Smart City Plan

I went by reviews saying this was so SimCity 2000-ish. In my opinion the only thing smart about it is whoever designed it convinced people to buy it under that guise. Firstly, the "graphics style". It really looks like a whole lot of untextured meshes. It's just ugly and flat. Next, the game play is so simplistic it isn't even interesting, not even watching the buildings go up is interesting, probably because they just look ugly and flat. This perhaps I missed, I don't know, but I looked and looked and tried every visible button but I never did find a way to rotate the screen. Is that really just not there? I'd recommend to anyone considering buying this to either return or venture into the realm the old SimCity games because most likely you'll lose yourself in building those for hours on end. Seriously, all the time I was trying this I was thinking I could have been playing one of those instead and actually enjoying it.

the graphics aren't much to look at, but mechanics seem pretty sound so far. graphic-wise, the aesthetic feels kind of like A-Train from back in the day. there are a lot of policy options, and it gives you enough information to make good choices to grow your city. there isn't much of a tutorial, per se, but the learning curve isn't quite as steep as some city-builders. it uses an in-game mail system to let you know of problems, with a button to see the problem the map. the game is also VERY small, and not demanding of system resources, a big plus for those of us with older computers that struggle with some games. it runs smoothly on my 10-year old laptop (i5 w/8Gb RAM). I like it.

Simply put, this game is in many ways a shot for shot remake of Sim City 1 with a few extras thrown in. That's bad news if you're looking for a modern city building game but great news if, like me, you wanted to keep things as simple as they were in Sim City but with an updated look for modern systems. You'll find all the familiar things here: Industrial, Commercial, and Residential zoning, automatic construction based on land value, traffic, pollution, and noise control, electricity and water management, natural disasters, and pretty much everything you remember. Added to the mix are little things like city policy (Plastic Bag Bans, Public Transit Optimization, etc) to update the experience just a smidge but overall, it's the same game you remember with Mr. Wright, just without the green-haired nerd himself. A potential drawback is that the game is pretty easy. Residents get unhappy from time to time and disasters can strike but much of this is fixable within moments. It's also hard to imagine ever actually running out of money. That said, things to complicate a bit as the city grows and it should keep you fairly busy, just don't expect any high-stress situations that require miraculous fixes. Still, you can definitely find yourself rapidly having to fix a tanked happiness rating among your citizens for a polluted water supply or powergrid-disrupting Earthquake, just don't expect the process of problem-solving to last long. Pros: Classic, familiar gameplay Simplified and easy to learn Charming retro-style isometric art Runs easily on low-end machines Cons: Perhaps a bit too easy Map cannot be rotated Email Too Frequent and sometimes annoying (CAN be filtered). So overall, if you're just looking for a recreation of the original Sim City, this one shouldn't disappoint.

Easy title to get into, takes me back to those old city builders with some nice modern touches. Recommended if you want a short learning curve and want to build a city without worrying about every single road and what the bottom cost will be in economics. No need to worry about cheats, if you take it at a reasonable pace you will have plenty of money and not stress about every single service placement.