SimCity for iPhone Review

Recently the ultra popular The Sims has overshadowed the SimCity game franchise. However, these two games both deal with the same style of gaming- simulation. I feel, as do many others, that SimCity has a lot more depth as compared to Sims. The idea of building a city is lot more fun as compared to living a virtual life. Building a city is more exciting and involves a lot more challenges. Deciding whether your Sim needs to take a bath or not is hardly comparable to a city building exercise.

I first played this game in the Super Nintendo version in 1991. Even that version was a big deal at that point of time. It would not be incorrect to say that it seemed like the best game ever. The only thing that made it difficult to enjoy new versions was the lack of money to buy the games. The New Year was eagerly awaited so that the tax refunds could be used to buy games.

We all have played the newer versions and found them as good as the original if not better. Some may have found it a step backward but the change of pace from the awe inspiring depth and replay value of SimCity 4 to the simpler and easier to play Simcity was very pleasant and enjoyable. This simpler model is similar to the first version of the game released. The only difference lies in the presence of new features in the more recent version.

Though the game is understandably much simpler than the newer major releases, SimCity may still prove daunting to gamers unfamiliar with this style of game. You take on the role of the mayor, in which you're given an empty tract of land and a bunch of money, and set loose to build the city of your dreams.

You cannot afford to have a narrow sighted approach towards your task. You have to think of residences, space for offices and businesses, factories, police stations, fire stations, roads, power, protection of natural environment and also the funding for each one of them. The demand for more and more funds never stops and you will have to give special preference to some over others when required. To help you get started, there is a tutorial feature that proves to be very handy. For the rest, you simply have to experiment and move ahead.

The graphics are one of the most impressive accomplishments yet on the iPhone. You can zoom in on your city and see the buildings in vivid detail, and watching your city grow and change from a distant view is equally impressive. The music is also great, with soothing songs and more upbeat inspirational tunes in equal doses.

The controls are very easy to handle overall. The left side and bottom of the screen have several buttons which bring up further menus when touched. These can display information on your city, open up your building options, and call on your advisors to make an appearance. Placing items on your map often requires you to zoom in close though, as it's difficult to properly line items up from a far away view.

Where does SimCity drag? The only negative aspect is that it is too ambitious for its own good. This game requires too much power for its graphics and zooming feature. Every time you zoom into your fully built city, you end up putting lots of pressure on the phone and it simply is not capable of taking it. The end result is that the game crashes again and again. Version 1.4 was expected to take care of this issue but it was not enough to prevent the phone from crashing when the city expands beyond a certain limit. It is no fun playing SimCity when it seems more like CrashCity.

SimCity is a fantastic game by itself. On the iPhone, it guarantees hours and hours of gaming pleasure. However, the fact that the game cannot be taken to its logical conclusion is a very big negative point. Of course, the game is near perfect until your city grows too big for your own good. Once this flaw is remedied in the future versions, this game would definitely get a higher rating.

Overall: 7/10

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