SimCity is a simulation game developed initially around 1985, but released in 1989. It was developed by Will Wright and Maxis. It was the first game of the SimCity series.
Two expansion packs, a terrain editor and an extended graphics pack, were released, and SimCity: Special Edition on CD-ROM was released with new cinematics and voices. In 1994, SimCity Classic was released as a Windows version of the game, as well as including a built-in terrain editor.
History[ | ]
SimCity was originally developed by game designer Will Wright. The inspiration for SimCity came from a feature of the game Raid on Bungeling Bay that allowed players to create their own maps. Wright soon found he enjoyed creating maps more than playing the actual game, and so began creating SimCity.
After creating Maxis, Wright tried to get the game published but companies at the time were not interested in such an untested genre. Eventually, Maxis teamed up with Broderbund, and the game was released in 1989. Sales were slow initially, but eventually as word of the game spread, SimCity garnered a huge following.
Objective[ | ]
The objective of SimCity, as the name of the game suggests, is to build and design a city, without specific goals to achieve (except in the scenarios, which typically require the player to achieve a certain population or bank balance in a given period of time). The player can mark land as being zoned as commercial, industrial, or residential, add buildings, change the tax rate, build a power grid, build transportation systems and many other actions, in order to enhance the city. Also, the player can face disasters: flooding, tornadoes, fires, riots, earthquakes, etc. Later disasters included lightning strikes, volcanoes, meteors and attack by extraterrestrial craft. In the Nintendo and later versions one can also build rewards when they are given to them, like the mayor's mansion and the casino for gambling Sims.
SNES box art
