Year: 1999
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Jerry Martin
Number of tracks: 15

★★★★★

Big city feeling

Although SimCity 3000 doesn't catapult the scenario 1000 years into the future, you can still see the six-year gap to its predecessor, SimCity 2000, at least visually: The pixelated DOS charm has given way to pretty, semi-3-D graphics from the iso perspective, which already makes me want to start building cities again - albeit preferably in the successor SimCity 4. Meanwhile, the accompanying soundtrack has also made a small evolutionary leap and sounds like the acoustic link between the SimCity- and the Sims-series, which was to be launched a year later, in 2000. Here, as there, composer Jerry Martin takes the creative lead, which culminates not only in catchier melodies but also more interesting tracks.

In contrast to SimCity 3000 we are spared dodgy MIDIs, but instead get 'real' tracks that oscillate somewhere between spherical, trance-like beats (Infrastructure, New Terrain, Power Grid) and jazzy big city flair (Night Life, Sim Broadway, Central Park Sunday, South Bridge), as we later encounter in The Sims addon Hot Date . Overall, I like what's on offer here even more than the predecessor, especially this feeling of 'vastness' and grandeur, as conveyed in Magic City for example. However, in keeping with the nature of the genre, you shouldn't expect anything groundbreaking. In any case, this score is sure to put you in a good mood while swinging.

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Ratings
01	SimCity 3000	Jerry Martin	3
02	Building	Jerry Martin	3
03	Concrete Jungle	Marc Russo	4
04	Illumination	Jerry Martin	2
05	Infrastructure	Jerry Martin	3
06	New Terrain	Jerry Martin	2
07	Night Life	Jerry Martin	3
08	Power Grid	Jerry Martin	3
09	Sim Broadway	Jerry Martin	4
10	UpDown Town	Jerry Martin	3
11	Magic City	Jerry Martin	4
12	Window Washer's Dream	Robi Kauker; Kent Jolly	3
13	Central Park Sunday	Marc Russo	3
14	South Bridge	Krik Casey	3
15	Urban Complex	Anna Karney	3