SimCity: Reach Megalopolis

AntMag.NET

Alright, so you want to hit that sweet, sweet Megalopolis status in the NES version of SimCity? I get it, it's a tough nut to crack with all the quirks of that version, but trust me, it's totally doable. I managed to get my population over 500,000, and I'm gonna walk you through exactly how I did it. Pay attention to these tips, and your city will be booming!

First off, let's talk about those Presents. Honestly, most of them are pretty useless on the NES. They don't really give you any extra land value, which is a bummer. So, my advice? Don't bother with most of them. There are a few exceptions, though, that can still be handy. I used to think the Fire Headquarters was great, but without any disasters to deal with (since the game defaults to Easy), it's basically just taking up space. The ones you *might* want to keep an eye on are:

Police Headquarters — This one's good for boosting your Crime Coverage.
Extra Land — Handy for increasing Land Coverage, but watch out, it decreases Water Coverage.
Bank — Gives you a nice $10,000 loan to help with those early city-building costs.

Now, let's get to Water. Water is way more important on the NES than you might think, especially since those Presents aren't giving you Land Value boosts anymore. If you want to get those high-density Residential (R) or Commercial (C) zones to pop up away from the center of your map, you absolutely need to place your zones strategically near water. Always try to pick a map with plenty of land, but don't forget how critical water placement is. Ideally, you want the water to be a bit further out from the center of the map. Why? Because Land Value always spreads outwards from the center of a fully developed map. The corners are usually the slowest to develop, so having water near them is a smart move.

Okay, so the NES map is a pretty decent size at 76x76 tiles. To get to Megalopolis, I used a specific layout. Here's the color code so you know what's what: