Overview

SimCity 2000 was published in 1993 by Maxis. The game included many innovations over its predecessor, SimCity. The perspective of the game shifted from top-down to isometric, giving cities a new look. Cities could be rotated and viewed from different angles. The terrain now had elevation. Many new kinds of transportation and infrastructure were introduced. Variable generated newspapers were created, which features articles about recent inventions and disasters, as well as opinion-polls. The game also allowed for the development of custom content, through an external utility called SimCity Urban Renewal Kit, or SCURK.

Gameplay

The game begins with the player either using a random terain, or terraforming their own through several tools. After the God-mode phase is finished, now a staple in all SimCity products, players are asked to select a difficulty level and begin constructing their city. The difficulty levels impacted starting wealth, starting loan and the disaster frequency. Players then construct their cities from a variety of infrastructure and zones, balancing their budget. There is no set up objective, and the game never ends.

Other Notes

SimCity 2000 Network Edition was published 3 years later with the ability to play on-line. Similar to SimCity 4, players could buy and sell resources, as well as construct region wide transportation networks.

The SimCity 2000 Special Edition is packaged with SCURK.

SimCity 2000 cities can be imported into SimCity 3000.

SimCity 2000 can also be used to construct custom cities for use in the games Sim Copter and Streets of SimCity.