Sim City Creator (Wii) - Review by Trent

Introduction

Sim City Creator for the Nintendo Wii is EA's first Wii Sim City, which after developing for a few for the Nintendo DS (which managed to keep the Sim City style), EA is back with a Wii version. The question is ultimately is did EA take more from Sim City Societies or Sim City 3000 this time around?

Gameplay

For those who are fans of the Sim City series, it wouldn't be surprising how the gameplay works, but EA has introduced some new ideas which have ripped the core game to more casual territory. The game is more a baseball game then a game of 10 pin bowling. In the end the game is more of a snooze fest then the Nintendo DS recantations, making the game feel more easier, but at the same time been as hard as ever.

Point and click action to drag objects and place them is over all the same. The game has a menu system which you activate via the nunchuk which allows you to perform any task you would want to. Everything is all good besides the fact that there are options which allow you to let the game essentially play itself. You have these things called "advisors" which have been in the game since god gave birth to it, but what we have here is another type of them which will in the area you designated to them, control it. Meaning they will put whatever they see fit in that area.

If that wasn't bad enough, the building range is quite limited, and most of the buildings require you to unlock them. So if you are casually building the city and not really worrying about what you put down, you might not see certain items for a long time.

Controls

Control is something I have to say I found quite disappointing with Sim City Creator, it seems all the functions could have been done with just the Wii Remote, but EA insists on the player using the Nunchuk. Though overall the system works quite well, but it seems a few more things could have been perfect with just the Wii Remote.

Motion controls are only used as if it was a mouse, but slightly more restricted, you can only move around the level with the Wii Remote, as well as performing the tasks once you have them selected. I guess the best way to describe this set up in computer terms would be if the game was on the PC and the mouse could only use the main location area, but if you wanted to load up menus or change something you would have to press a button on the keyboard, instead of going to it with the mouse. I guess overall the control system is quite complicated, even though it's quite simple, it's a classic case of don't fix what is not broken.

Graphics

Like the Nintendo DS versions of Sim City which mimic the Sim City 3000 style of graphics, Sim City Creator Wii does the exact same thing but with more polygons and pixels. The dynamite style which Sim City 3000 was renowned for is back again on the Wii, with the same detail as the original Sim City 3000 had.

Sound

I love leaving on the Wii with the game plugged in and listing to the relaxing tracks which EA has prepared for Sim City Creator Wii. Like the classic PC versions of the game, the music tracks and sounds are relaxing masterpieces. The only limitation I see the Wii tracks having is that they are far few and thin compared to the variety on other Sim City games.

Final comments

No doubt the Wii version is quite solid, but it does lack some of the depth and qualities past Sim City games have. Sim City Creator Wii also comes off as a much more casual Sim City, especially compared to the Nintendo DS versions even. Though it has introduced some new features to the basic gameplay, some good and some bad which give it a feeling much different to the sequel of Sim City on the Nintendo DS- Sim City Creator DS contained an era growing city system which was replaced with a disappointing "special city design", leaving the Wii version to be kicked down a few notches. Though overall it is still quite enjoyable and keeps most of what made Sim City intact.

Pro: Very smooth with some new ideas
Con: Doesn't feel like a complete Sim City, Most buildings require to be unlocked
Final score: 7.8

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