#35 - SimCity 3000 (Kudos to Salnax for guessing this)
Honestly, thinking about it now I could've done with putting this a bit higher. But it's certainly deserving of its spot on my top 50 - one of the best simulation games I've ever played.
Give me a game with some form of resources to manage and structures to build, and I'm pretty much guaranteed a good time. SimCity 3000 took both of these elements and ran with them to absolute extremes, which was fantastic. I had to manage my city's water pipes; their electricity; where they can build their houses and where they can build their factories. I felt like a true leader as people petitioned me to repeal this law or build that casino there. No, I can't afford to put a fire station on every street corner, silly civillian!
Add in a massive dose of that trademark Maxis humour (not as great as Bullfrog humour, but almost. It's weird - must be a genre thing; that's sorely lacking in all these imitators these days) such as the news ticker I mentioned in my clue, and you've got a recipe for a fantastic game. One that I feel like replaying right this minute, in fact.
Another game I'm going to highlight the fantastic soundtrack of in my ending video/image, too. Never has taking care of a city been to such relaxing elevator music; that fitted the tone of the game absolutely perfectly.
