Streets of SimCity
|
|
Simstreet.jpg
Streets of SimCity is a 1997 computer game published by Maxis. The novelty of this game stemmed mostly from the fact that the player could race cars around cities that had been created in SimCity 2000. The game is in full 3D, which was a departure from Maxis's normal fare. It was almost universally considered a flop. It is one of the few games in the Maxis series that Will Wright did not work on. Despite features such as being able to load cities from SimCity 2000 and an excellent soundtrack, the game was known more for its bugs, including unexpected crashes, issues with vehicles stuck in buildings, people walking backwards and being able to drive through trees.
The game is known to be the black sheep of the "sim" line, since it in no way actually simulates driving with precision. It instead focuses more on the goals of blowing up other enemy cars, winning races, evading cops, and hitting the occasional cow. The game can be controlled with a keyboard, a joystick, or a gamepad. As a result, the game was only mostly popular with SimCity 2000 users, which like SimCopter, allowed players to explore SimCity 2000 cities, created by themsleves or otherwise. There is also a network mode in which players can play deathmatches with up to seven other individuals.
| Contents |
Objectives
The game offers a few different modes of play:
- The free roaming mode, where the player can cruise around cities built in SimCity 2000 or the more than fifty included in the game. In this mode, there are four modes of difficulty: Sunday Driver, Bad Hair Day, Commuter's Revenge, and Crush Hour, the first having no enemies except for cops, and the last being a living nightmare.
- The career mode, in which the player takes part in one of four television shows, with missions being presented as episodes. There are four different episodes to choose from, each with a set of "episodes" that increase in difficulty. Zippy's Courier Service has you take the role of a simpleton who must make a certain number of deliveries in a certain amount of time, Galahad's Watch tasks you with first weeding out corrupt cops, then discoving an even bigger plot you must stop, Granny's Wild Ride has you playing as Granny, who has discovered alien plans for invasion in her attic and must stop them at all costs, and Race for Your Life has you play a race-car driver trying to win enough money to afford treatment for a terminally-ill child.
Music
The game has many different styles of music to choose from, using a radio control while driving. The stations range from jazz, techno, country, and rock. The garage has a tune composed solely from power tools and machines to make a unique style. Some consider the music to be one of the game's best features, compared to the lack-luster gameplay. In addition, some of the music lived on, and was included in the best-seller game The Sims, as music for "action" television programs, as well as tracks on radios and audio systems.
Weapons
There are 5 different types of weapons you can purchase for your car. The number of weapons your car can be equipped with depends on the type of car you have, the van being able to hold the most.
Machine guns and rocket launchers are the two offensive weapons, and are placed on the front of the car.
Mines, smoke screens, and oil slicks are the defensive weapons, and are placed in the back. The number of mines placed at a time depends on how many mine layers the car is equipped with. The oil slick is useless when used againest spiked tires, as they always maintain a grip on the road.
Wheels
There are different types of tires, each with their own rates of handling, durability, and cost. Standard tires are the default, cost the least amount of money, but don't handle well off-road. Off-road tires handle the terrain better, but can't turn as well on the road. Racing tires are nearly useless offroad, but can turn on a dime on the road. However, they wear down quickly under heavy strain. Spiked tires have a special advantage- with them, you can safely drive over oil slicks without losing control.
Modifications
There are few mods available for this game, but the ones that are the easiest to find are skin packs, which give you more cars to choose from in the game. Most are still based on the original cars design, however. Some examples include the Delorean from Back to the Future, an ambulance, a fire truck, and new race cars.
External link
- MobyGames' entry on this game (http://www.mobygames.com/game/sheet/p,3/gameId,974/)
- Gamezilla's entry on this game (http://www.gamezilla.com/review.aspx?review=7362/)