A game that you build a city in? Is that even possible?
It was just that good.
This old classic, released 15 years ago, bestows upon you the title of Mayor, and your job is to build a city. That sounds easy, right? You don't really have any guidelines. You don't have any obligations. There aren't any real victory conditions for you to meet, and it's very difficult for you to lose. How you progress in the game is solely up to you.
Want a quiet community with little industry and lots of parkland?
It shall be done.
Want a thriving metropolis with paved asphalt as far as the eye can see, with grand lines of industry bordering the edge of the map (so as to shove the smog on one of your silent neighbors).
It shall be done.
Want to create a roadless paradise - an entire city made up of nothing but railroads?
It shall be done.
Maxis' SimCity introduced a city simulator for the Super Nintendo that basically allows anyone to give a shot at how they'd do at running the game. You can try out stuff, and by how the city responds to what you do, you can tell if what you're doing works out or not.
Oh, and, be assured... if you don't do a good job... they'll let you know. You'll periodically get update intervals from Dr. Wright, a man with green hair, who will be more than happy to inform you about the troubles in your city. Plane crash into the heart of your commercial sector? Crime running rampant in the streets? Taxes too high? Pollution choking the people? Combined with a public opinion poll and a map with data, you can easily find problem areas and fix them... if you wish to do so.
To top it all off, if you want more of a challenge besides building your own series, you also have a choice of six scenarios (at the start), in which you have to tackle problems in a certain timeframe. If you succeed, the people will love you. Fail, and they'll fire you.
Hey, it's not personal, right?
With its incredible replayablity, awesome graphics for the time (if something's wrong, like that fire breaking out at your house, you will it), a nice music track (and, if it really bothers you, Maxis was very considerate enough to allow an option to turn the music off), and challenging scenarios, this game is the epitome of perfection for me. No other SimCity since the Super Nintendo release has done for me what this game has. The success of the classic SimCity jumpstarted an entire host of other Sim games that we all know so well.
10/10.