SimCity Enhanced CD: 1990s Full Motion Video Cheese
video description
Date: 2026-04-12
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 20
malvineous
This version was my dad's first and only exposure to the Sim franchise. He enjoyed it at first, but ran into a consistent problem because of the way he liked to play it. He would develop his city to be as large as possible and try to keep it running as long as possible, but would always reach a point where he couldn't keep up with the rate that things were falling apart or going wrong. He noticed that the environmentalist group Green Peace had their name featured in the credits, and came to the conclusion that Sim City was designed by Green Peace from the ground up to be impossible to win because they wanted to push the message that large scale urbanization is bad and people should live in small towns. He was convinced that the game was propaganda and never touched it again. I've tried to explain that Green Peace didn't invent Sim City, and their only involvement with the game was contributing a single FMV clip of the pollution warning, but he doesn't care.
reply
This version was my dad's first and only exposure to the Sim franchise. He enjoyed it at first, but ran into a consistent problem because of the way he liked to play it. He would develop his city to be as large as possible and try to keep it running as long as possible, but would always reach a point where he couldn't keep up with the rate that things were falling apart or going wrong. He noticed that the environmentalist group Green Peace had their name featured in the credits, and came to the conclusion that Sim City was designed by Green Peace from the ground up to be impossible to win because they wanted to push the message that large scale urbanization is bad and people should live in small towns. He was convinced that the game was propaganda and never touched it again. I've tried to explain that Green Peace didn't invent Sim City, and their only involvement with the game was contributing a single FMV clip of the pollution warning, but he doesn't care.
reply
sullivanclarke
I need some help. I used to play this arcade flight Sim back in the early mid 2000s it was a a jet fighter game set in the Middle East but I cannot remember the name of it to give you some details to help me out when the game launched. It would have a very cool guitar opening and had a lot of one liners by the pilot and you can fly multiple different aircraft and had a leaderboard and every time you would fire multiple missiles your point would go down and even if you fired the gun your points would go down as well. I hope this community is able to help me find the name of this game. thank you
reply
I need some help. I used to play this arcade flight Sim back in the early mid 2000s it was a a jet fighter game set in the Middle East but I cannot remember the name of it to give you some details to help me out when the game launched. It would have a very cool guitar opening and had a lot of one liners by the pilot and you can fly multiple different aircraft and had a leaderboard and every time you would fire multiple missiles your point would go down and even if you fired the gun your points would go down as well. I hope this community is able to help me find the name of this game. thank you
reply
Dukefazon
Actors stopping doing what they are doing in the scene, turn towards the camera and say their lines, lines that are kinda fine written down but they mustn't be said out loud. Ugh, I just can't stand it. I know those FMV games had charm and people are nostalgic towards them but I never liked them. I prefer proper intros to games, cutscenes that ground you in the game world, give you a background, a frame of reference. These over the top cheese nonsense is just pure cringe. I can only think of 2 games were it was passable: Steel Harbinger and Fox Hunt. Both are bad but somehow I can tolerate those.
reply
Actors stopping doing what they are doing in the scene, turn towards the camera and say their lines, lines that are kinda fine written down but they mustn't be said out loud. Ugh, I just can't stand it. I know those FMV games had charm and people are nostalgic towards them but I never liked them. I prefer proper intros to games, cutscenes that ground you in the game world, give you a background, a frame of reference. These over the top cheese nonsense is just pure cringe. I can only think of 2 games were it was passable: Steel Harbinger and Fox Hunt. Both are bad but somehow I can tolerate those.
reply
daapz
It was such a weird era. They had the technology to play videos, but not really integrate them into the game in a productive way beyond low resolution 3D animation title screens and live animation clips. I think watching videos only got tolerable when a lot of 3D shooters or adventure games came up with a mechanic to collect video recordings and use them to do world building. Even then they didn't jump out that much from the actual game engine look, at times not being videos at all but something the game engine just rendered with some scan lines or static added to it.
reply
It was such a weird era. They had the technology to play videos, but not really integrate them into the game in a productive way beyond low resolution 3D animation title screens and live animation clips. I think watching videos only got tolerable when a lot of 3D shooters or adventure games came up with a mechanic to collect video recordings and use them to do world building. Even then they didn't jump out that much from the actual game engine look, at times not being videos at all but something the game engine just rendered with some scan lines or static added to it.
reply
UndyingNephalim
8: 45 As someone who loved Sim City and bought the Enhanced Edition as soon as I could find it, I was disappointed that I could never get it to run on my PC back in the 90s. For reasons I can't remember I was unable to return the game to get a refund, so for years I just had a $60 broken game sitting around. When I got a new PC in 1998 it still complained about not having compatible hardware. This game is forever burned into my brain as that brick I wasted tons of money on and couldn't get a refund and sat on my shelf collecting dust for 30 years.
reply
8: 45 As someone who loved Sim City and bought the Enhanced Edition as soon as I could find it, I was disappointed that I could never get it to run on my PC back in the 90s. For reasons I can't remember I was unable to return the game to get a refund, so for years I just had a $60 broken game sitting around. When I got a new PC in 1998 it still complained about not having compatible hardware. This game is forever burned into my brain as that brick I wasted tons of money on and couldn't get a refund and sat on my shelf collecting dust for 30 years.
reply
tylercuddletail
After the enhanced FMV Simcity, I guess the next Simcity you could review is the Micropolis version.
Basically, Micropolis is a special version of Simcity that was released for a charity called One Laptop Per Child around 20 years ago. The charity is meant to give kids in third world countries a special Linux laptop for them. Micropolis is a free Open Source re-release of the original game but with all the copyrighted trademark Simcity stuff removed but it's legit a public domain version of the original game.
reply
After the enhanced FMV Simcity, I guess the next Simcity you could review is the Micropolis version.
Basically, Micropolis is a special version of Simcity that was released for a charity called One Laptop Per Child around 20 years ago. The charity is meant to give kids in third world countries a special Linux laptop for them. Micropolis is a free Open Source re-release of the original game but with all the copyrighted trademark Simcity stuff removed but it's legit a public domain version of the original game.
reply
bgjck
I remember as kid, my older sisters introduced me to The Sims with The Sims 2 and my older sister had a Dell Dimension running Windows XP in her bedroom and she would make me take out her trash and then she would let me play SimCity 4 Rush Hour on her computer. I also remember in my tech class in 9th grade, we got to build cities in SimCity 3000. Even though the original SimCity was before my time, I still have a lot of memories with other SimCity games growing up.
reply
I remember as kid, my older sisters introduced me to The Sims with The Sims 2 and my older sister had a Dell Dimension running Windows XP in her bedroom and she would make me take out her trash and then she would let me play SimCity 4 Rush Hour on her computer. I also remember in my tech class in 9th grade, we got to build cities in SimCity 3000. Even though the original SimCity was before my time, I still have a lot of memories with other SimCity games growing up.
reply
WovenTNT
First PC game I ever owned was that shittier discount white box release and I think it was even a return, because there must have been a big scratch on one of the weather new report videos. Game would always freeze. So I HAD to play with no disasters. Also a transportation video would make it freeze so I had to have my road budget a certain level because I recall it was the you're doing perfectly video. So I had to make my roads shitty on purpose ha ha
reply
First PC game I ever owned was that shittier discount white box release and I think it was even a return, because there must have been a big scratch on one of the weather new report videos. Game would always freeze. So I HAD to play with no disasters. Also a transportation video would make it freeze so I had to have my road budget a certain level because I recall it was the you're doing perfectly video. So I had to make my roads shitty on purpose ha ha
reply
NerdOnWheelz
I also like me some cheesy FMV, and while I'm not really a big fan of sim games, one of their biggest selling points in that they are generally pretty chill compared to other RTS style games. You play sim games to relax while still being engaged. Having a full screen video pop up at random is definitely not chill. And my god, what would the SimAnt FMVs have been The spider in that game was already unnerving. (Okay, maybe that was just me)
reply
I also like me some cheesy FMV, and while I'm not really a big fan of sim games, one of their biggest selling points in that they are generally pretty chill compared to other RTS style games. You play sim games to relax while still being engaged. Having a full screen video pop up at random is definitely not chill. And my god, what would the SimAnt FMVs have been The spider in that game was already unnerving. (Okay, maybe that was just me)
reply
FeelingShred
wait wait wait. the original Simcity was 1989 wow. that's legendary, I remember as a kid in 1996 several years later being already exposed to much later 3D tech such as Doom, Alone in the Dark, Tomb Raider 1, Carmageddon, and even then Simcity 1 shareware demo still felt great to play all these years later, in some aspects I even preferred playing the demo to Simcity 1 rather than playing Simcity 2000 demo which I played much less
reply
wait wait wait. the original Simcity was 1989 wow. that's legendary, I remember as a kid in 1996 several years later being already exposed to much later 3D tech such as Doom, Alone in the Dark, Tomb Raider 1, Carmageddon, and even then Simcity 1 shareware demo still felt great to play all these years later, in some aspects I even preferred playing the demo to Simcity 1 rather than playing Simcity 2000 demo which I played much less
reply
andywolan
I agree that the SNES version of SimCity can be considered an enhanced version of the original game. I played that version when it came out and I loved it. My only gripe with that version is that a single year can take 10-15 actually minutes to simulate while on my friend's 386 PC, it only took like a few seconds. Otherwise, the great graphics, nice music, and intuitive UI made it a joy to play.
reply
I agree that the SNES version of SimCity can be considered an enhanced version of the original game. I played that version when it came out and I loved it. My only gripe with that version is that a single year can take 10-15 actually minutes to simulate while on my friend's 386 PC, it only took like a few seconds. Otherwise, the great graphics, nice music, and intuitive UI made it a joy to play.
reply
CronotheInquisitor
This is the version I had with my first PC, and for the longest time I thought it was the main or default version, I had no idea about earlier editions until later! As a result, I actually prefer the assets, models, and more muted, neutral colors by a lot, and found myself disappointed with the eye-popping saturation of earlier DOS versions when I replayed SimCity later in life. Alas
reply
This is the version I had with my first PC, and for the longest time I thought it was the main or default version, I had no idea about earlier editions until later! As a result, I actually prefer the assets, models, and more muted, neutral colors by a lot, and found myself disappointed with the eye-popping saturation of earlier DOS versions when I replayed SimCity later in life. Alas
reply
mrgw98
4: 30 That reminds me, I have one I thrifted years ago that came in box with everything included. I bought to send to you in case you wanted it but never seemed to have gotten around to it. Would you be interested in it It still works, and comes with all accessories, a printed list of different applications you could download at the time, all manuals and pamphlets, the original receipt, and more.
reply
4: 30 That reminds me, I have one I thrifted years ago that came in box with everything included. I bought to send to you in case you wanted it but never seemed to have gotten around to it. Would you be interested in it It still works, and comes with all accessories, a printed list of different applications you could download at the time, all manuals and pamphlets, the original receipt, and more.
reply
oldjdub2650
This was one of the first games I got to play as a kid and I remember being annoyed eventually by the FMV but I loved it so much and my playing this snowballed into a borrowed copy of CivNet, that weird Star Wars knockoff of Battle Chess, and so many other foundational gaming memories.
Borderline this game taught me to read.
reply
This was one of the first games I got to play as a kid and I remember being annoyed eventually by the FMV but I loved it so much and my playing this snowballed into a borrowed copy of CivNet, that weird Star Wars knockoff of Battle Chess, and so many other foundational gaming memories.
Borderline this game taught me to read.
reply
catriona_drummond
When I started my retro Journey, like 10 years ago, I bought some boxed games. Not eally for collecting, but so that I have them and can use them on my old machines. SimCity was cheap on CD, excellent thought I, only to discover it was THIS version.
I bought another Big Box, with floppies, very quuickly.
reply
When I started my retro Journey, like 10 years ago, I bought some boxed games. Not eally for collecting, but so that I have them and can use them on my old machines. SimCity was cheap on CD, excellent thought I, only to discover it was THIS version.
I bought another Big Box, with floppies, very quuickly.
reply
nealon2005
Hey LGR I cant find that Sim City Classic Teachers Guide anywhere. I can only find the Sim City 3000 guide. Do you think you could you upload that to the Internet Archive I know a few video game museums that would love to have something like that, and I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you and sorry to ask.
reply
Hey LGR I cant find that Sim City Classic Teachers Guide anywhere. I can only find the Sim City 3000 guide. Do you think you could you upload that to the Internet Archive I know a few video game museums that would love to have something like that, and I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you and sorry to ask.
reply
matthewgagnon9426
This video just answered a lifelong question I have had. That dang cover of The Manhole has lived in my head for decades and I never remembered what game it was because I only ever saw it once and I have aphantasia so it only ever existed in my head as a dang phantom!
reply
This video just answered a lifelong question I have had. That dang cover of The Manhole has lived in my head for decades and I never remembered what game it was because I only ever saw it once and I have aphantasia so it only ever existed in my head as a dang phantom!
reply
daporp5884
Love that you referenced Cybermania, I recorded that when it aired and was my only encounter with Sim City enhanced cdrom. The production values of that show were something, but it was also the catalyst to purchasing The Gate To The Minds Eye on VHS which I still have!
reply
Love that you referenced Cybermania, I recorded that when it aired and was my only encounter with Sim City enhanced cdrom. The production values of that show were something, but it was also the catalyst to purchasing The Gate To The Minds Eye on VHS which I still have!
reply
treennumbers
The SNES version is by far the best version of the original SimCity and it's shocking it was never re-released on any later systems (like GBA, phone or even PC. An idea for a different and much rarer enhanced Maxis game for a future video: the GBA version of SimTower!
reply
The SNES version is by far the best version of the original SimCity and it's shocking it was never re-released on any later systems (like GBA, phone or even PC. An idea for a different and much rarer enhanced Maxis game for a future video: the GBA version of SimTower!
reply
Oceanbreeze-q3v
I bought this version on a second hand shop for like a dollar, i could never get it to work. Though getting old pc games to run on new pcs is always hard.
Compared to youre version mine came in a dvd like box with the artwork being fullscreen and on the disk
reply
I bought this version on a second hand shop for like a dollar, i could never get it to work. Though getting old pc games to run on new pcs is always hard.
Compared to youre version mine came in a dvd like box with the artwork being fullscreen and on the disk
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
