As one of the three actual games released on the 64DD, SimCity 64 is a full fledged SimCity (and not a port, like SimCity 2000), in 3D for the first time. The graphics, while primitive, have a colourful and charming style to them, and the cities are rather vast, although you can’t zoom out as much as I would have liked. As with the SNES SimCity, Dr. Wright advises you on your journey as mayor of a new city.

One significant feature of SimCity 64 is the ability to walk around your city. Cars drive around, while 2D sims walk about and do their jobs. I absolutely adore this feature, as it makes your city feel real, yet it still isn’t a main feature of city builders to this day. Cities Skylines had it as a hidden feature (the sequel doesn’t), but it’s not integrated into the gameplay. In SimCity 64, you can talk to your residents to find out what your city needs, and play hide-and-seek against some for extra cash. You can even create your own sims in Mario Artist Paint Studio and import them.

On top of having lots of different landscapes to work from, there are also 15 scenarios to work through, giving you a lot to do with the game. And if you do get bored, you can always turn on a disaster and watch chaos. I do wish there were a few more Nintendo touches (there’s no Bowser attack), but for consoles at the time, it was a very impressive version of SimCity.

Fun

This excellent conversion of the PC favourite now allows you to zoom right in and explore your city at street level. Being able to create huge monuments of Mario is a nice touch, too.

N64 Magazine #40

Remake or remaster?

It would be nice to have a remaster of this SimCity, perhaps with better zoom and draw distance. Or even a new SimCity from Nintendo.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get SimCity 64.