Something about the SimCity franchise makes it seem like a perfect fit for a handheld console like the DS. Perhaps it is the simple fact that after spending hours upon hours creating and nurturing your city, you'll inevitably grow attached. You'll want to be up close and personal with your creation, and there's no better way to do so than with the DS.

Many recent SimCity games have become somewhat diluted by new features and buildings and added content. But SimCity Creator from EA wisely resists this urge. In sticking to the basics of the SimCity franchise, it has created an excellent, and also somewhat nostalgic experience. The feature set is actually very close to my all-time favorite, SimCity 2000. For those unfamiliar with the series, the basic idea is to grow a city while balancing everything from land zoning, to budgets, to crime rate, to pollution. And those are just a few of your concerns. Choose to ignore these problems, and watch your city stagnate. Or be the good mayor and take your citizens' concerns to heart - they'll love you for it and your city will start booming.

There are two basic play modes in SimCity Creator, Freeplay and Challenge. Challenge is an interesting mode where the game sets certain goals for you to reach within a certain time limit. These can be anything from recovering from a citywide disaster, or simply reaching a certain population in a given period of time. And they range from pretty easy to very difficult. Freeplay, on the other hand is the more attractive mode in my opinion. This is where you'll be able to start from scratch and take full advantage of the creative control given to you by SimCity Creator. Do you want to build canals running through your city, with expensive waterfront homes? Go ahead. How about a crime-ridden industrial slum? You can do that too - though your citizens probably won't appreciate it. The point is, SimCity Creator gives you the option to make whatever kind of city you'd like.

I was actually a big fan of the way the game played using the stylus (especially after trying to use the Wiimote for the Wii version.) It works especially well with the grid view used to create zones and buildings. A quick drag of the stylus across a section of the grid is all you need to lay down a zoned area. A number of new SimCity titles have strayed from this grid structure of organization, but I was happy to see it return here. Some organization is definitely necessary when you're trying to plan and build an entire city!

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of variety in the building models. In the past, it seemed like there were many different buildings that could arise from a particular zoning. But the majority of my buildings look precisely the same in SimCity Creator. This doesn't affect the gameplay at all, but it does make your city less interesting to look at and explore. On top of this, the level of detail on these few building models is sparse. Take the standard park for example: it looks nothing like a park, but more like a green blob. Even the parks in the original SimCity had some detail to them! The game fares a little bit better in the audio department, but not by much. The background music isn't offensive by any means, but it does get old fairly quickly. But that has always been the case with SimCity, so I won't hold it against this game too much.

While I enjoyed my time spent with SimCity Creator, that's not to say that I don't have some gripes. First of all, the in-game information system is annoying. Every time a menu item is clicked on, you get a pop-up message telling you what it is. This would be great if it only happened the first time you clicked on something, or if it only popped up when you wanted it to. But it is too persistent. You can turn off the information system, but that means you don't get any information on items you're unfamiliar with either. There's no middle ground, sadly. Of less importance is my second gripe, but I thought it was still worth mentioning: it takes a ridiculous amount of time to save your game in Freeplay mode. I was in awe as I waited for it to save my city for the first time.

Gripes are inevitable with almost every game, and they really don't change the fact that SimCity Creator for the DS is an enjoyable installment in the SimCity franchise. It doesn't have all the features of some of the other more recent SimCity games, but in my opinion, that's a good thing. It keeps things simple, and focuses on keeping city creation fun.

Gameplay: 8.6
Excellent control using the stylus and directional pad to navigate your city and lay out new zones and buildings. You might start to wonder how anyone could have played this game without using a stylus.

Graphics: 6.6 
The level of detail is a little subpar, even for the SimCity series. And the lack of variety in the building models is disappointing. This is not the game's strong point.

Sound: 6.9
The music is bearable, but because it's on continuous repeat, and because you'll likely put in a lot of hours building your city, it will undoubtedly get old. Perhaps a bit of variety in the music department could alleviate this problem.

Difficulty: Medium
Building your city into a bustling metropolis certainly isn't easy, but there's really no true "winning" or "losing" in SimCity. Your city will simply prosper or suffer, but a few changes here and there can turn it around in a flash. If you can grasp the basic concepts of what creates a prosperous city, the game shouldn't be too difficult.

Concept: 7.5 
Well there's not really anything new in terms of the concept. Build and customize your city, make your citizens happy, and watch it grow. It's a great concept, but certainly not new. In fact, it's almost 20 years old.

Overall: 8.3
The most fun I've had with the SimCity franchise since SimCity 2000. Gone are some of the extraneous features and overly analytical budget options. What remains is the core of SimCity, and there's still enough depth to keep you interested in growing your city. And the stylus is an excellent tool for the amount of control and precision you'll need to create your perfect city.