You're in charge of the construction of a new virtual city, from the power grid to the street layout to zoning...and, oh yes, taxes. Monitor the public's feelings on such things as the availability of emergency services, public facilities, pollution, traffic, and so forth - and act in accordance with their wishes, or ignore their recommendations. (Electronic Arts, 2003)

Up until SimCity 2000 came along, I had been happy to blast away on my Game Boy Advance with retro compilations whose games were of a reasonably short duration. I had had to recharge the battery only once since buying it. SimCity 2000 changed all that. Despite my aversion to long, drawn-out games, the game's handy ability to store one game in the cartridge's memory firmly elevates SimCity 2000 into the "digital crack" category - i.e. it's that addictive.

If anything, that compulsive quality comes from the fact that this version of SimCity 2000 is slightly less complex than its counterpart on the PC or Playstation. Gone is the need to manually lay a water grid under the whole city, or to similarly build the tunnels for a subway network. That simplification is actually quite handy - it lets you just get on with building your city. And this game keeps you honest - there's no keyboard, so there's no typing "FUNDS" when your town is in a financial bind. You sink or swim on your management and budgeting skills alone, to say nothing of public opinion.

And yet it's amazing how much of SimCity 2000 has survived the translation. The different kinds of power plants - always trading off pollution (and the attendant public health problems and smog complaints) and cost-effectiveness...the spread and reach of police and other emergency services...zoning issues...it's all intact. It's simplified, but not so much that it's just classic SimCity with an isometric perspective. The various disasters are there as well.

There are a few minor annoyances to go with all this goodness, though. You can only add a 1% sales tax (no bumping it up to 7% - oh, if only it were so in real life), and things like bonds are also simplified accordingly. Hey, some corners had to be cut somewhere. Usually it's not enough to hinder my enjoyment of the game.

Overall, it's a very well-done diversion. If you can call something that eats hours and hours of your life until the GBA's battery status light starts glowing red a mere "diversion." (Fortunately, there's one game-save slot provided in the cartridge's memory - very handy.)

Rating:  Four quarters - a couple of minor irritants, but mostly a compelling and addictive game.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com editor/webmaster