SimCity 4 Review (riskfactor)
Even after 21 years, and three major modern attempts at creating a new pure city-building game, nothing comes close to touching SC 4. And I'm not saying that just simply out of nostalgia. The only bad quality to SC 4, is its infamous instability issues, which can be controlled if you learn what causes CTDs and how to prevent them.
The biggest reasons why SC 2013, CS1, and CS2 doesnt touch this game:
1) Realistic city sizes. SC 2013 city squares are childishly way too tiny. Not even a modern American village IRL could realistically fit on them. Nevermind, a city of over 10,000.
Meanwhile, CS1 and CS2 becomes so bogged down with the AI trying to control tens of thousands of different "agents," that most people's hardware cannot get much above 100,000 in population.
2) Graphics. The graphics of SC 4 is realistically "gritty." It inst this weird cartoon-ey plastic look that Colossus Order STILL insisted on making for CS2! Especially the vehicles! Like. Come ON! This is now the 2020s. The idiotic and weirdly childish cartoon graphics trend of the 2010s should FINALLY be over! I'm a grown adult who wants to build a REALISTIC city! NOT in the environment of Paw Patrol!
SC 4 graphics have a more realistic "gritty" feeling to them compared to the 3 year old child-level Paw Patrol 3D graphics of SC 2013, CS1 and CS2.
Those are the two biggest issues that would launch a modern city-builder to new heights.