It wouldn’t really be that bad if there were multiple save files available because then you could just wipe out a city and build from scratch with everything available. Unfortunately, the game only has one save file for one city at any time.


Help! Fire! Wait, no fire engines to dispatch?!
Now what better way to destroy your city than unleashing natural disasters? All the classic disasters are still here and they are fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, riots and nuclear melt downs. While in the previous titles you could play God and launch these disasters at will, you can no longer do so in this DS version. You’ll just have to turn up the disasters setting and wait for them to happen. It was another fun feature of Sim City during the end game so it’s disappointing to see the option missing. You can’t save your city either now by sending out emergency services. Instead, you just build the service you need nearby and hope it goes away.

It’s not all bad news for fans of the old Sim City games, though. Landmarks are still there and there is the addition of new “action events”. Action events are basically mini games that happen once certain conditions are fulfilled. For example, the most common action event is firework shows. Fireworks are shot up into the sky every five years or every time you reach a certain population target and you can earn some extra cash by helping bursting them with the stylus. Other fun events include Santa Claus riding over the city on Christmas day dropping presents!


Action Event! Knock those objects out of the UFO’s beam!
Not all action events are good news, though. There are a few sci-fi events that inflict some pretty heavy penalties such as the phantom thief who likes to steal landmarks. If you don’t remove the building marked out in the time then you’ve lost the landmark for good! That is, until you unlock it again. The most fun is probably blasting King Kong with tranquillisers and knocking the objects from a UFO’s beam!

As mentioned above, not all landmarks are available initially as with all Sim City games. To unlock them you actually have several options. You can trade with another player via wireless, enter passwords or just beat the scenarios set out. You won’t find world landmarks in this import version of Sim City DS though because they are all Japanese oriented. The landmarks look very impressive and they, along with other buildings that develop in your city, can all be viewed in the Museum mode.


All the landmarks are Japanese and look impressive.
Graphically the game looks very much like the Sim City 3000 that it’s based on but don’t expect to see people walking about, full outline of cars or detailed worn out, abandoned buildings. It can also feel extremely pixelated too at times when you’re zoomed out. Nevertheless, it’s still fairly impressive to look at once your city starts reaching peak status with all the skyscrapers, tall clean apartments and high tech industry buildings appearing.

Big headed (literally speaking!) advisors and citizens look nice and lively with animations that really help characterise them. You’ll also find all the familiar Sim City tunes and sound effects in the game such as the “Shhh!” when you’re placing down the library or the sirens of a police station.

In a way, Sim City DS kind of feels like a lite version of the long running sim series which means, fans of the PC version will probably miss some of the features that are absent. Even though EA tries to compensate with the addition of some fairly entertaining action event mini games, Sim City just doesn’t feel quite the same. Loading times and only one single save file are also issues to consider. What I can say however is that it’s good to have Sim City available when you’re on the move and if you ever want to go back to the game in the distant future, you don’t have to install the game again and deal with compatibility issues!


Players familiar with Sim City should have no problem playing free mode in Japanese as long as you don’t mind not being able to read the news ticker or understanding some of the rare dialogue. Just fiddle around a little first to find out how to save and load. Scenarios on the other hand maybe a little more difficult to play due to the win and fail conditions. Also note that all the scenarios and landmarks are limited to Japan only in this version. An English version is planned.

• Selection of lively advisors to choose from.
  
• Documents to sign.
  
• Research for new technology increases realism.
  
• Fun action event mini game rewards.
  
• Museum for collecting “unlocked” buildings.
  
• No installation required.

• Hard to judge where to place educational and health facilities.
  
• No more sending out the emergency services.
  
• Can’t unleash disasters.
  
• Large cities can take over 30 seconds to load.
  
• One save file.