I remember when I first played this game back then in 1998. I don't usually buy games online, but seeing I bought this, it should be proof that this game has something in it. Long story short, in this game you play as a property developer who will have to contend with rival developers, the demands of the city council, and the complaints of the tenants. So far sounds like your standard city building sim game - until you get to build the Undesirables, and play all manners of pranks (both harmless and lethal but all very disruptive) to your poor rivals. Of course, they can do the same to you, so watch your back. Unfortunately, the gameplay and interface had several flaws in it, which made playing the game frustratingly difficult - at first. 1. No way to fix fences for non-tenant buildings: If the AI sent a Foreman to take over one of your structures, eventually they WILL get it due to attrition. This works in reverse, but it's up to you if it's worth the trouble to keep coming back to take over their building. 2. Mob favor system: In a game where units have multiple life bars before they can actually be killed, it's a shame that the best combat unit (Gangster) is restricted by the system. In short, everytime you deplete someone's health bar, that takes 1 favor. If you took the person down with 2 Gangsters, that takes 2, not 1, regardless of who landed the killing blow. Mob favors can only be made at a rate of 1 per birth by level 3 tenants, so they're not exactly easy to accumulate until late-game. 3. The computer cheats in terms of resources, money, and units. Even after you purge the whole map out of their buildings and units, they just seem to always have spare tenants to convert into more workers. This can be very frustrating if your goal is to wipe them off the map. Doubly annoying because Gangsters are the only ones able to destroy their HQ, as the mob favor system means that you will run out of favor before their HQ goes down (took me 40 favors to destroy their HQ due to their units swarming my Gangsters). That said, know some tricks that will make your life much, MUCH easier: 1. Learn all the possible tenant complaints. Seriously, they complain so much and you need to prepare for every possibility. Much more pronounced in level 3 tenants and above. 2. The Undesirables Mr. Fixit (Mr. Fixit Store) and Cloppy the Clown (Video Arcade) are among the best units, if not necessary. Early game, you may want to build Pawn Shop to rob your rivals for cash or resources, but in a game where only Gangsters can destroy structures and it takes a lot of effort to kill an enemy unit, the ability to destroy structures and kill units in ONE blow is a huge, HUGE edge. Be careful not to send ANY unit into the Video Arcade, or they will be killed (which means, don't take over enemy Arcade, send a Psycho instead to demolish the structure). 3. Level 1 tenants produce workers and Level 2 tenants produce police officers, but level 3 tenants should be your bread-and-butter. They produce a solid income from rent and the aforementioned mob favors. Do be careful when they turn into Neighborhood Watch or Accountants; they will add more to your headache with their demands. Personally I think their bonuses are not worth the trouble.
