Metropolismania

[glacier]

Does Concrete Jungle remind anyone else of Metropolismania 2 (MM) for the PS2?
(Before I begin, let me say that I find the parallels "delightful" rather than "derivative." I'm not criticizing anyone here-- it's just a fun thing that I happened to have noticed. It would surprise me if even a two-digit number of people who see this thread have even *heard* of MM2, but if you're one of them, nice to meet you!
Anyhow, onward!)

There are a lot of similar aspects between the two games, even though they're quite different in the way they're played. Both present buildings as placeable rectangular 'tiles' that sometimes change geometry when you put them next to one another; both titles conspicuously and deliberately feature social and political commentary from their home cultures; both are really casual about money and utilities. Obviously, their objectives differ: CJ has players accumulate points, which may be generated in a few (sometimes baffling*) ways while MM was all about satisfying as many citizens as possible in an insanely happy anime town. MM was also strictly single-play.

The product similarities (rather than design elements, which I will get to later) that stand out the most for me is how both are more like puzzle games with very convincing city-planning themes, rather than city-planners-proper. What I mean by this is that they take central ideas and fundamental concepts from city planning situations (primarily desirability and zoning, for instance), but leave out others (tax management, utilities requirements), and the result is a game that lends itself convincingly to an urban design motif, but would dissatisfy anyone looking for a more complete simulation (which is to say, those who did not actually watch the trailer).
I remember that this marketing flaw infuriated a lot of people for MM2.
I'm pleased to see that Concrete Jungle did not also fall into that trap.
(Also, MM2 completely expected players to enter it with a fairly nuanced understanding of Japanese society, and if you didn't have that, there were some elements that no doubt seemed very odd. But that's neither nere nor there.)

An interesting difference between the two is that CJ's complexity comes from building effects, rather than the demands of residents. In Metropolismania, residents had a set of requirements you had to fulfill, or they'd move away, scowling and grumbling loudly. You had to keep all of those demands satisfied, and oversatisfying them bore no bonus. Concrete Jungle is a lot smoother in the sense that residents benefit from any amenity, but do not have specific needs. A home in MM absolutely requires food, medical facilities, places to work or learn, to be at least so far from factories and powerplants, usually a park, and a variety of other things, all at least so close by. By contrast, a residence in CJ does just as well being near a food store, a park, a community center, and a stadium as it does by being at the focus of four libraries.
While MM forced the player to consider the needs of the people in the town (and challenging them to cram in as many as possible while satisfying all of them at once)-- quantity and acceptability, CJ has players concentrate on building the best-served single tiles instead, without being too bothered by what those services actually are, exactly.
And so that there is no confusion in my purpose here, I should point out now that a game that would demand both from players is basically trying to torture its players and should be handled extremely carefully. I am by no means complaining.

In any case, if Metropolismania was at all known to Concrete Jungle's developers, "awesome," "that's really something," and "I commend you on your good taste!"


* Ha ha dat Invert card. :y