SimCity 2000 is a city-building simulation video game jointly developed by Will Wright and Fred Haslam of Maxis.

Importance is put on increasing the standard of living of the population, maintaining a balance between the different sectors, and monitoring the region's environmental situation to prevent the settlement from declining and going bankrupt, as extreme deficit spending gets a game over.

[8] SimCity 2000 was critically praised for its vibrant and detailed graphics, improved control menu, gameplay and music.

While its predecessor pioneered the city-building genre of video games, SimCity 2000 would become the model upon which subsequent urban simulators would be based over the course of the next decades.

It had a near-isometric dimetric view (similar to the earlier Maxis-published A-Train)[9] instead of overhead, land could have different elevations, and underground layers were introduced for water pipes, subways and road tunnels.

News comes in the form of several pre-written newspaper articles with variable names that could either be called up immediately or could be subscribed to on a yearly basis.

The newspaper option provided many humorous stories as well as relevant ones, such as new technology, warnings about aging power plants, recent disasters and opinion polls (highlighting city problems).

An "exodus" occurs during the year 2051 or later, when 300 or more Launch Arcologies are constructed; the following January each one "takes off" into space so that their inhabitants can form new civilizations on distant worlds.

More scenarios added with the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit (SCURK) included a nuclear meltdown in Manhattan in 2007.

Fred Haslam recalled being pitched on a sequel for SimCity at a Maxis company dinner in December 1990, just as he and Will Wright had finished SimEarth.

At that point, Maxis had contracted to work on the game A-Train, which used near-isometric dimetric projection to represent the landscape.

Haslam's additions included the city newspaper (in place of the 'score' from SimCity), free-size zoning, and the ability to issue bonds.

Other features were removed during the production process, such as zones for mining, farming and lumbering, one-way streets, and tidal waves.

However she stated she was held back in this goal by the limited capability of sound cards at the time to sustain long notes.

With this in mind, documentation manager Michael Bremer had initially wanted to write about trends in city planning.

Alongside the Great Disasters Scenarios package came the introduction of a separate toolset called the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit (SCURK for short).

[15] In December 2014 Electronic Arts offered SimCity 2000 Special Edition as a free download for an unspecified limited time.

The game features slightly different gameplay in network mode, where mayors may start with more money, but must buy land before building upon it.

North American and European releases followed suit through THQ's Black Pearl Software label in Late 1996, near the end of the Super Nintendo's life span.

[24] Maxis developed the title as with the computer versions, with an in-house team at Sega providing additional support.

Taking advantage of CD-ROM technology, the game features a full CD-quality soundtrack as well as higher-quality sound effects and some FMV sequences including the opening which displays a scene of the Alien/Monster chasing a Launch Arco in space.

In the Japanese release of the game, the statue awarded after reaching 30,000 population was replaced with one featuring Sonic the Hedgehog.

[30] According to Maxis's Lucy Bradshaw, SimCity 2000 achieved global sales of 3.4 million units across all platforms by January 2002.

The editors wrote, "This advanced city simulator adds many of the features and considerations that were previously lacking in the original SimCity.

[51] Andromeda of GamePro commented that it suffers from an awkward control interface and repetitive music, but offers more than the Super NES version of the original and is an overall worthwhile purchase for simulation fans.

It ... has the strange ability to convert full-time arcade shooter fans into around the clock urban planners with a sense of civic duty.

[53] GamePro's brief review said that the expanded menu "bogs Sim City [sic] 2000 down a little" but that the game would still be enjoyable for fans of the series.

They criticized the port's interface and low resolution graphics, which Dan Hsu felt were enough to ruin the game, but were unanimously pleased with the addictive simulation gameplay.

[54] Scary Larry of GamePro contended that the slow and confusing interface of the PlayStation conversion ruin any enjoyment that might be found in the game.

[59] IGN staff erroneously criticized the PlayStation version for lacking mouse support, and said the game doesn't compare well to other simulation titles, but nonetheless assessed it as "worth it" for fans of the genre.