SimCity 2000

Download SimCity 2000 and build your dream city from the ground up! In this classic city-building simulation, manage resources, plan infrastructure, and create a thriving metropolis. Become the ultimate city planner and play now!
a game by THQ, and Maxis Software
Genres: Strategy/War, Simulation
Platforms: PC, SNESSNES, Playstation, GBA
Editor Rating: 7.2/10, based on 8 reviews, 10 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.4/10 - 10 votes
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See also: Retro Games, SimCity Games
SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000
SimCity 2000

People say:

6.0

I played this one originally on the PC so the Image I had was one of best graphics and easy-to-use mouse control. The PlayStation version Is still hires and has the mouse control that I truly enjoy. The Interlace Is big and kind of clunky which Is annoying but not terrible. I would say using the control pad Instead of the mouse would be very frustrating. There are a variety of different cities to load up and build from-or dactyl Usually games like this are difficult to get Into on a home system, but SlmCIty 2000 on the PlayStation Is not that way at all. It's nice to see games like this finally taking advantage of the mouse.

4.0

I love being able to build anything I want, where I want. SC2000 lets you feel the headaches of running a small town or a bustling metropolis. Being able to custom-design your city has a certain appeal to It can place highways, zoos, bus depots, or prisons anywhere you want. This Is Easily Maxis' best Sim title. It doesn't score higher because It's hindered by a lack of a better resolution. SC2000 Is too graphically detailed to look at on a television. The Interface Is clunky too. The menus are hard to navigate; a PlayStation mouse helps out a bit. It was also difficult to scroll around the map quickly. Great game, bad version.

7.5

This port of the PC classic Is half-game and half-civics lesson. But just because the game Is educational doesn't mean It's boring. Sim City grabs your attention the second you start setting up your city. You can spend days tinkering with your metroplexes, so the game never really gets old. The tons of play options and numerous mission modes also add life to the title. The graphics are adequate, but the music gets old--It sounds like It's from the film Weekend at Bemle's. Manipulating the menus Is a bit hard with the joypad, so the mouse Is strongly recommended. In fact, this game Is the best reason to buy the PlayStation Mouse.

7.0

I remember playing Sim City on the Super NES for hours on end. This updated version for the PlayStation gives players a chance to build not only on to the ground but down under it as well. I was hoping for an Interface similar to the PC version but what was Included Instead was a childish menu bar similar to the Saturn version. The game features plenty of controlling options for you as Die mayor to take charge of, such as balancing a budget and fighting increasing pollution. SC2000 has It all. The only thing this game needs is the all-out money trick so players can build to their heart's content.

Download SimCity 2000

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
SNES

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Pentium II (or equivalent) 266MHz (500MHz recommended), RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended), DirectX v8.0a or later must be installed
Playstation

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
GBA

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

I remember seeing the big box for SimCity 2000 back when it was first released and bugging my dad to buy it for me. I loved the first SimCity game and this one had a UFO on the cover! It may seem like this is just SimCity with a “sci-fi” twist, but that is not the case at all and it is actually way more in-depth than its predecessor way.

My City, My Way

So here we are in the future (well it was the future at the time the game came out) and you have one goal and that is to build a city. Actually, that is not entirely true. While building a city is, of course, the point of the game. Making money is that actual goal of the game and you want to have a fully thriving city, full of people who are happy to be there and who are happy to be spending money, paying taxes and so on to keep the city growing and you rich.

There is a bit of a “story mode” to the game which is fun. This sees you having to deal with a disaster and rebuild or take care of the city. These are actually based on real disasters and each one brings with it, its own kind of challenges and things for you to do. So, while, just building your city, your way is great. You do have these more focused kind of scenarios to take part in too.

You Looking At Me Funny?

The original SimCity game had a top down viewpoint, but with SimCity 2000, they changed it up and we have an isometric point of view. You may wonder what is the point in this, but it not only makes the game look better than the previous game. It also means that you now have different elevations to deal with such as the pipes that are below the city. I for one think the jump to this viewpoint was a great idea and it not only makes the game look better; it actually helps add more depth to the gameplay too.

So Much To Build, So Little Money!

You always need to be making money in SimCity 2000. Not just because that is the goal of the game, but you want a lot of money because there is so much stuff to add to your city. Just to give you a small taste, you can have prisons, schools, entertainment, emergency services and so on. What you would expect to be in a city can be put into your city and just when you have enough money to build a new power station or school or whatever, you think of something else to add to your city.

For me, the fact that you are never truly done with your city is the real driving force of this game. While other SimCity games have come after this. I do feel that this one here manages to stand out very well.

I love SimCity 2000. While it may not be the prettiest looking game in the franchise. I will always have a soft spot for this incredible game. It is so, so in-depth, but it is so easy to get to grips with in terms of what you can do.

9

It is so easy to see why so many people have been addicted to this series for so many years.

Pros:

  • I like the new viewpoint that the game has
  • Lots of cool stuff to add to your city
  • Plenty of fun disasters to deal with
  • Some fun real-life scenarios to deal with
  • While deep, the game is very easy to get to grips with

Cons:

  • The graphics have not aged all that gracefully
  • It could have been a tad more “sci-fi” if you ask me

Sim City The First

The original Sim City is available on just about every format you could possibly think of, from the SNES, Mac and PC to Arkwrights Spinning Jenny. On the PC its had more than a few data disks released for it to add to your Sim Citying pleasure, although none of them alter the way the game is played in any way.

The Terrain Editor allows you, perhaps not surprisingly, to edit terrain, creating your own bizarre chunk of land which you will later ruin by overdeveloping. The other data disks come in the form of additional Sim City Graphics sets. There are packs containing Ancient Cities (Ancient Asia, Medieval Times and Wild West) and Future Cities (Future Europe, Future USA and Moon Base). It has to be said that these arent exactly must-buys. They dont add anything to the gameplay whatsoever (power cables being replaced by water pipes, etc.) and even as an attempt to introduce a different atmosphere theyre rather lacking, as the graphics arent at all evocative of the time theyre supposed to represent: multi storey sheriffs offices and Ancient Asian Police Departments are typical (and theyre still all priced in dollars).

The only (rather pathetic) difference is the way in-game messages are phrased: In Ancient Asia and Medieval times More industrial areas needed becomes 'Master (or Sire) we need more industrial areas. In the Wild West More residential areas needed becomes More homesteads needed etcetera. The original PC version has been given a smart and jazzy 256 colour upgrade and is now available as Sim City for Windows.

These data disks arent available directly for the Windows version, although the installation routine does have a built-in facility to convert the DOS packs for use with the Windows version. Theres something of a dispute going on at the moment as to who owns the rights to Sim City, so its not the easiest game to get hold of in its original form. Informed opinion seems to think that this will all be sorted out in the near future, and that a bumper budget package will be released next year, containing at least some, and possibly all, of the above extras at a low, low price.

The God Game

od games are so-called because the first time you see the f- number of icons splattered all over the screen you say: God. There have been any number of games released in which you get to lord it over the scumbags on-screen, controlling and toying with their destinies for your own amusement.

Tivo or three can justifiably be called classics: one is Populous, in which you really are a god, and, as such, responsible for a warlike people at odds with their neighbours who worship a different god. Raising and lowering land to enable your people to settle and breed, you gain power from your peoples worship. As you gain strength, an arsenal of special effects become available to you - earthquakes, floods, and so on - which you can unleash on the enemys people to help your own to victory.

In Civilization you attempt to lead one small, unarmed tribe from the dawn of civilisation all the way into the space age, hopefully becoming the first to colonise a new planet. You start by establishing a new city and, with a combination of exploration, scientific research and development, and plain old war, you discover new lands, establish new cities and make new inventions to help you in your task.

Many cheap imitations of these games are around, amongst them are Caesar which is essentially a poor Civilization, and Moonbase which is a very poor Sim City. Other not-quite classics are two other Sim games, Sim Life and Sim Earth, which are based on scientific theories of evolution and planetary development. They suffer from the lack of any real target for you to achieve: however much you tinker around with things, the planet and life continues to evolve. They dont really have any kind of edge that makes them addictive. Yet another is Sim Ant, in which you control an ant colony in a garden, fighting off rival colonies before launching a raid on the house. Strange indeed, but not without interest.

The idea behind Sim City is simple but captivating: you take over and develop an expanse of land, hoping, in your role as Mayor, to transform it from an inconsequential village into the nations capital. Starting with a budget (fixed at a sum dependant on the difficulty level you select), you try to build and lay out a good balance of residential, commercial and industrial areas, linking them with roads and railways, and ensuring a good supply of electricity. Raising funds by taxation, you try to battle with the likes of pollution, crime and traffic congestion, while ensuring your town becomes an attractive place to live, thus attracting more people, increasing the revenue from your taxes... you get the idea. Get it wrong and the population will start by being annoyed, and end up simply moving elsewhere.

As well as the economical and logistical problems there are the disasters to contend with: fires, floods, plane crashes, whirlwinds and even rampaging monsters will do their utmost to destroy your good work, making you spend on repairs the money you were saving up for a sports stadium or a park. All very dull sounding, but its extremely addictive. Its one of those games where you suddenly look up at 2am with a cold cup of tea next to you that you made four hours ago. And so to the new version...

Whats the same?

Youre still the Mayor of a patch of mud that you would like to do an Eliza Doolittle to. You still build things, demolish things, battle against all the same misfortunes and delight at the same triumphs, in the hope of finally making it big.

And whats different?

Absolutely everything, from the gameplay and the options to the level of complexity (its about five million times more complicated). But by far the most obvious enhancement is the view of the land youre developing. All that top-down plan-view stuff has gone right out the window. Its all rendered in sumptuous three dimensional 256 colour vga graphics. You have proper hills and valleys and you can raise and lower it yourself, Populous-style. To allow for the fact that things will be hidden from your view behind the lush graphics, its rotatable through 360 degrees in 90 degree steps. The graphical detail has improved tenfold: there are lights on airport runways, little street lamps and mini stop-signs at road junctions. The planes and helicopters even have shadows. Theres a far wider range of buildings and facilities, including prisons, schools, universities, marinas and libraries. You can allocate high and low density residential, commercial and industrial zones, with irregularly shaped boundaries.

There are new and different objectives and more vital statistics. The latter are key areas in which you must be successful: no longer is it sufficient merely to keep down crime, traffic jams, taxes and pollution. Education is now high on the list of priorities. No longer is it enough to merely make sure each home has power: water must now be provided to all, via pumping stations, desalinisation plants, water treatment works, storage areas and a whole network of pipes. Larger buildings are erected complete with their own pipes already laid beneath the ground: you have to link everything up and provide the pumps to get it all circulating. Yes, there is an underground view.

Underground, overground, wombling free...

cy As if all the above ground planning wasnt enough, you now have to take down below into account as well. The facility for the existence of road tunnels doesnt make underground planning any simpler. You can also plan and build an entire tube/underground/subway/metro (call it what you will) layout, if you feel you should do something to ease traffic congestion. Alternatively, of course, you could build one and under fund it, generating an extremely poor, unsafe and unreliable service; driving people back into their cars and boosting lead poisoning related deaths in the under fives.

And...

And there are whole new ways to provide power to the people, including wind, solar, hydro-electric, gas and oil power. There are new real scenarios for you to play (the original had these too - San Francisco earthquakes, Hamburg bombing raids, Tokyo monster attacks, etc.) and cope with. There are also more refined methods of keeping track of the citys budget, land value and industries, and the populations age, health and level of education. All in all, it looks as if this is going to be a bit of a belter when its finally released, another in the fine tradition of games that wreck homes, relationships and careers.

Budgets

Budgets have got a lot more complicated than they were when I was a boy, I can tell you. Budgeting is now split into several areas, all of which can have differing amounts of expenditure. Each area will usually give you advice if you click on the appropriate question mark bubble. Each also has a book icon next to it, which gives you more detailed information and finer control over their budgets.

For example, Education allows you to separate the funding for schools and colleges. Transit separates funding for roads, rail, power wires, subways, sewers, bridges and tunnels. Property Taxes allows you to distinguish between taxes on residential, commercial and industrial property. Finances even allows you to issue Bonds, which is a bit scary.

The most interesting option, though, is the Community Programs (or programmes, as I prefer to say). This makes it possible for you to fine tune the policies by which you run the city with special public programmes; some may be popular and some unpopular, but its up to you to decide if the city needs it. There are four specific areas and one general.

Finance allows you to add a one percent sales tax and one percent income tax; you may also legalise gambling in your city and introduce metered parking.

Education programmes include the introduction of anti-drug and pro-reading campaigns, and also CPR training and water safety programmes.

Under Safety and Health are the options to introduce neighbourhood watch schemes, a volunteer fire department, a public smoking ban and shelters for the homeless. In addition, you can go all un-American and initiate free health clinics. Promotional endeavours include advertising for tourism and business purposes; promoting a sister city and an annual carnival.

General areas of civic improvement include the introduction of car-pool lanes, nuclear-free zones and toxic waste testing. The cost of all the programmes youre currently running is detailed below, and in your annual budget report.

You know it's a classic, I know it's a classic; we all know it's a classic.This mega-hit for the PC and Mac has recently graced the Saturn with its greatness and has now found the time to do a similar number for the PlayStation.

If you don't already know about this game, then you're way beyond help. Sim City is one title in a catalogue of building sims that allow you to generate your own living community. Zone out living and commercial areas; build parks and schools; set up police precincts and construct sports stadia--it's all here.

Sim City 2000 for the PlayStation resembles its home-computer counterpart in every respect.The graphics aren't as clear as they could be in this day and age, but they more than suffice in creativity and detail. Ease-of-play is also maintained, permitting the user to play with either the normal controller or mouse.The only downside to this game is that, like Doom, it's slowly becoming outdated and is in need of an infusion of new blood.

Graphics - 7

Sound/FX - 6

Gameplay - 8

Rating - 7

The PC city simulation that no one thought was possible for a 16-Bit game system has been successfully ported over by Imagineer and HAL Laboratory. The system interface has been significantly altered and fixed at the bottom of the screen for easier interactivity. Apart from that, every other aspect is nearly intact!

Straight from the PC comes SC 2000, which lets you build your own working city. You design the roads, place the houses and start industries. You have to balance your resources out and plan carefully if you're going to keep everyone happy. Not only do you have to worry about supplying everyone with electricity and water, but you must make sure they can reach their jobs and homes as well. SimCity 2000 never gets old because there are so many different types of cities to construct. Sim-City 2000 is a megalomaniac's dream. Where else can you control an entire city whose blueprints come from your mind?

  • MANUFACTURER - Maxis
  • THEME - Simulation
  • NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1

The highly complex, urban development soft is coming to 16-Bit courtesy of HAL Laboratory. The interface has been altered from the original PC version. No need to worry, though! The basic elements of the award-winning sim have not been altered. Imagineer also promises the addition of new features that are exclusive to the SFC version!

Ill-advised console conversion of the complex PC urban development sim. japanese text doesn't help unless you've played the original.

A clone of the top-selling PC game, Sim City 2000 won't dominate the marketplace this season, but it's a decent addition to any SNES library.

SC2000 offers you more than the original Sim City for the SNES. As before, you control everything in your city, from building the housing and parks to figuring out how to placate the often-angry citizens—but since you start at the year 2000, you also deal with futuristic issues, like trying to launch your populace into space.

The presentation is uneven. The graphics look okay and the sound effects are fun, but the music is repetitive. The control interface is awkward, especially if you're used to the mouse or keyboard from the computer version. Despite the flaws, if you love sims, you'll be happy to see this game. It's real Sim Fun.

ProTips:

  • Floods cause damage only at sea level. Use the Raise Terrain button to build protective dikes around low-lying areas to take less flood damage.
  • Power plants are crucial. Unless you're in the No Disaster mode, they'll eventually wear out and shut down. Keep track of their life span so you can rebuild as necessary.

Although this version of the old sim classic offers some new perks, like a 3D limo ride through your finished metropolis, and new responsibilities such as choosing prison locations, the slow pace and confusing icon-driven interface will try even the patience of Sim-maniacs who love the original game.

Newer features also mean more planning: Now you lay down water lines, post power lines, zone neighborhoods before building them, and decide whether or not you want a grade school, high school, or university on your block.

The lame music and audio effects don't add much to the community. It's a pity this city-builder couldn't build a better world to live in.

ProTips:

  • Build power plants (especially the nuclear plants) far from the city limits to avoid industrial mishaps.
  • Tunnels are expensive. Try to build roads around uneven terrain, or level the terrain before you build.

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots

Playstation Screenshots

SNES/Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Screenshots

GBA Screenshots

See Also

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