SimCity DS offers the same City-Building Adventure as the PC but not quite as detailed, but it still can be fun!
First off, let's get the negative stuff out of the way. The first thing I didn't care for much was the graphics are a little hard to see. I know it is a DS game and the small screens have limitations. Sometimes you can't see what is going on behind a big building. Maybe a camera rotate option would be nice, maybe there is and I don't know it . Another gripe I have with the game is that it only has 2 levels of zoom, which makes it hard if you're building a long road or railway. Being able to only save one city is a downright shame. I find it a huge disappointment they could not save more then one city. The advisors can get a little annoying as well and for the most part, don't help you. They might tell you that you need to build more hospitals, but 2 minutes later, after you have just built one, they say you need another…huh? Little things like this make this game only a ok-to-good game where it could have been good-great.
Now that I have blasted it, let us check out the stuff I like about it. It is SimCity on the go, perfect for those long trips or nights laying in bed, and yes I know you play it on the toilet. The challenge of bringing a city to life is one that takes patience to behold and this game really puts you to the test. For the first few cities I struggled bad to figure out how to build effectively and to have good aura and quality of life. The amount of different types of buildings plus the unlockable special buildings is great. I now have a city with Bowser's castle in it from Nintendo as well as the Arch from St. Louis, what game gives you variety like that? Speaking of the unlockables, the Save the City mode is fantastic. If you like not having to start from scratch, try to save a big city in need of help after a disaster. On that note, the disasters provide a good challenge to overcome, some you can't and I just suggest reloading your save game and hoping it doesn't happen again!
Overall I found SimCity DS to be a fun and engaging game that you can just pick up and play once you get past the learning curve. For the value of under $20, I suggest going out and giving a try, come on, I know you have spent $20 on worst stuff, plus I am sure you can find a cheaper used copy.
My final score for SimCity DS is a 7.0.