User avatar
8bitSheep
Scotland

Posted Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:57 am

I just got my first Amiga game, regular old SimCity!

I know it is nothing special and it was quite cheap from ebay but the box is in good condition and it came with the manuals, registration cards etc. as well as the high score booklet that the game uses for copy protection. Best of all, all three disks work fine.

My previous memories of this game were from the Super Nintendo version and I think this Amiga version compares pretty well. If my memory is at all accurate I think the Super Nintendo version looked a little nicer however playing with a mouse is so much easier than with a control pad and that it runs as a Workbench program means I can have the game running along with my other programs which I really like.

The game comes with both a 512K and the more colourful 1M versions but weirdly I think I may prefer the 512K version.

Anyway, really happy to have my first Amiga game.

8bitSheep

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:32 pm

You picked a really good one to get started, that's for sure. And yeah, I'll take the mouse over the d-pad in a game like this every time.

But you may be right about the actual graphics compared to the SNES. I've never done a side-by-side but that wouldn't surprise me.
but weirdly I think I may prefer the 512K version.
The 1MB version pumps you up from 16 colors to 64 iirc. Is it that you prefer the simplicity of fewer colors on-screen or something like that?

User avatar
Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:12 pm

The SNES version is not obviously better than the Amiga, but it's easy to see why some people might prefer it. Matter of taste, really. Personally I think the Amiga version is better looking, and "extra" special using EHB 64 color mode. It's good to have both the 512k and 1mb version by your side, however, as the EHB version surely slows down the simulation. You can put that sucker up to the fastest speed possible and you'll be waiting ages for it to simulate a year. The game runs smooth, but the simulation part of it does slow down noticeably in EHB mode. If I'm wanting to make some money fast I put in the 512k version and let it run at the fastest setting, then go back to the 1mb version.

The Amiga version is definitely the best looking of the "original" SimCity's. The SNES version was released several years after, so I look at it as it's own thing. I want to say you "could" play the SNES version with that weird mouse they had, I think that was one of the games it supported. SNES is also special in having extra features, like being rewarded a mayors house, something that would come in SimCity 2000, and even having seasons, like winter, something that would never come to another version.

User avatar
8bitSheep
Scotland

Posted Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:50 am

Hi intric8, Shot97

I am not so sure why I prefer the 512K version but that is only an initial impression so nothing is final yet :) It may be what you said intric8 about the slightly simplified look is just a little easier on my eyes. I am playing it on a LCD monitor (a BenQ 5:4 ratio that accepts 15KHz signals and matches the PAL resolutions very nicely) so perhaps the extra colours would look that much better and overall smoother on a CRT as originally intended. I am not complaining about how either version looks, just that I found it interesting that I seem to prefer the lower end version but regardless, as soon as I start actually playing the game any little issues disappear and it is just good fun.

I had not played enough of the 1M version to really notice the speed difference so thanks for pointing that out Shot97 (I spent most of the first play session loading scenarios and restarting new cities as I familiarised myself with the controls). My A600 is running the regular old 68000 (just with extra RAM) so that speed difference could be a major factor but jumping between versions like you said is a cool idea.

For the Super Nintendo version, I haven't done a comparison either but when I launched the Amiga version I was just internally comparing it to my memories of the Super Nintendo version and how I remember that looking and playing. I recognise that its not in any way fair to make a comparison of a real game in front of you and what you remember a game being like 20 odd years ago but it was more like an initial emotional response to seeing the game again in a different presentation.

Shot97, I didn't realise the Super Nintendo version was a few years later, I agree that it make sense to treat it as a stand alone thing. I had completely forgot that there was a mouse for the Super Nintendo, I never had one but it could be interesting to see how that changed things if SimCity did support it.

I think though SimCity feels like a game that is best played at a desk so the Amiga version I think will be my city simulator of choice for now.

8bitSheep





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