer some of these questions: The map with the most land that isn't a scenario is map 61. It is a great map because the river separates the land into two large halves, and there is a small island that is perfect for the airport. I have achieved megalopolis in Sim City, but it is very difficult. You have to pretty much cram people into your city by developing every square inch of the map. You have to strategically plan how much land will be used for power plants, transportation, police stations, fire department, etc, and be able to place as many zones as possible.

12. Ghetto_ninja United States 16 May 2007, 03:06 GMT

I remember playing this game on my friends SNES. It could've been a sequel cus i think you could have either bowser or DOnkey kong destroy your village and cause other disasters. Thats the only reason we never got far cus it was just too tempting to destroy everything.

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13. Tull Norway 01 Jun 2007, 18:51 GMT

watchout this one steals your sleep:P

14. Darren Canada 04 Jun 2007, 17:00 GMT

How do you get commercial and residential areas to their top level ? I would appreciate any suggestions.

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15. SKTTR Germany 11 Jun 2007, 23:33 GMT

My top favourite VC game. Every other game I've downloaded was too short, too hard, too known or too bad. There were good games also, but they were like 10-15 hours until you beat them completely.

But this is a game you will always come back to.
Every city will be different. There are thousands of maps.
You can be creative, but must be thoughtful.

For the VC this game is perfect, cause it will be a channel that's not going to bore you after completing it.

The game itself plays easily with Gamecube or Classic Controller and isn't as confusing and complex as most of the new simulation-titles.

The music is awesome. It's one of the SNES most classic tunes. Graphically everything is clean to look at, the different seasons and little cars and planes and trains and growing houses give the game a living touch.

Fits perfectly on VC: 5 Stars.

16. garymac United States 29 Jun 2007, 09:46 GMT

i dont think that the money cheat is available on the wii version. on the original computer version you had to hold shift down and type "funds" to get 10,000 dollars whenever u wanted it, but if u did it too much there would be a disaster.

17. DJ United States 04 Jul 2007, 23:29 GMT

the money cheat DOES work in the Wii Downloadable version. I am watching my buddy play it right now with 891536 dollars. He started with 999999.

18. superfurryfox United Kingdom 15 Jul 2007, 09:38 GMT

AND Dr Wright from this game is to appear in Smash Bros Brawl!

19. Zephyr Tread Canada 23 Jul 2007, 03:17 GMT

Quite a good game, Campaign is near impossible, you definitely buy it for the practice mode. A tricky but entertaining game that takes planning, but is rewarding when you see your town start to grow. 3 stars!

20. ASASAS Germany 02 Sep 2007, 12:43 GMT

I love Sim City on SNES.

And i love the music Metropolis and cathastrophe. Any body have one of this???

21. Falco9998 United States 08 Sep 2007, 01:52 GMT

Yes this game is indeed fun. I got it for the Wii VC and I got a metropolis but never quite made it to a Megaopolis. this game is very addictive!

22. Koolkitties United States 10 Dec 2007, 02:15 GMT

This game is fun, but I could never play it longer than an hour. I get bored.

23. learn japanese ds Canada 07 Jan 2008, 04:23 GMT

This is the very first VC title I bought! It was so difficult when I was a kid but now that I am older I wanted to go back and defeat it. It is still really hard, but at least now I don't have to use the money cheat, now I just use patience. :)

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24. dexter United Kingdom 23 Jan 2008, 22:04 GMT

One of the better versions of Sim City, although it is a game better played with a mouse!

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25. zelda freak United States 21 Feb 2008, 05:56 GMT

I love to create stuff but I could just never figure Sim City out. I'm still not sure what to do in senerios even though I'm in my teens now, will someone help me:/

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26. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 01:43 GMT

Sweet Im gonna buy this and River City Ransom When I get 2000 Wii Points

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27. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 01:45 GMT

Thats a pretty good Strategy in the clip. Why dont you follow that strategy and use the money cheat Zelda Freak. At least for this Simcity.

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28. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 01:47 GMT

Thats very true Dexter thats very true. I have Simcity 4 and if my computer was able to run it I would buy Societies

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29. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 01:51 GMT

Kool Kitties how'd you get bored with this game in an hour. That's impossible. I think you'd better see a doctor and quick!

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30. zelda freak United States 22 Feb 2008, 07:56 GMT

I just tried the money cheat, and it really helped me. thnx Csheroe. I finished a huge city but i can't remember how many citizens I had though. This game is so much fun now! XD

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31. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 21:28 GMT

Its pretty awesome I just bought it with my new wii points Next comes River City Ransom....
I hope

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32. Csheroe United States 22 Feb 2008, 21:32 GMT

I got to 20000 people in practice mode. I could've gotten it higher but I shut it off`.

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33. Big Tree United Kingdom 23 Feb 2008, 15:32 GMT

Got faaaaarrrrr to much time on my hands. now at 1989, metropolis and at the time of writing 123,580 people and £65816 in the bank and nowhere else to build on lol. Good game. No cheats by the way.

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34. Big Tree United Kingdom 27 Feb 2008, 08:32 GMT

@don remenis. Wow thats great going, well done. I didnt know about the stacking method til now,thanks. Will give it another look. How many citizens are needed for a megapolis?

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35. don remenis Canada 13 Mar 2008, 15:56 GMT

megalopolis is when you have 500 000 citz and more

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36. Big Tree United Kingdom 13 Mar 2008, 21:56 GMT

@don remenis. 500,000 Jeeez, i'm gonna need all the help I can get. If you have ANYTHING that can help, im all ears and it would be much appreciated.

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37. Big Tree United Kingdom 15 Mar 2008, 12:06 GMT

@don remenis
just had a proper read at the walkthrough,good reading. Im gonna start a land 61 with prob donut pattern,time is aginst me right now but I really appreciate the help. will def take me up a level.

38. sle United States 24 Mar 2008, 16:39 GMT

Is this game no longer on the VC?

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39. Dazza United Kingdom 24 Mar 2008, 17:05 GMT

@Sle - SimCity is still available on the VC. Did you look in the Super Nintendo section? :p

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40. Bass X0 United Kingdom 02 Apr 2008, 22:44 GMT

okay.... do people play this game without the money cheat or with? I used to; i don't own this game on VC but i did own it as a kid. i could never reach to Megalopolis even with it. Which was fine because the Metropolis music rocked.

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41. 2hip2beskware Canada 04 Apr 2008, 17:37 GMT

Can you make your city a miserable hole and cackle madly? That's a deciding factor in my purchase.

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42. don remenis Canada 08 Apr 2008, 20:11 GMT

@ 2hip, you can even recreate Gotham city and claim yourself as Razel-Algul from the League Of Shadow if you want...Scy-rise criminality, extreme pollution, never ending recession, disasters by the douzen, so many way to «build» an unhappy place...
This game well worth the 800 vc points !

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43. Csheroe United States 24 Apr 2008, 23:54 GMT

@ Zelda Freak
your welcome
always glad to help out.

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44. RichWalker United Kingdom 10 Jun 2008, 10:22 GMT

That was such a relaxing video to watch :)

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