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This isn ’ t the plot of James Blish ’ s classic science fiction quartet Cities in Flight – when entire cities launch themselves into space to escape an oppressive world regime – but the “ victory sequence ” of SimCity 2000 the 1994 sequel to the earlier Maxis classic Sim City . Though not an end game sequence in itself – the construction cost of the Arcologies returns to your coffers and allows you to rebuild the city anew , it was chosen as the ultimate reward for the player in perhaps the greatest city building simulation ever made .

The original game , designed by Will Wright , a designer with an interest in urban

planning , was originally made in 1985 for the Commodore 64 , but wasn ’ t released until 1989 , when it was published as one of the launch titles for Maxis . Wright included a number of scenarios which sought to highlight Wright ’ s advocacy of mass transit and his criticisms

of nuclear power . The Three Mile Island disaster still fresh in his memory , Wright included a scenario in

which the player had to rebuild Boston following a nuclear meltdown , as well as one in which the player has to introduce a mass transit system to Bern , the capital of Switzerland .

Maxis had launched a slew of Sim titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s in an effort

to replicate the success of SimCity – SimFarm , SimAnt , SimEarth and even SimHealth , a management simulation of the US healthcare system release to coincide with the debates on the Bill Clinton healthcare plan . SimEarth concluded in a similar manner , with the Earth ’ s cities moved

into rocket-propelled domes that leave to find new worlds , leaving an empty planet behind . But nothing had equalled the success of SimCity , which sold more than a million copies , and years later , would be inducted into the Library of Congress as culturally significant

following a campaign by The New York Times .

The cover art to the original release of Sim- City is a quirky design , highlighting the fact that you are a God , sitting in front of an elaborate and quirky city building machine , of which the cover art is the interface .

In a style akin to the

eccentric machine designs of cartoonist Rube Goldberg , the population dial can be turned , the disaster buttons can be pressed , and the energy levels can be monitored . On the view finder is your city , being ravaged by a tornado , giving you a hint of the challenges that await you once you ’ ve loaded up the floppies .

A sequel was oft-demanded , and five years later Maxis obliged SimCity took the original title and updated it to reflect advances made by other godsims such as Bullfrog ’ s Populous , which utilised an isometric view . New features included wastepipes and subways , prisons , schools , libraries , museums , marinas , hospitals , and the aforementioned Arcologies . Players could also create highways , roads and railways , and zone areas for airports and seaports , chose different modes of power generation ( once it is invented ), and also connect to neighbouring cities to improve links . They also have greater access to budget and finance controls . And again , Maxis included recreations of real life events , including the Oakland firestorm of 1991 , the 1993 Great Flood of Davenport , Iowa , the 1989 Hurricane Hugo in Charleston South Carolina and the 1970s economic recession in Flint , Michigan , and also fictional