Metropolismania

by Global Star

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006JN5Q
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 28, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,162 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #32 in Video Games > PlayStation 2 > Simulation
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Your job is to create and maintain a city that attracts new residents, while keeping your approval rating in good standing--to do this you must interact with each and every citizen of your city. It is only through befriending the people in your town that you will be introduced to new possible residents. Each citizen has a unique name and personality, along with various issues you must help them solve. Communication is the key. Metropolismania offers much more than just friendly greetings--conversations contain topics of discussion, quizzes, and clues on how to help accommodate the other people in town. There are five different stages, each with its own unique theme. The game offers a wide range of establishments to build: various businesses such as bookstores, restaurants, banks, and hospitals; residential housing such as apartment complexes, houses, and condominiums; and amusement facilities such as nightclubs, parks, and stadiums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and Quirky, January 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Metropolismania (Video Game)

This is a nice game for [the money]. The goal is to build a town and fill it with people, not unlike the SimCity games. However, the real key here is communication. In order to get people to come to your town, you have to be introduced to them by your current citizens, who have to like you or they won't introduce you. Once you have citizens, they have wants and needs. Say they decide they need a hospital (or a playground or a police station or whatever). You go talk to Mrs. A, who tells you Mr. B might know someone. Mr. B refers you to Ms. C, who says Mrs. D can help you, and finally Mrs. D introduces you to someone who wants to open a hospital. In addition to all this, you have to help Mr X find the bookshop, listen to Mrs. Y's complaints, and try to solve Mr. Z's riddle (some of these get really weird). All sorts of situations and problems arise while you are trying to build your city, making the game interesting. To help you keep track of everything, you have a notebook which automatically records people's problems, and a phone book, which really helps when you get the runaround to find the right introduction. But you have to be friends withe someone to get their number, so it does pay to make friends. The closest games to this I can think of are Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland for PS2 and Earthbound for SNES. They also depend on communication, though not as heavily. The game is pretty cheaply made, but it doesn't detract too much from the game.
Who might like this game:

-Anyone who has spent way too many hours playing Harvest Moon
-Fans of The Sims, SimCity, or Tycoon games
-People who like strange Japanese crossovers
The Pros:
-It's totally unique
-Easy to learn, hard to master
-Three veiw modes- first person, a sort of isometric veiw, and bird's eye
-The price- what more do you want for [the money]?
The Cons:
-The graphics-barely PS1 standard
-The controls-totally counterintuitive, you use the left joystick to move the camera and the right one to move you. Most of the time. Sometimes the left one will move you and not the camera, sometimes the right one will move you and the camera. It's hard to get used to, and the reason why this game isn't 5 stars.
-The music-somebody spent way too much time in an elevator
-The translation- obviously done by a non-native English speaker. It's easily readable, but there is a sad lack of articles and plurals.
-The jump feature-not really a con, but worth mentioning. The problem- it's easy to get 'stuck' in buildings. The solution- make the character 'jump', not unlike Super Mario, so you can jump out of buildings. Just one more sign of the cheapness of the game. At least they did something though.
*Note-suitable for all ages, I don't know why it's rated T

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging, yet simple! Look out Sims!, November 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Metropolismania (Video Game)

This is a very addicting and challenging game. It is enjoyable for adults as well as appropriate and fun for kids. My 8 yr old daughter enjoys it and is able to effectively use it.
Your mission is to build a town, make friends who refer you to people they know that you can have move into your town. Town's people request things for you to add to their neighborhood and ask you to do them favors. (i.e. create a playground in the area, go shopping for them, and help them find their way home)

The more organized you are in building your town the more effective your game will be.
This game is great to help people learn organizational skills.
Give it a try..... It is a fun yet easy SIMS like game!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You'll Never be a Metropolismaniac!!, March 13, 2004

By 

Linda "Linda" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Metropolismania (Video Game)

If you can get past the tongue-twister title, Metroplismania is a cute game.
But is it fun? Maybe a little.
The idea is to build a city to contain a certain amount of residents in a particular time space.
I will always try any simulation game.This one is fairly fun, but a little monotnous.
Basically the idea is to place down houses and shops and talk to the residents of the town.Agree with everything they say!And give them gifts you know they will like.One of the goals is to make them like you!!
Give it a go, but don't buy it.It isn't worth buying.I also found the controls horrendous.This is the first PS2 game I have played since purchasing my own PS2 console yesterday afternoon.I hope maneuvers are easier in other games.
Overall, a cute game, an OK game, with a pale humour.But what age range would love this game?That's a hard one.There is not enough to it to be adored by grown ups or teens.Yet the controls in this game take some getting used to, so I'm not sure if it would be children.Not small children.
Maybe kids around the age of 10 would really enjoy it.
To end this review, let me rermind you I have given this game 3 stars.That means it's worth a look, but it isn't the Sims!!!