SimCity is one of gaming's most beloved titles ever. Just about everyone who has ever seen a computer at least knows about the title. The premise is simple: build a city, zone land, and keep your city prosperous through natural disasters, crime waves, traffic jams, and over population. SimCity was first created for DOS over ten years ago and has been recreated for the current versions of Windows, Macs, and several console systems.

　　Lately, computing has taken a look at big beige boxes and has decided to scale down to the palm-sized machines like 3Com's Palm series of computing devices. While the machines lack the sheer processing power of a new Pentium III, the machines do offer enough power to complete several tasks - including games.

　　When Electronic Arts first gave us an exclusive demo of Tiger Woods Golf PGA Tour for Palm Computing devices earlier this year, we were impressed (even though it was a golf game). Our first question was: when are you going to bring SimCity to the Palm. The PR people at EA said it was a good idea and there was even talk of a programmer at Maxis, an obsessed Palm user, who had already built a small version of the game for Palm. For several months we then heard nothing, until a small France-based development house named Atelier, in a surprising announcement, released a full version of the game for US$29.99 through its web site. While the company isn't offering a demo for gamers to tap into the world of SimCity on their handhelds, the brand name alone is tempting in a land of shareware-only Palm games.

　　Recently, we talked Atelier into giving us a full version of SimCity for Palm, and, while it may not have the power of SimCity 3000, it does stay true to the first SimCity. You have simple options to zone industrial, residential, and commercial areas. You can build massive roadways and train lines, keep the peace with fire and police houses, and keep your city folk happy with parks and stadiums. You can also add trade routes with airports and seaports, and, if you hate what you've created, you can bulldoze it all.

　　With an amazingly small footprint of only 282k, Tiger Woods is a heavy iron at 452k. SimCity for Palm also adds a budget screen where you tax your citizen and decide where that money will best be spent. To make sure you know where you need to focus your attention, the game also provides maps for transport, crime, and population densities, along with opinion polls for the topics that need immediate attention. And, while the game is small, it still packs all the challenge of its larger forerunners with robust AI, interesting scenarios, and the fight to gain the approval of your citizens.

　　While Electronic Arts hasn't announced any details on when it will distribute the software in the US, gamers looking for rock solid SimCity gaming on their Palm machines may find their money well spent with SimCity for Palm from Atelier Software.