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To most of CU's readership the name Sim City means nothing. To a few it represents one of the most amazing pieces of software yet to appear. It not only dazzled people at the massive Consumer Electronics Show in America, it also managed a staggering sixteen page write up in Japan's biggest computer mag, Login. Unfortunately, in its original state, Sim City would only run on a one Meg Amiga and was totally unavailable in this country.

At last somebody decided that it just might be a good idea to release it in the UK. So, with a couple of minor changes enabling it to run on unexpanded machines, here it is.

Sim City gives you a chance to go one step further than the deity you played in Populous - it lets you become a politician. You're given a nice plot of land, twenty thousand bucks and freedom to do whatever you want. I christened my piece of wasteland Happy Valley II (in memory of Happy Valley which went under in an earthquake on my imported version).

The first thing to do is to get a population. I established a nice residential area and linked it to the power grid.

Following that I linked industry to the power grid. Creating a motorway proved no problem and I soon had a growing economy. As with any good city it needed department stores; the addition of some commercial zones was welcomes by the Happy Vallien's. And so my first year in office came to a close.

The economy was only running slightly in the red, but the polls showed that crime was an increasing problem. To combat this I had a police station built, and upped the taxes to 9% to help fund it.

Five years later and Happy Valley II had a population of 20,000, a sea port and a footy stadium. Even with a railway, public opinion showed my popularity dwindling in the face of congested road ways. I embarked on building my version of the M25 Orbital. Like most great motorways it ran out of money halfway through construction. Still, the effort paid off and the people went back to moaning about pollution and the taxes.

Twenty years after that and I have a continually expanding city, a healthy economy, lots of lovely happy people, and most of the industry has moved out to the countryside. However...

It wasn't my fault the nuclear reactor suffered a meltdown. Only half the city was rendered unsalvageable; I thought nuclear power was supposed to be safe and clean. With ten thousand people and millions of dollars worth of real estate written off, it looks like it's time for Happy Valley III.

If you don't really want to take the risk of losing your city in a major disaster you can practise reclamation on one of a pre-built town. They give you a set amount of time to clear up flooring, fires, air disasters - the works.

This is an excellent game which has already written itself into the pages of computer history. It's already been accepted as an essential study tool for students of architecture and urban studies in certain US universities. But don't assume that means Sim City is an egghead's game. It's fun, addictive, original and amazing.