SimCity NES

Photo credit: Game History
SimCity for the NES made its debut at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show, but was never seen again, that is until…now. Read more for a gameplay video and the download link. Originally, SimCity designer Will Wright partnered with Shigeru Miyamoto to port the game to Nintendo consoles, with the NES being first in line, but the game launched on the Super Nintendo in April of 1991 instead, with the former just being quietly retired. Read more for a gameplay video and the download link.



The NES version of the game appeared to be completely lost, or somewhere in the Nintendo headquarter archives, but a cartridge containing an unfinished version of the game surfaced at 2017’s Portland Retro Gaming Expo. The Video Game History Foundation managed to digitize the game for its owner at the show. Inside the February, 1991 issue of Nintendo Power, there was an article stating that the difference between the Super Famicom and NES versions of the game “will be a matter of graphic detail only,” and if you compare both versions, it’s mostly true. Download it here now.

SimCity NES

“In 2017, two playable prototype cartridges of the NES version of SimCity surfaced, when their owner brought them into a used game shop in the Seattle area. This was the first time the game had been seen by the public since its showing at CES. Unreleased games like these can be high-ticket items in the collector community. This is only compounded by it being a game made internally by Nintendo. Because of this, the original owner brought them both to the largest vintage video game collector show, Portland Retro Gaming Expo, to entertain offers. Ultimately, one of the cartridges was sold to a private collector, while the other remained with its original owner,” according to VGHF.

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A technology, gadget and video game enthusiast that loves covering the latest industry news. Favorite trade show? Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.