DS #2687: City Life DS (Europe)

[JPH]

^^ndsrelease-3695^^

 

[NatsuMatto]

That looks like a chibi Leo Laporte on the cover.

 

[deathfisaro]

I really liked the PC version, even played the expansion set.
If this game isn't too obsessed with touch screen gimmicks, it has potential. (Purely judging from the PC version =/)

 

[Jackreyes]

other than zooming in, its touch screen only

Still fairly fun though.

 

[feds4u]

its touch screen only

That's what makes it good. Games like this are made for touch screen.

 

[Jackreyes]

I'd like to at least skip through text with the A button, and maybe even move things around with the control pad.

 

[shakirmoledina]

Isn't this a very late release or something... i do remember this being mentioned by hadrian as supposed to be released in the past... Anyway gonna try

 

[Vermilion]

Out 3 weeks ago in France.

 

[Noodleworks Inc.]

What is this? Yes I know it's n00bish but what is it?

 

[Vermilion]

Like a Sim City, with some social actions.

 

[Noodleworks Inc.]

Like a Sim City, with some social actions.

Such as?

Is it better than SimCity?

 

[snesmaster40]

Here's a trailer. Looks interesting

 

[deathfisaro]

Well the touchscreen use is alright, its D-pad and button mapping is quite bad.
The button mapping is bad to the point it even breaks the stylus control.

It's not hard to press R with your right hand even when you're holding stylus in that hand. It would have been better if it mapped buttons differently.

Also the characters suck, totally undermines target audience of the original.


In one line: play the PC version unless you'd rather have mobility than gameplay.

 

[elixirdream]

so far my experience with simulation games on DS is the touch screen part and also the screen is too small for you to see things, you always need to move here move there just to do something~!

 

[Ruri]

It seems pretty good to me. Some thoughts:

The gameplay is basically Sim City + Anno 1701. If you liked those two games, you'll probably like this. (It feels very similar to the DS versions of each, in particular.)

The controls are mostly pretty good, with one big exception: Not being able to use the joypad to scroll the screen is really, really annoying in a few situations, especially when putting down road (you have to deselect road to move the view easily -- it follows you when you draw one long road, but there's no easy way to move around looking for high-traffic areas and put improved roads at several key points.)

Not much else to say. It's primarily a decently-made Sim City clone, but you also have to manage high-income and low-income citizens and living conditions in order to keep all the black people lower-classes away from the elite, while ensuring that they still have enough cheap illegal immigrant labor to mow their lawns and work in the Quik-E-Mart.

Yeah... there's something slightly disturbing about that aspect of the game... (It's not just me! They represent rising social class by making the little people figures whiter. It's a ghettoization simulator. Well, they give you magic buildings that make the different races live in harmony, at least...)

I can't help but wonder, given the humorous satire in the tutorial, if that aspect of the game isn't intended to be a satirical look at society, too -- as opposed to the faceless Sim City residents who easily get gentrified by the player's majestic actions, the society shown in this game is filled with social tensions, actually breaking out into outright violence from the disruption if the city starts changing too suddenly one way or the other.

 

[deathfisaro]

Have-nots are indicated by black human-shaped icon, Elites are indicated by white human-shaped icon, I never associated the colors with races. If the game's sublimely have that concept, I guess only albinos can become elites - or your race changes when you get a promotion =P

I was never a fan of Sim City, but I got hooked in this game for some reason. I think the main thing about it is bringing lowlifes to elites, which is kinda like leveling up and I love that aspect of the game.

But again, dpad mapping prevents me from enjoying this game.

 

[jalaneme]

it's basically a sim city clone.

 

[Raven Darkheart]

looks ok but a pass for me i guess
ima wait for sim city 2

 

[SimpleSimon08]

Anyone playing this? I am going through the campaigns started chapter 4 but can't seem to workout what to do, the objective is "watch playlet of a home". I have waited for months to see if any social unrest occurs but nothing. Started again and tried to attract other social groups got havenots down to 48% but still no unrest.

So therefore can't achieve objective and move on to next campaign, any advise?

 

[Hitto]

Ugh, didn't like this game at all.