Software:Streets of SimCity

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Short description: 1997 video game
Streets of SimCity
Developer(s)Maxis
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Jason Shankel
Mike Perry
Artist(s)Shannon Galvin
Composer(s)Jerry Martin
SeriesSimCity
Platform(s)Windows
Release
Genre(s)Racing, vehicular combat
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Streets of SimCity is a 1997 racing and vehicular combat video game published by Maxis and Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows. The game features the ability to visit any city created in SimCity 2000, as well as a network mode allowing for players to compete in races with up to seven other players. The game was developed to build upon the engine and graphical fidelity of SimCopter, a title with a similar premise of navigating SimCity cities. It is the last Maxis game to be developed without supervision by Electronic Arts, which acquired Maxis in the months leading up to release.

Upon release, Streets of SimCity received negative reviews, with critics considering the game's concept interesting, but found its execution and gameplay lackluster and noted it suffered from performance issues. It has been retrospectively viewed as the nadir of the SimCity series, and representative of a number of less commercially and critically successful spin-off titles by Maxis up to the period of their acquisition by EA.

Gameplay

Driving from a first-person perspective, showing the dashboard and map.

Streets of SimCity represents city streets in a 3D environment in which players can navigate vehicles freely or complete missions.[3] The layout of these cities is interpreted from files from Sim City 2000, which can be imported by players into the game; 50 custom cities are preinstalled.[3] It is also packaged with the SimCity 2000 Urban Renewal Kit, allowing players to create or modify cities.[4][5] Players can select one of five vehicles to drive, including a VW Bug styled car, a sports car, and a utility van.[5] Missions are played in a Career mode over 30 "episodes" in five campaigns, in which players assume the role of a television star performing vehicular stunts in different shows.[5][4] Mission objectives may include racing against opponents, delivering packages to a target location in the city, and evading pursuing vehicles.[4] In between episodes, players can repair their vehicles, which can be customised with modifications, including machine guns, missile launchers, mines and armour.[4][5] Custom upgrades are purchased from money earned from completing missions.[4] Vehicles can be driven using a first person perspective within the dashboard, allowing players to read a map and radar depicting nearby vehicles.[5] Streets of SimCity also features a multiplayer mode in which up to eight players can battle in a deathmatch-style race over a network.[6]

Development

Streets of SimCity was developed by Maxis as one of several spin-offs of the SimCity series following the release of SimCity 2000.[7] It was created by Maxis during a period of acquisition by publisher Electronic Arts and a restructuring of the company.[8] The game was developed using the same 3D engine as SimCopter,[9] a 1996 title that expanded the SimCity franchise by allowing players to fly through their city.[10] The game's lead designer was Jason Shankel, a programmer who had worked for Maxis for two years and led development of the SimCity 2000 Urban Renewal Kit add-on and Network Edition.[9][11] Shankel built on the engine to support 3D acceleration, increase the resolution and remodel the buildings for greater detail.[9][12] The developers used lessons learned from criticism of SimCopter to design the game, including more gameplay content and an editor so that players did not need to rely on ownership of SimCity 2000 to create and edit cities.[13] In 1998, the game was packaged with other Maxis titles as part of the Ultimate Sim Series compilation.[14]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGSP1.5/5[15]
GameSpot4.4/10[5]
Next Generation1/5[16]
PC Gamer (US)37%[18]
PC PowerPlay30%[19]
APC4/5[4]

According to PC Gamer, Streets of SimCity sold 121,000 copies as of 2001.[20]

The game received mostly negative reviews upon release, with many critics considering that whilst its concept had merit, its execution fell short as a standalone title;[19][5][17] Next Generation wrote that whilst the concept of driving around cities from SimCity "sounds like a blast", the game "fails in practically every category".[16] Most critics faulted the racing gameplay,[17][19][16] with unfavorable comparisons to Interstate '76, a similar racing title.[15][16][19][5] Gareth Jones of PC PowerPlay wrote that the game's driving was "unresponsive and nothing like real life", discussing the lack of a reverse pedal,[19] and Jonah Falcon of Computer Games Strategy Plus dismissed its poor collision, handling with slopes, and AI, writing that "the computer AI is so awakward that computer cars get stuck in tunnels, blindly smashing themselves into the side wall over and over like psychotic robots".[15]

Some reviewers felt Streets of SimCity had some entertainment value due to its integration with SimCity 2000,[15] with Next Generation considering it the "only interesting feature" of the software.[16] However, describing the game as an interpretation of SimCity "as it never existed", Peter Olafson of PC Games considered that it had detached from the series' focus on urban traffic in its focus on vehicular combat.[3] Michael Ryan of GameSpot critiqued the game's maps, remarking that as they were imported from SimCity 2000, all streets were at angular right-hand turns, and ramps leading to bridges were too steep.[5] The graphics of Streets of SimCity received a mixed reception: whilst some praised their visual fidelity,[19][5] others noted the high system requirements had an impact on performance.[19][16][5] Olafson praised the buildings as "lovely and seamlessly constructed" and suitably varied, but encountered sluggish performance and graphical bugs without 3Dfx settings enabled.[3]

Retrospective reception

Retrospective reception of Streets of SimCity has been negative, with T. Liam McDonald of Boot writing the game had "no entertaining elements whatsoever",[21][22] GameInformer considered the title was a "bizarre departure" for the franchise,[10] and GameSpot labelling it as "one of Maxis' greatest follies".[8] Both PC Zone and Hyper stated it was one of the worst of all time.[23][24] Several critics also assessed that its implementation was janky,[25] with Rock Paper Shotgun writing the game felt "sterile and broken".[26] In Vintage Games, Loguidice & Barton stated it was considered the black sheep of the SimCity franchise due to its "poor collision detection, driving simulation and quality assurance".[27] The title helped contribute to the poor reputation of spin-off games in the Maxis software lineup and SimCity series.[28][29][30]

Some reception has been less critical: whilst PC Games wrote that Streets of SimCity was a "disaster in its own right" as a SimCity title, the game had some entertainment value as a driving game.[14] Jim Vorel of The A.V. Club ranked the game as the fourth-best Maxis simulation title, writing that it was more satisfying than SimCopter as the "rendering of the cities is much better, and there's something simply relaxing about going for a cruise around the place you built".[31] Schweizer considered that the use of urban landscapes to "allow players to race and crash in polygonal streets" was an early attempt to create a navigable 3D city that would anticipate future attempts such as the DMA Design title Grand Theft Auto.[32]

Legacy

Streets of SimCity was one of the last in a range of spin-off titles published by Maxis that met a poor critical and commercial reception during a period of acquisition by EA.[8][33] The design of SimCopter and Streets of Simcity was initially influential to the direction of Maxis in developing a similar 3D approach for Sim City 3000,[12][34] which was later abandoned for a 2D approach following acquisition by EA.[8] Software:SimCity 4: Rush Hour, an expansion pack to the 2003 title SimCity 4, later introduced features allowing players to drive a vehicle through the streets of their city.[35]

In 2019, independent developer Alxander Krimsky published a patched version of Streets of SimCity for Windows 10 named SimStreetsX. The version, which rewrote the assembly code for the game, allows for networked multiplayer play for eight players. Krimsky developed the version in a week and stated its creation was straightforward, having prior released a similar reimplementation for SimCopter in the same engine.[26][6][25]

References

  1. ↑ PC Gamer staff (November 4, 1997). "Now Shipping". Imagine Media. http://www.pcgamer.com/news/news-1997-11-03.html. "Maxis has released Streets of SimCity, its first action game in years." 
  2. ↑ "Maxis Releases Streets of SimCity for Windows 95". November 4, 1997. Archived from the original on January 13, 1998. https://web.archive.org/web/19980113210220/http://www.maxis.com/inside/press/pr971104.html. Retrieved June 3, 2022. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Olafson, Peter (March 1998). "Streets of SimCity". PC Games: 73. https://archive.org/details/pc-games-march-1998/page/72/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 McNamee, Kieran (March 1998). "Streets of SimCity". APC: 203-5. https://archive.org/details/apc-199803/page/n247/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Ryan, Michael E. (12 December 1997). "Streets of SimCity Review". Red Ventures. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/streets-of-simcity-review/1900-2533250/. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Watts, Rachel (8 September 2019). "Streets of SimCity is available to play on PC thanks to a fan patch". https://www.pcgamer.com/streets-of-simcity-is-available-to-play-on-pc-thanks-to-a-fan-patch/. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  7. ↑ Livingston, Chris. "Build Me Up: The joys of creation and destruction in SimCity 2000". PC PowerPlay: 51. https://archive.org/details/pc-powerplay-286/page/50/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Keighley, Geoff. "Simply Divine: The Story of Maxis Software". Archived from the original on 4 April 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20050404192320/http://www.gamespot.com/features/maxis/page9.html. Retrieved 5 April 2026. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Streets of SimCity". Boot: 70. May 1997. https://archive.org/details/maximum-pc-almost-complete/Boot%20Vol%202%20Issue%205%20%28May%201997%29/page/70/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "City Limits". Game Informer (170): 125. June 2007. https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-170-june-2007/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  11. ↑ Computer Game Developers Conference (1998). "Speaker Bios". Computer Game Developers' Conference Program. pp. 80. https://archive.org/details/computergamedeve1998unse/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gerli, Damiano (February 2023). "The Making of SimCopter". Retro Gamer (243): 69. https://archive.org/details/retro-gamer-magazine-archive/Retro%20Gamer/2023/243/page/68/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  13. ↑ "A SimDecade of SimGaming". Computer Games Strategy Plus: 18. July 1997. https://archive.org/details/computer-games-strategy-plus-july-1997/page/18/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Olafson, Peter (November 1998). "End Game". PC Games: 143. https://archive.org/details/pc-games-november-1998/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Falcon, Jonah (April 1998). "Streets of SimCity". Computer Games Strategy Plus (89): 90. https://archive.org/details/computer-games-strategy-plus-issue-89-april-1998_202409/page/n91/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 "Streets of Sim City". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (40): 108. April 1998. https://archive.org/details/next-generation-24-dec-1996/NEXT%20Generation%2040%20Apr%201998%20txt/mode/2up. Retrieved November 14, 2021. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Streets of SimCity". PC Mag: 328. 7 April 1998. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=7Oh8xNYEgwYC&pg=PA328&dq=%22streets+of+simcity%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiAl-bhj9iTAxV1hf0HHQvpH-sQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=%22streets%20of%20simcity%22&f=false. 
  18. ↑ "Streets of Sim City". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 5 (4). April 1998. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 Jones, Gareth (February 1998). "Streets of Sim City [sic"]. PC PowerPlay (Next Media Pty Ltd) (21): 91. https://archive.org/details/PCPowerplay-021-1998-02/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved November 15, 2021. 
  20. ↑ "The Sims Online". PC Gamer: 17. September 2001. https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade/PC_Gamer_088u/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  21. ↑ McDonald, T. Liam (March 1998). "Caveat Deluxe Pro: Multiplayer support and 3D acceleration". Boot: 27. https://archive.org/details/boot-magazine-complete/Boot%20Magazine%20-%20Issue%20019%20-%20Pentium%20II%20Deschutes%20-%20Mar%201998/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  22. ↑ McDonald, T. Liam (April 1998). "The Fall of PC Gaming". Boot (20): 23. 
  23. ↑ "Worst Games Ever". Hyper (84). October 2000. https://archive.org/details/hyper-084/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+sim+city%22. 
  24. ↑ "Retro Zone: SimCity". PC Zone (121): 149. November 2002. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_121_November_2002/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Boudreau, Ian (9 September 2019). "Relive two specific years of the '90s with these fan ports of SimCopter and Streets of SimCity". https://www.pcgamesn.com/simcity/sim-copter-streets-of-simcity. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Clayton, Natalie (9 September 2019). "Streets Of SimCity can now run on modern PCs thanks to fan tinkering". https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/streets-of-simcity-can-now-run-on-modern-pcs-thanks-to-fan-tinkering. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  27. ↑ Loguidice, Bill (2009). "SimCity (1989): Building Blocks for Fun and Profit". Vintage Games: An insider look at the history of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario and the most influential games of all time. Focal Press. pp. 217. https://archive.org/details/vintagegamesinsi0000logu/page/n7/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  28. ↑ "SimCity 3000". PC Gamer: 98. May 1999. https://archive.org/details/UneditedPCGamer_marktrade/PC_Gamer_060u/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  29. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (4 March 2015). "A History Of Maxis: Thanks For SimCity". https://kotaku.com/a-history-of-maxis-thanks-for-simcity-1689490370. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  30. ↑ Kotzer, Zack (4 March 2015). "‘You’ll Regret This!’ SimCity Developer Maxis Is Closing Down". https://www.vice.com/en/article/youll-regret-this-simcity-developer-maxis-is-closing-down/. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  31. ↑ Vorel, Jim (20 January 2015). "Every Maxis Sim Game Ranked". https://www.avclub.com/every-maxis-sim-series-game-ranked. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  32. ↑ Schweizer, Bobby (Fall 2019). "Grand Theft Antecedents". Video Game Art Reader: 51. https://archive.org/details/oapen-20.500.12657-57791/page/51/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+simcity%22. 
  33. ↑ Wolf, Mark JP (2012). Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming. Bloomsbury. https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Video_Games/b6nOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22streets+of+simcity%22&pg=PT679&printsec=frontcover. "These latter spin-offs generally proved less commercially and critically successful than the SimCity games, and indeed, the lukewarm sales and reception of most of these titles were believed to have factored into Maxis' 1997 sale to Electronic Arts." 
  34. ↑ "Prescreen Alphas". Edge (49): 28. September 1997. https://archive.org/details/Edge_Gaming/Edge%20Gaming%20Magazine%20049/page/n25/mode/2up?q=%22streets+of+sim+city%22. 
  35. ↑ Parker, Sam (30 September 2003). "SimCity 4: Rush Hour Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/simcity-4-rush-hour-review/1900-6076158/. Retrieved 6 April 2026. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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