SimCity 4

The Basics:
Platform: PC
Developer: Electronic Arts/Maxis
Price: $45-50
ESRB rating: E (Everyone)

Summary: Simcity 4 allows you to be the all-powerful mayor of your very own city. Zone land, build roads and watch your city grow, but keep a careful eye on things or you might end up with a bad case of urban blight.

Note: Overall, Simcity 4 is a great game, and the formula keeps getting better with each rendition of the series. Few other games can offer the same level of entertainment and educational value.

Further Breakdown:

Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Best for Ages: 8+ Although the game is safe for younger players, most of them will find it too complex to be enjoyable.
Playability: Difficult. As the series has progressed more and more details have been added. This makes the game more fun, but also more difficult.
Graphics: Very Good.
Entertainment value: Excellent. Challenging and rewarding.
Educational value Some: Excellent. Decision making skills, civics, politics . . . this game provides education in a wide scope of topics.
Reading Level: 8+ .....The game contains a considerable amount of reading.
KidScore Rating

Ages 3-7: Green
Ages 8-12: Green
Ages 13-17: Green
Violence Amount: Green
Violence Portrayal: Green
Fear: Green
Illegal/harmful: Green
Language: Green
Nudity: Green
Sex: Green

Review:
What a mess! Traffic is in complete gridlock. Pollution is out of control. The city is in serious debt and the police department has decided to go on strike. Your popularity as mayor is fading fast and you need to do something quick.

Who would have guessed running a city could be so challenging, yet so fun? Simcity 4 carries on the tradition of the Simcity series by allowing you to be the all-powerful mayor of your very own city. As a player you have an immense amount of control over a region of land. Start with a 100,000 simoleons (Sim-style dollars) and a city name and you are on your way. Zone land: residential, commercial or industrial, and soon people and jobs begin moving in. Plan roads, the water system and the city's energy network. Conduct trades with nearby cities to sell excess power, or maybe get them to take some of your city's garbage. Construct schools, hospitals, police and fire departments. Plant trees, parks and community gardens. The variety of areas of control seems almost limitless, but not overwhelming. Your city is surprisingly resilient and the game is forgiving as you learn and begin to change things to make your city a better place to live.

Simcity 4 is both entertaining and educational. You cannot help but learn some of the mechanics of politics, economics, geography and ecology. For example, you can see, first-hand, the positive impacts of a well-designed mass-transit system: how it affects congestion, pollution and the quality of life. However, you can also see the cost of that mass-transit system-possibly taxes will need to be raised or other aspects of the city will need to survive on less money in order to keep the transit system running. A variety of graphs, charts and maps aid you in your decisions, but perhaps the most entertaining way of seeing how well you are faring is by listening to your very own "Sims".

One of the major new elements in Simcity 4 is the addition of "Sims" to the game. Having Sims allows you to get down to a personal level in your city. You can name an individual, decide where they are going to live, and then observe how the decisions made on a city level affect the individual level. For example, place a school near your Sim and watch as they become better educated, and therefore have a better chance at getting a higher-paying job. Negatively, you could have poor health care, and the chances of your Sim getting sick and dying at a younger age increase. Having Sims to watch is a very entertaining way of keeping tabs on how well you are running your city.

There is one violent element in the game-disasters. Disasters can be brought on by either random acts determined by the game, or by you as the player. Tornados, fires, earthquakes and even giant robots can wreck havoc on your city. If you wish, you can cause an earthquake and then see how well you can recover your city after the disaster. Or, if you are simply tired of it all, bring down a massive series of disasters to reduce your city to rubble. This brings up the only downside of disasters: the game may not communicate the emotional impact of disasters very well-something that may need to be addressed by parents as their children play the game.

Overall, Simcity 4 is a great game, and the formula keeps getting better with each rendition of the series. Few other games can offer the same level of entertainment and educational value.