Sim City

Platform: Nintendo DS.
Verdict: The most fun you’ll have with taxes.
Rating: 4/5
Back in the day I used to play the original Sim City for hours, attempting to create a pixelated urban nirvana (and probably listening to Nevermind at the same time too) but I never managed to attain the perfect balance or design for a happy city. The natural disasters or input from a younger sister never helped either. Sim City on the DS has thankfully given me a second chance to create utopia - this time Alphaville shall flourish!
Based on later versions of the series, Sim City is the first and last game from EA’s Japanese studio. Porting a PC game to a small screened handheld can’t be an easy task but they’ve done it successfully, injecting their own style and charm along the way while using the DS’ features in a logical and intuitive way.
As mayor you’re tasked with building a city from scratch, turning empty countryside into a teeming megalopolis. It won’t happen overnight though as your city starts out from nothing but the careful juggling of your budget and balance of residential, commercial and industrial zones should hopefully lead rise to a flourishing high-rise paradise.
There are however many pitfalls along the way, where disregard for crime rates, pollution and transport can stultify your city’s growth, not to mention the UFO attacks, earthquakes and great fires (possibly caused by an under funding of the fire department to afford that seaport expansion). Thankfully, help is on hand with a friendly guide offering advice at any stage (or just looking on in despair in my case).
Touch screen controls are perfect for this kind of game and Sim City sits at ease on the DS. The only downside is the size of the screen (compared to a PC monitor) and the need for a steady hand when plotting out sections of road and land (but that may just be my awful drawing skills).
Coincidentally, taking a test to determine my guide allocated me a ramshackle robot - that’s just one step away from a belching computer, film fans.