Customer Reviews

SimCopter

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The graphics are bad, there are plenty of bugs to go around, and in the end, there's not all that much you end up doing in the missions. But somehow, this game is super fun.

Maybe its the fact that the graphics are slopped together to the point where you kinda think they're kidding around. The people off the city are all freaks, and you and they make all sorts of real noises. The noises the pilot makes when you walk towards water or near the edge of a buidling are hilarious.

Even though, there's not really ALL that much to do in these cities, you probably won't notice it too much. All the stuff is pretty fun. You get to put out fires, rescue people, chase down speeders, etc. A fun little thing is that when you transport people, if you start to descend as fast as you can, the little displays of them in your chopper show them getting all flustered and scared. Classic.

I wouldn't exactly say that this game is "so bad it's good", because it does have appeal. The gameplay is good for killing some time.

I guess that's what this game boils down to. An extremely fun time-killer.

SimCopter is the most enjoyable 'copter sim there is! Unlike most flight sims, you don't need a PHD to learn to fly. You can fly with either the keyboard or any joystick. And I've heard real helicopter pilots say that the physics of the flight make it feel just like the real thing. Maxis did a wonderful job with this one, even given the few bugs that remain.

The main draw is being able to fly in your own SimCity 2000 cities, which extends the game quite a bit - if you don't have SC2000 you can still download lots of cities to fly in - or just fly the mission included. SimCopter is not a 'shoot em up' game, which does turn off those people who just want a mindless killfest. You can, however kill if you must, provided you can get the 'secret' Apache helicopter.

The graphics are not terrible, like you may have heard, but they don't knock your eyes out either. Which allows it to be played on something as slow as a 486DX2! You don't have to have a killer PIII 700mhz computer or an Athalon, like most new games. And to me, that's a real plus. Hey, what ya want, drop-dead graphics or a fun game?

SimCopter is a truly unique experience. Yes, you can actually be the chopper pilot who, in SimCity 2000, says "SimCopter One Reporting Heavy Traffic!" as you fly around in your own SimCities or those provided with the game. Each time you go through the Career levels you will encounter something different, sometimes surprising, often challenging, never boring. There's even a hidden bonus in the highest levels.

I don't spend a lot of time with computer games, but this one grabbed me immediately (I'd been looking forward to it long before it was released) and never let go. Sure, some things are unfinished and there are a few glitches and abnormalities, but they only ADD to the experience. One of the appeals is that it is NOT a flashy shoot-em-up. So give it a try, and it may capture you as it has captured me.

Description
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SimCopter is a very good game despite it's poor reviews by others.

The game is a helicopter flying simulation in which you work for the county and run missions in a city for the local police, fire departments, and hospitals. Among other things, the city can suffer from riots, fires, traffic jams, burglers, speeders, and injuries, as well as UFO attacks.

Your helicopter is equipped with a megaphone that you can use to speak announcements and issue warnings to the citizens, as well as several other upgrades. These other upgrades include a "Bambi Bucket" and a "Water Cannon" for extinguishing fires, a "Rescue Harness" to rescue citizens, as well as "Tear Gas" canisters for breaking up riots or subduing criminals.

You extinguish fires using your "Bambi Bucket", "Water Cannon", or simply by radioing the fire department to dispatch a fire truck to the location of the fire. Catching criminals entails either dispatching a police car, or dropping off a police officer at the location of the criminal. To perform medical evacuations you dispatch an ambulance or drop off a paramedic at the location of the injured person, or simply by loading the injured person into your helicopter and transporting them to a hospital. Performing rescue operations entails using your "Rescue Harness" to save citizens from burning buildings, an overturned boat, or a runaway train. The county also requires that you transport citizens from one location to another when requested.

General
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This game will appeal to flight simulator as well as strategy game players. Also, the game will appeal to any SimCity 2000 players, as you can import your saved city creations from SimCity 2000 into SimCopter. It's really interesting to see your SimCity 2000 cities come to life within SimCopter in full 3D.

The game is also suitable for all audiences, children as well as adults, although gameplay may be too complex for younger children.

Installation
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Installation is a snap and seems relatively clean, same for the uninstall.

Bugs
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The game has numerous bugs, but can all be overcome and don't heavily affect the overall gameplay.

These bugs include:

Criminals and rescue victims located in inaccessable places, or "stuck" in buildings.

"Rooftop Rescues" in between very close buildings, making it almost impossible to reach the victims with your rescue harness.

The icons and direction lines depicting the "Riot Missions" in the map display are not displayed in version 1.0.1.4 of the game. Because of this, you cannot actually complete a riot mission or recieve funds for completing it. The riot mission icons and direction lines work properly in version 1.0.1.3 of the game, but unfortunately that version suffers from a few sound problems with specific sound cards (see below).

Sound problems (see below).

Graphics
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Graphics are quite "dated", but what can you expect from a game as old as this? The lower quality graphics do help to speed up gameplay a bit on a slower PC though.

Sound
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The sound effects really create a super atmosphere for the gameplay. The dispatcher constantly keeps you informed of all of the current missions, and the ambient sounds (traffic, fires, explosions, helicopter engines etc...) give you the impression of really flying a chopper in a real city. The A3D four-channel surround-sound support in the version 1.0.1.4 upgrade of the game sounds simply awesome on an A3D compatable sound card... you can really hear everything happening all around you as the city comes to life.

One problem with the sound effects is that some versions/upgrades of the game (v1.0.1.4) lack stereo on several soundcards (a Sound Blaster 16 comes to mind), while on others, the stereo sounds are not loud enough. On the versions/upgrades that the stereo works properly with the SB16 (v1.0.1.3), the overall sound quality has been greatly reduced (sound effects, as well as music), from a 22k "sampling rate" to an 11k "sampling rate", resulting in sounding like a cheap AM radio. I believe that the problem of the lack of stereo sound effects on an SB16 is caused by the DirectX "A3D" sound card support in the newer version (v1.0.1.4) of the game, which allows for 3D four-channel surround-sound on an A3D compatable sound card.

Music
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Your helicopter is equipped with a regular music radio (similar to listening to an FM radio) that you can use to "tune in" to various radio stations throughout the city to listen to background music, complete with commercials and radio station DJ announcers (just like Maxis' other game, "Streets of SimCity"). There are several "KSIM" radio stations of varying musical styles to listen to, including Rock, Techno, Jazz, and my favorite, Classical.

The overall quality/fidelity of the music may be compromised depending on the version of the game that you are playing (see above).

Stability
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The game seems very stable on the three PCs that I have played it on. The gameplay is a bit choppy on a P133, but is liquid smooth on any faster PC.

Overall
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I would rate this game 4 out of 5 stars, contrary to several of the other reviews that I have read. If you are a flight simulator and a SimCity 2000 player, you'll love this game -:)

Revision History
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Review originally submitted by Rich „Weeds„ Nagel on February 25, 2001, and updated on September 16, 2004. Yes... I still occasionally play this old gem of a game!

Sim Copter is quite an enjoyable game. Yes, the graphics are truly hideous at times (take a look at the freakish Sims and you'll see what I mean) but the overall gameplay is fun. You get to be a pilot in your own SimCity 2000 land or one that the game provides. The flying isn't difficult, you just use the directional buttons on the keyboard (unlike some flight simulators where you feel like you need to go to flight school just to figure out how to get the plane off the ground). The game does have bugs though, like your pilot getting stuck in a wall or on a ledge, impossible rooftop rescues and transport and medevacs that are no where to be found. But it is also humorous, like those ad's on your pilots radio, the crazy colored animal (I have no idea what those animals are suppose to be) and Sims with there faces on the back of their heads. Also, has anyone noticed when you bring a medevac to the hospital, the doctor drops him/her on the ground and runs after your copter like your giving away money?! Overall 4 stars, because of the graphics and bugs.

There are the classic Maxis games, like SimCity and the Sims, and then there are the slightly less played (and normally not quite as good) bargan-bin crawlers like Sim Tower, Sim Farm, Sim Isle, Streets of Sim City, and Sim Copter. Sim Copter is one of the more recent additions to this list, and is probably the worst, and yet, the most fun. It's an odd paradox, but true nonetheless.

In Sim Copter, you are a pilot who flies around various cities doing odd jobs that the dispatcher tells you to do, from menial tasks like uncloging traffic jams and transporting people from one side of the city to the other, to complex and delecate jobs like catching arsonists and rescuing people from the top of runaway trains. The money you get from running the errands can be spent on buying equipment for your copter, or buying new helecopters. The flying aspect of the game has been dumbed down to the point where [anybody] could fly like a pro, but there is still a good physics and wind engine.

The textures in this game range from decent to just plain horrible. The ground and building textures are nice and pretty well mapped, with animated water and nice fire effects. Though that's all well and nice, the skins of the gibberish-muttering inhabitents of the cities are just BAD. They DEFINE bad. They have no detail whatsoever, and the faces wrap around the BACK of their heads. Though this seems like a bad thing, it's funny! It almost ADDS to the silly atmosphere of the game. And that's what makes this game fun. Atmosphere. The quirky mix of jazz and classical music is nice sounding, and the occasional alien abduction and the orange-colored cows and blue dogs are an odd, yet amusing, toutch.

This game is a classic example of lazyness that paid off. It's not the best game in the world, and it is very very buggy, but it's still fun, and has almost limitless replay value, because you can load any SimCity 2000 city map and do missions in them! There are a lot of fun things in this game, and despite the its obvious lack of polish, I still reccomend it to anyone who likes cheap, odd little games.

SimCopter is over two years old now, so of course the graphics look old but zipping around a city provides a nice feel for speed and flight, and for pure esthetics, it is a pretty game. There are some Sims who get stuck, but it's not a game breaker and even on the occasional crash, you can still restart and continue on your merry way. You'll get 10X the gameplay if you have SC2K so you can design your own cities, then fly them. It's just plain FUN! With the 1.02 patch, you get a more realistic flight mode so there's more challenge.

This game was released in 1996!!! I bought it when it was relatively new and I had 3 children (2 boys and a girl) from about 9-13. I already had the SimCity game (whatever was current then.. I think 3000 Unlimited..) It's difficult to trace my entering SimCopter Fandom with this game, but enter I did..

First, even in 1996 its graphics were hardly awe-inspiring, but it had a few things really going for it. It computer-generated textures (one of the early games to do so) and it would use the cities and countrysides generated in SimCity and let you "fly through them". And it runs on the most primitive pc, requiring very little in the way of computer resources.

At first I was tentative.. what's this? The idea, aside of just touring your "own" cities, was to earn money by "helping out" with fire, traffic, crime, medical, passengers, etc emergencies by either directly intervening or by calling and directing appropriate response teams.. fire, ambulance, police, etc. These activities form the structure of the "game".. ie get money, buy better stuff, etc until you "made it" to the ultimate choppers.. even allowing a military unit where you can challenge UFO's.. And of course true to games of that era, it also has an "easter egg" or two tucked away..

And what are these "citizens".. at first you thought they "forgot" to finish the game graphics.. but then the genius of "vague" graphics and mumbling "speech" that you thought might be real.. but no its just noise! And what are these animals too.. But then I find myself admiring the "contextual" beauty of it.. and they have expressions as well.. I don't speak a foriegn language, even though I've traveled and know a few words here and there, I expect this game "translates well" to most any language. Just as you watch your pet's mouthings and actions, and you SWEAR you know what they are saying.. lol..

True to all Will Wright games, it is non-violent, eco-friendly, problem solving.. this is no exception.. And like most Will Wright games, there "just isn't much to it".. and yet.. IT BECOMES A CLASSIC with diehard followers.. and I'm one for this game.

It has a charm, a wit, and a pleasant, thoughtful presence that appeals to a wide number of people of all ages and with different styles.. Sure you find those "naughty" things you can do like run over people, smash into building, jam up the highways, and throw "patients" out of the helicopter... great emotional vents in those moments of frustration or boredom.. but the basic game somehow holds to a "gentler, kinder" essence.

My kids all spent many hours as well.. it is just fun without your having to invest a lot of painful brainpower.. :) It requires very little learning time, and is even fun to learn as you go. In the final analysis, as suggested by reviewer "ribcage", it boils down to a great, pleasant way to pass time.

edit: One warning however... You can only use Simcity 2000 (yes it's that old..heheh) cities to "tour".. I'm pretty sure it cannot use Simcity 3000, Simcity4, Rushhour and Deluxe versions. I believe there are conversion programs that can move the maps at least (though probably not the buildings) back and forth. It does come with 30 or so cities "prebuilt", so this isn't required. Of course SC2000 is still available not only alone but in various collection editions with other SC versions.

I see this game from various sources such as "bargain bins", "recycled" software shops, etc.. I'd say if you can find it for a few bucks (including shipping) GO FOR IT.. its great fun and relaxing too.. Just one of those whimsies in life.

this is probably the only "Sim" game I really like... I probably would tie this with Mario 3 & Zelda: A Link to the Past as my favorite game of all time. Of course the main reason this game was made was so that you can fly a chopper through your Sim City 2000 cities,, well like I said, I'm not really into Sim City.. but still,, this game is fun,, and I really could care less about flight sims (with the exception of any made by Jane's Combat Simulations)

Basically in this game you fly around in a copter through a city & you do various things that helicopters are capable of doing- putting out fires with a bucket or water cannon, helping cops catch criminals, medevac injured sims, use a rescue harness to rescue people from boats or rooftops, etc...

you choose between a Career game or a User game- both are equally fun- Career games are a good challenge, and User games are great when you just want to play around- you can control the settings of what types of missions you want

The Sims? NO. Sim City 3000? NO. Sim Safari? NO! THIS is the Sim game to get!

I had a great time with the game Sim Copter. It took only a couple of minutes to learn the proper flying tecniques. You don't need to be an expert pilot to be good at this game. I found it quite interesting because of all the little things added in. I love the idea of having different radio stations that you can listen to, and the commercials on those stations were very creative. I do believe, however, that this wasn't one of Maxis's triumphant games. The graphics aren't all that great, and I couldn't stand when the criminals that you have to catch would get stuck on an unreachable part of a building. The part that I liked most was probably the freedom to fly anywhere you want. The city was open to almost anything you wanted to do. Overall I think that Sim Copter was a very good game but could have been better with a couple of improvements.