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When I first got the call from Insanely Great Mac to do a review of Yoot Tower, I
had one word pop into my head: LAME. I mean, after recently reviewing some kick-butt
action games, what on Earth would an office tower simulator have to offer me? But,
being the fair-minded game reviewer I am, I decided "What the heck? At least
Sega decided to release this game first on the Mac. I'll give it a shot. I'll know
after an hour or two if this game is any good.”
 [Meanwhile,
72 hours later...]
“Doh! I can't believe I screwed up again! Gotta start over. Uh oh! It's 3 A.M. I
sure hope the boss doesn't mind if I call in sick a third day in a row....” Truth
be told, I didn't actually miss any work over this game—although I did pull a few
real late nights trying to get Yoot Tower down. What I'm trying to say here is Yoot
Tower can be addictive.
Not only is Yoot Tower addictive, it's also very difficult At least it's difficult
if you don't have degrees in Architecture, Business, Hotel and Restaurant Management,
and can juggle a torch, a chain saw and a porcupine all while riding a unicycle.
Oh, it all starts out very innocent and easy, but that's how they pull you in. Put
a restaurant here, a few offices there and maybe an elevator or two over here. Next
thing you know you've suddenly got a 72-floor madhouse complete with a Discotheque
right next to a pet shop on the 58th floor.
Adding more flavor, Yoot Tower ships with 3 different locations (Hawaii, Tokyo &
Kegon Falls), each with different conditions for success, different costs and sources
of revenue, and unique attractions. Yoot Tower offers you the chance to build a tower
from the ground up, giving you control over nearly every single detail of game play.
You control the what, where and how many of every single office, store, restaurant
and apartment that goes into the tower.
The only thing you don't control is the who moves in. And even there, Yoot Tower
lets you name them. If you like, you can add your newly named resident to your “favorites”
list. That way, you can locate them in an instant, to see what they're up to, how
much money they've got, and how happy they are with their environment.
The main goal of building your tower is to offer your residents a “stress-free” environment.
A happy Sim resident gets enough business to make a profit, has an easy route to
get to work and not too many people clogging the hallways and elevators. Lots of
parking and great shops and restaurants couldn't hurt either.
While designing your building, you've got to be wise in making your decisions. There
are hundreds of variables you need to take into consideration. Should a Mexican Restaurant
go here here, or maybe instead a Fashion Boutique? Perhaps a Book Store or a Barber
Shop? At what floors should my large elevators stop? How many housekeeping units
can I get away with? Where's the best place for a cigarette vending machine? If I
have ten offices per floor, how many elevators do I need? How much should I be charging
for rent on a deluxe apartment in the sky?
Fortunately, Yoot gives you a number of tools to help make informed decisions. You
can view your tower by stress level, price level, and traffic level. You can also
use a microphone to “interview” your residents. The interview helps to find out what
the tenants like and dislike about your efforts. But, just when you think you've
got all these variables down, the game throws one more curve. Just like in the original
Sim Tower, the game simulates weekends. Weekends have different visitors than weekdays
adding a new dynamic to the game. To build on this, Yoot Tower adds the element of
seasons. The best example is Kegon Falls, where summer travel brings floods of tourists
looking for clean hotel rooms. On the flip side, the winters can get pretty bleak.
As matter of fact, the winters at a Kegon Falls hotel eerily resembles the hotel
in The Shining. Make sure you lock up the bar when the snow stars flying.
Ultimately to measure your success, you'll get visited from VIP's who will evaluate
your facilities. If you make them happy, your tower gets bumped up a Star rating.
The more stars you have, the more items you have at your disposal. While getting
that extra star can be gratifying, it also means more work. For example, you'll be
cruising along, thinking you've got everything under control. Then all of the sudden,
you'll get a new star rating and  whamo! Your restaurants are demanding a trash recycling facility. Unfortunately,
you don't have the cash to afford it or the space to build it. So in the mean time,
trash builds up and your restaurants get condemned due to health violations.
Fewer restaurants mean that your other residence aren't as happy because they can't
get the kind of food they want. This makes them stressed. Now they've got to take
the elevator to a different floor to get to another restaurant, along with all the
other residence. The wait for the even more crowded elevator makes them even more
stressed. Their stress builds up until they can't take it anymore. Now they're vacating
their office space due to the unfriendly environment. And so on, and so on. The house
of cards have fallen and now you are the one getting stressed!
For all the logistic fun, Yoot Tower succeeds as a sim but it fails at being a game
of the late ‘90's. The graphics are frankly lack-luster. When launching Yoot Tower,
you get a dialog box telling you to change to 256 colors (Yoot only supports 256
colors). People are portrayed as stick figures even at the closest zoom-in range
and names of stores are hard to make out at the closest range as well. Of course,
most people who buy sims get it for the power factor, not for their highly-detailed,
well-rendered sprites. The one good thing about the low-res graphics is that lower
end PowerPC models owners can enjoy playing Yoot Tower as well. On the other hand,
as the game advances all the action may begin to take its toll on even a G3.
Perhaps the greatest failure of Yoot Tower is the manual. It is written in broken
English, and isn't ordered in any seemingly logical fashion. The addition of a tutorial
or “getting started” section would have made game play much more enjoyable and quicker
to learn.
Bottom Line:
Yoot Tower is not for the adventurous heart or the easily frustrated. It can get
monotonous at times, and is a game only devoted micro-managers will be successful
at. However, you will find that if you're looking for a challenge, and you give Yoot
Tower a chance, you might become a Yoot addict too!
Pros:
Game released on Mac first! Very challenging, with lots of playability. Low system
requirements allow low-end PowerPC owners play. Desire to beat the computer can be
addictive :-)
Cons:
Low-res graphics, and occasional monotony. Games does not switch back from 256 colors.
Needs a manual rewrite. Desire to beat the computer can be addictive :-(
Score:
7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Mac System Requirements:
Mac OS 7.5 or later
PowerPC processor
2X CD-ROM
32 MB Memory
640 X 480, 256 Colors
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