Why, as a responsible adult, SimCity 2000 hits differently

Retro-future

Speaking of seductive simplicity, the retro-futurism of SimCity 2000‘s look and feel is still compelling after all this time. As a child, I remember being immediately put off by the look of the original SimCity, with its garish EGA colors, complicated user interface, and overly rigid, stylized overhead grid map. By contrast, the bright SVGA colors, angular hills, flowing waterfalls, and isometric skyscrapers of SimCity 2000 felt, at the time, like the future implied…