SimCity™ 4: Rush Hour
Game Review

One of the most popular computer games of all time since its first version was introduced in 1989, SimCity has brought the challenges of managing a city to the minds and fingertips of millions of people, both kids and adults.

Maxis's latest creation, SimCity 4, has plenty of new features to inherit the praise its grandfather (SimCity 2000) received when it was named one of the top 100 games of all time, on any system. It easily carries on the title of "the undisputed champion of the city-building genre" (Gamers Click).

What established the series, and what keeps SimCity interesting after players will have tired of other games, is the amount of things you can do while building your city. In SimCity 4, expect enhancements on the usual features -- zoning, transportation, utilities, entertainment, etc. -- along with appealing new ones. Schools, police and fire stations, water pumps, and other elements now come in different sizes. If your city is growing large, it will pay off to build "deluxe" or "reward" sizes of these structures. As in past versions, SimCity 4 has a variety of transportation options, but with more variety within those options than before. Trains can run on subways, the ground level, or elevated rail. Highways also come in ground and elevated forms, and can be one-way streets or higher-traffic avenues. Freeways include cloverleafs and toll booths. Clever mayors will be able to carefully plan their transportation system to promote efficient movement of goods and people, avoid high levels of congestion, and prevent air pollution that will lead to lower desirability.

Well-run cities can be rewarded with research centers or stadiums, while struggling cities might attract offers for toxic waste dumps or prisons. A new way to tell how your city is doing is through desirability maps, which supplement the more primitive "demand bars" for residential, commercial, and industrial development. Desirability maps also require you to be an adept planner in finding out how to build your city so that each sector's conditions are satisfied. Finding a balance will keep away the distress signals of deteriorating buildings and high crime rates.

For a game style whose strong side is its range of gameplay options, the aesthetics of SimCity 4 have received rave reviews. Building detail has reached an astonishing level of intricacy. Detail is proportionate to the power of your computer, but it is still accommodated in less powerful systems. You can see up close how buildings improve or decay over time; you can witness citizens in their daily tasks and leisure time; and, for the first time, you can see your city at night as well as during the day.

It’s harder to take the resources your city consumes for granted. You can set up energy and water deals with surrounding areas. Those areas might even include other cities you built: SimCity 4 allows you to connect several metropolises you have created in a regional economy, competing with each other for resources and markets. This has been hailed as one of the fourth edition's best innovations.

But this regional breadth does not come at the expense of the personal scale (well, the “Sim” version of personal at least). As mayor you can listen to your favorite Sims and see city life through their eyes. They will give you valuable feedback on city issues.

The SimCity series has succeeded in making the art and science of running a city interesting to the point of being addictive. The more responsibilities you master as mayor and planner, the more fun the game gets. SimCity 4 provides more avenues (no pun intended) than ever for building, maintaining, and improving your own metropolis. The added option of building regions, not just individual cities, alone adds a whole new dimension to an already multidimensional simulation game. Planning concepts abound, from zoning to transportation to city parks to keeping agricultural land. Indeed, SimCity has made millions of kids, young adults, and adults into armchair planners. It serves to highlight why the planning profession is so appealing to some.

The Deluxe Edition is now available, which includes the game and the Rush Hour expansion pack. Visit the SimCity 4 website (linked above) to get a game overview, media buzz, and tips on gameplay.