Opinion

Why SimCity 2000 remains unrivalled

Philipp Rüegg
27.10.2023
Translation: Eva Francis

Cities Skylines 2 is larger, more detailed and more complex than SimCity 2000. And still, the pixelated city planning simulation from 1993 is still the best one yet – at least in my opinion.

Oh, that sound. That wonderful midi soundtrack fills me with a warm feeling after just a few seconds. For me, SimCity 2000 is one of few games where music is such an integral part. Composer Sue Kasper has created the perfect soundtrack. It’s not too intrusive, yet catchy enough to make me sway my head from side to side. Thanks to its subtlety, it doesn’t get on my nerves – even after umpteen hours of playing. Quite the opposite of the piercing jingles in the radio stations of Cities Skylines 2.

A game that welcomes me with such funky sound just has to be good. And SimCity 2000 really is – even today. In preparation for this article, I reinstalled the 30-year-old classic. All you need is 140 megabytes for Maxis’ city simulation. Cities Skylines 2 devours 56 gigabytes. That’s unsurprising. After all, in addition to the detailed graphics and the complex simulation, the game world is also much larger. But size, as we all know, isn’t everything.

Idyllic despite the jackhammer

SimCity 2000 has that certain something. It starts with the satisfying sound of a jackhammer as I build roads. I also really like that bee-like buzzing when I’m putting up power poles. Someone must’ve made that sound with their mouth. As with many games from the early 90s, nothing’s explained. Shouldn’t my water pipes be blue when water’s flowing? I’ve got a pump connected after all. Oh I see, one isn’t enough. How about two? Nothing. Three? Nope. Right, I’ll try ten. Ah, now there’s water in my pipes.

There’s a satisfying sound of a jackhammer when I lay roads or water pipes.
There’s a satisfying sound of a jackhammer when I lay roads or water pipes.
Source: Maxis

How far I need to lay the water pipes is another thing that’s not obvious to me at first. The same goes for the power lines. I just sprinkle a generous number of power poles around my coal power station. The last element of the Holy Trinity is the roads. I don’t use them excessively, as they cost money – which I need to earn first. Finally, I build up the free areas with residential, commercial and industrial zones. It doesn’t take long before the first buildings shoot up. A smoking chimney here, a doughnut shop attracting customers with fresh pastries there. These are soon followed by the first black, abandoned houses waiting for the demolition excavator. Turns out I didn’t lay enough cables after all.

But despite this planning error, my little town has a lot of personality after just a few minutes. SimCity 2000 is much more colourful and comic-like than most modern city planning simulations. That’s why the design is still unmistakable today. The cities are bursting with character and boast that unique SimCity look. Chief developer Will Wright, who had even more success later with The Sims, created something wonderful with the possibilities available at the time.

In terms of gameplay, SimCity 2000 seems almost archaic compared to Cities Skylines 2. There’s only a fraction of the building possibilities that Colossal Orders simulator offers. Curvy roads? Not in this game. In SimCity 2000, all cities look like American metropolises. And I gave most of them uncreative names including New York or Philadelphia – the latter for obvious reasons (my name’s Phil).

Even with just a few buildings, the game looks very charming.
Even with just a few buildings, the game looks very charming.
Source: Maxis

It’s this combination of lively game world and manageable scale that makes SimCity 2000 so appealing. I don’t have to worry about a thousand different needs and can enjoy a bustling city after only a short time.

Creating my own little world

Another important part of SimCity 2000 is the editor. Before starting a game, I prepare the map. Of course, the fastest way to start the game would be on a flat map, except for a few rivers and lakes. But that’s boring. My maps have character. Mountains, rivers, bays and, of course, a plateau for the airport. Why? Because it shows off the airport better. It’s also how I’ve been doing it since I was a child. I find this editor much more intuitive than the one in Cities Skylines 2. The simple grid structure restrict the possibilities, but in return, makes it easier to create something attractive.

Before I start building cities, I prepare the map.
Before I start building cities, I prepare the map.
Source: Maxis

In addition, SimCity 2000 offers something Cities Skylines 2 doesn’t: arcologies. Arcologies are gigantic building complexes that can be built only in the last epochs of the game. Have I mentioned that SimCity 2000 is set over a 250 year time span? There are four arcologies, each of which can accommodate up to 65,000 residents. My games always ended up with me building up the entire playing field with these futuristic mega-buildings.

Arcologies are gigantic building complexes that cover every imaginable need.
Arcologies are gigantic building complexes that cover every imaginable need.
Source: Maxis

Out of sight, but not out of mind

SimCity 2000 has sold 4.23 million times. This is a massive success by the standards of the time. All city simulations that were to follow were based on Maxis’ example.
After a slow start, the first SimCity became a box office hit in 1989. Not least thanks to Nintendo. Under their supervision, the port for the NES was significantly revised. The success of the first part marked the start of a series of Sim spin-offs such as SimAnt, SimLife and SimFarm. The white Sim logo was omnipresent in the 90s.

At the end of a game, I let every possible disaster pass over my city. The highlight is, of course, the UFO.
At the end of a game, I let every possible disaster pass over my city. The highlight is, of course, the UFO.
Source: Maxis

After ten years of independence, Maxis was acquired by EA in 1997. While SimCity 3000 was still mostly completed without outside influences, EA has clearly left its mark on the fourth part. Online constraints, crowded servers and smaller maps got gamers really annoyed. Colossal Order profited from the launch debacle. Publisher Paradox saw a gap in the market and gave their game Cites Skylines the green light. Well, that gap seems to have been closed now. My need for urban development, on the other hand, remains unsatisfied.

Apart from performance issues, Cities Skylines 2 is a great game. But it doesn’t have that emotional effect on me that SimCity 2000 does. When I think of SimCity 2000, I have pleasant memories of countless hours of fun with UFO attacks, futuristic mega-buildings and inefficient land transformers. I didn’t quite understand many of the mechanics of SimCity 2000 when I was a child, but I loved the game. And I still do.

247 people like this article


These articles might also interest you

  • Opinion

    Stalker 2 manages to rekindle the old magic

    by Philipp Rüegg

  • Opinion

    No more mapflation! Smaller game regions are better

    by Valentin Oberholzer

  • Opinion

    Once Human aims to be «the» next forever game – but is it good enough?

    by Philipp Rüegg

Comments

Avatar