MetropolisMania (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Alex Navarro
• Reviewed on: 08/13/2003
• Updated on: 08/20/2003
• Released on: 10/03/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: MetropolisMania (PlayStation 2) Review

MetropolisMania is one of those rare, capricious games that manages to get by on sheer charm and unpredictability. The game is basically a city-building and management simulation in the vein of the SimCity games; but whereas the SimCity franchise focuses on actual city-building mechanics, MetropolisMania instead revolves around building communicative relationships with your townspeople and finding ways to make their lives convenient and happy. Though the game suffers from some pretty outdated graphics and a number of gameplay quirks that provide some occasionally major frustration, its unique style of play and often hilariously translated dialogue make for an enjoyable and unusual experience.

In MetropolisMania, you take on the role of a metropolis maker--a friendly, gold-suit-wearing fellow who has been given the seemingly impossible task of reviving humanity's communication skills by building a new metropolis. At the beginning of the game, you are given this task by your boss (who works for the government--though which government remains a mystery), along with an explanation of how to build your city and how to be successful in your task. Your basic tools early on consist of a piece of magic chalk that creates roads, a list of applicants who want to live in your city, and a cell phone, which you can use to communicate with your residents. These are also practically all the tools you'll need throughout the game. You will also receive a salary, based on how well you do. If your approval rating remains high and you meet the necessary population goals for each town you build, you'll get a raise each pay period.

To build your city, you'll start out building a few roads and then begin placing applicants' homes and businesses in appropriate locations. After a bit of time, each building you place is constructed, and your townspeople move in. Building your city is definitely the least involved aspect of the game; rather, you'll spend much of your time building relationships with your residents by frequently talking to them. Though your townsfolk don't usually have a whole lot of relevant info for you, they're glad to tell you when they have a friend who would like to move in or if they have a complaint. Complaints always involve something that's lacking from that resident's part of town, like a playground or a family restaurant. Complaints are tricky, because once you agree to take care of the complaint, the clock begins ticking. The only way to solve the complaint is to find another resident in town who knows somebody who owns that particular kind of business and wants to move to town. If you can't find anyone fast enough, the complaining resident will simply move away.

While the gameplay in MetropolisMania isn't terribly complex, it's certainly got its charm, and the interaction between you and your townspeople is really quite something. MetropolisMania was originally released in Japan and was then translated to English, and the translations are bizarrely literal. Each type of resident in the game has his or her own classification, designating what type of personality every individual character has. These classifications range from the mildly odd, like "middle-aged workaholic man" and "nerdy kid who is knowledgeable," to the utterly insane, like "mom who likes to gossip in park" and "shameless girl with heavy makeup." Additionally, conversations in the game are equally nonsensical and amusing and don't really give you much relevant information, save for when you're occasionally asked to solve a riddle or are given a choice between two items and are asked which one you prefer. Though the dialogue can get a tad repetitive depending on how many of the same character type you have living in your town, there's a pretty wide array of characters, and more often than not you'll find plenty of unpredictable dialogue.

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