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  • $30-50
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SimCity Creator (Wii, Nintendo DS)

common sense media says

Complex city-building game has fussy controls.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that while advertisements have played up a feature in Sim City Creator that allows players to destroy cities via spectacular means such as UFOs, monsters, and earthquakes, the violence is actually quite mild -- you just see tiny buildings crumbling or burning to the ground. What's more, the game does a good job of introducing players to the challenges involved in municipal management. It teaches the rudiments of city zoning, garbage disposal, utilities allocation, and budgeting. However, be warned that the game's high level of complexity combined with inadequate controls may lead some players to experience more frustration than fun.

Educational value: Teaches players the rudiments of municipal planning, including city zoning, garbage management, utilities allocation, and budgeting.
Positive messages: Players generally focus on trying to keep the digital denizens of their cities happy, though they can use disasters to wipe out whole municipalities if they so desire.
Violence: Buildings and neighborhoods can be destroyed by UFOs, monsters, earthquakes, and fires, but the action is viewed from such a high altitude that any potential victims of the catastrophes cannot be seen.
Sex: Not applicable.
Language: Not applicable.
Consumerism: This game is part of the sprawling Sims franchise.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Not applicable.

More on SimCity Creator

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about how well or poorly they think SimCity Creator has managed to recreate the challenges of city planning. Has it provided you a better appreciation for municipal issues facing your own community? Do you think you might be able to use the creation tools in this game to fashion a rough replica of your own city or town? Do you feel badly when disasters wipe out large swaths of urban land?

What's the story?

What's the story?
The ever-expanding Sims universe bulges a little more with SIM CITY CREATOR, which lets players build and manage their own municipalities. A series of 15 tutorials lays down the rules for such activities as city zoning and utilities allocation. Then players are left to explore the game's broad array of functionality on their own. You can design and construct cities however you see fit, working within a modest budget to build infrastructure and municipal buildings that will attract residents, who will in turn start businesses and grow the city's economy. But watch out for potential disasters; an earthquake or fire could demolish massive portions of the cityscape and leave you struggling to keep citizens satisfied.

Despite its all-ages rating and the kid-friendly Wii platform, Sim City Creator, like many city building games, can feel dauntingly complex. While the basics are pretty straightforward -- make sure all of your buildings have power, that there are measures in place to deal with garbage and pollution, and that roads exist to make citizens' commutes as simple and short as possible -- learning how to manage the costs of these projects by altering tax percentages, taking out multiple loans, and buying and selling power and waste, is a formidable challenge. Staying in the black without prompting a citizen revolt in the form of a union strike or population exodus can be extremely difficult.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
Complicating matters, the game's controls are finicky at best. Attempting to create a new zone by using the Wii remote as a pen to paint the land a certain color is a clumsy process and can take minutes to complete. And if you aren't careful to keep the remote pointed at the center of the screen during play you may suddenly find the map scrolling off to one side or another. What's more, the Wii's relatively modest graphics processing power and standard definition output make for some muddy looking cities. Indeed, Sim City Creator would have benefited greatly from the precise control of a mouse and cleaner graphics, making one wonder whether perhaps it should have been developed as a PC title.

A small group of city-building fans will likely have fun tinkering with Sim City Creator's surprisingly deep features, but casual gamers would be better off looking elsewhere for their interactive entertainment.

Game themes & details

Game Details
Available on: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS
Not available online
Genre: Simulation
Released on: September 22, 2008
Price: 30-50
ESRB Rating: E for Alcohol Reference, Mild Violence, Tobacco Reference

This review was written by Chad Sapieha
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

mtngrl815
teen, 14 years old
 
Awesome
Younger kids may have trouble at the begginig, setting it up, saving it, ect. I love this game because I love to draw and being creative so the freeplay option lets me build my own city. Super fun, educational.

DPNorman
kid, 13 years old
 
BORING
Honestly this isnt a bad game, just a boring one. Most of my reviews are WAY longer than this but that's all I have to say. I was extremely bored and I would much rather play Mini Ninjas or Madden 11.

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