If, as LA-based architect and urban designer Stefanos Polyzoides contends, "A beautiful street is 30 petty things resolved," then SimCity 3000 demonstrates that a beautiful city requires the resolution of thousands of things.
Fortunately, the sequel to Maxis' famous urban-planning franchise has an improved interface that makes it easier to impose your will on nature. I gleefully laid out a supermegalopolis with all the space the new version affords. I took reckless advantage of easy-to-use construction tools and statistical charts to muddle my grid with crazed experiments in parks and public transportation. Emboldened by success, I dropped world-famous landmarks into unlikely places - the Taj Mahal in the middle of Tokyo! And then I zoomed in close to inspect my citizens, buildings, and vehicles.
Be warned: While new communities are shiny and exciting at first, chastening cracks soon appear. I tried to remain calm while dealing with SimCitizens' constant whining, advisers' self-serving demands, the news ticker's elaboration of my failures, and threats of economic, ecological, and ethical crises. (But if fate doesn't intervene, it's possible to click Tornado, Earthquake, Fire, Riot, or even UFO Attack, and enjoy.)
An over-the-top electronic fusion of Tinkertoys and an ant farm, SC3K is deeply absorbing. Call me megalomaniacal, but I wouldn't mind even greater control - to decide, for instance, exactly where each business will go - and I'd like to be able to actually (virtually) live in my city: to take a bus through town, meet friends at the marina, and go home to feed the cat.
SimCity 3000: $49.95. Electronic Arts: www.simcity.com.
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