This is the definitive version of any SimCity. Much better than the sequel SimCity: Societies.

TL;DR: Even though it is 13 years old it is still one of the best examples of a city builder today. I'd rate it 8/10

This game was one of the major contributors to Cities:Skylines as it is Paradox's main inspiration for the game. The U-Drive it Missions are unique to city builders wherein you can interact with your city on a much more indepth level. The economics aren't simplified and the advisors offer advise that can actually be used. For being a very fixed camera in an isometric setup, you get plenty of gorgeous angles and shots. The modding community for this game is still alive as far as I recall, although a lot of it is becoming harder to find certain things such as Network Addon Mod (NAM).

The main drawbacks of the game are mainly due to its age. Unlike Cities it isn't based on both a free building and grid based snapping system. This is solely grid based and it has a very big drawback, bridges. You can only build bridges certain directions and in straight lines. The other main drawback is performance issues on certain new machines and crashes. But I believe you can find a patch around for a fix for the crashes. A minor more nit-picky issue with the Steam version is that unlike a box you don't get a pamphlet that gives good advice about RCI and how to increase and meet demand, but again you can probably find a picture of the RCI pamphlet on the internet.

Overall the game is excellent. Even though my hours on the Steam edition are lackluster, playing on the two-disk box version is where most of my hours really come from. As said above, 8/10

An excellent game for an excellent genre.