I grew up playing this game a lot of PS2, it is one of the best city building games ive ever played even to this day. The communities you build and the AI that live in them, as basic and pre-planned as they are, become so alive and familiar to you. You start to remember residents names as time goes on and you build your friendship with them. Every aspect of the city, from every building to every road and small details in between, are all entirely yours to build and manage while also making sure to meet the needs of the residents of your town. I would really love to see this on steam one day, its an absolute gem that so many people have overlooked or have never heard of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolismania

Not sure what the mixed reviews were for, the only truly negative things I could remember from the game was that in the first game you couldnt delete or move buildings once they started to be built.