''Yoot Tower'' (known in Japan as ''The Tower II'') is a
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
construction and management simulation
Construction and management simulation (CMS),
sometimes also called management sim or building sim, is a subgenre of simulation game in which players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Strategy vid ...
computer game. The game is a sequel to ''
SimTower
''SimTower: The Vertical Empire'' (known as in Japan) is a construction and management simulation video game developed by OpenBook Co., Ltd. and published by Maxis for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh System 7 operating systems in November 1 ...
''.
The lead designer,
Yoot Saito
is a Japanese video game designer. In 1996, he founded the video game development company Vivarium Inc., Vivarium. His latest game is Guild01#Aero Porter, Aero Porter, which is part of a collection of games called Guild01 for the Nintendo 3DS. I ...
, who also worked on ''SimTower'', produced this game as a sequel to ''SimTower'', adding several new features while retaining the same general interface and style. The game's premise is largely unchanged from its predecessor; players must build a profitable and unique tower block complete with various amenities and living accommodations, while balancing the needs of the occupants.
Gameplay
Using the provided starting funds, players must begin to build a tower from scratch. As in ''SimTower'', offices and food courts can be built to generate income, as well as
condos
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
that can be sold to families. There are plenty of new facilities that can be placed such as rented apartments, vending machines and public restrooms for food court patrons. There are also many changes to existing items that featured in the original game, i.e. a notable difference between the shop item in ''Yoot Tower'' and the one originally in ''SimTower'' is that it no longer functions as a rented space where the player has no control over what the shop sells; rather the player is provided with different types of shop from the start from which the income they make is part of the player's earnings. Another interesting addition is the ability for players to build two or more towers next to each other and join them with
sky bridges. Other income sources also exist, such as placing
billboards outside and renting them out as advertisement space.
Also new to this game is the ability to choose where the building is built. What the player can do in these locations varies, such as how many stories high the building can be, what the player is actually allowed to build, and how much money the player starts off with. The variation gives each location its own difficulty level compared to the others.
''Yoot Tower'' includes a non-invasive form of static
in-game advertising
In-game advertising (IGA) is advertising in electronic games. IGA differs from advergames, which refers to games specifically made to advertise a product.Matthew Yi (2005-07-25). "Advertisers pay for video games - Product placement tradition no ...
. Users can place billboards for
Apple Computer (in Mac version only) and
Sega, whilst there are tenants featuring real-world stores like
GameWorks
GameWorks is a gaming-based entertainment center with a single location as of 2022, a chain of such businesses. It was owned by then-owner ExWorks Capital, each venue featured a wide array of video game arcades, in addition to full-service bars a ...
,
Orange Julius
Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...
or
Air Jamaica
Air Jamaica was the national airline of Jamaica. It was owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines from May 2011 until the cessation of operations in 2015. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, had administrati ...
. Some updates include more real-world tenants and billboards. The Japanese version includes a
Glico
, commonly known as just Glico, is a Japanese multinational food processing company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka. It does business across 30 countries, in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Overview
Ezaki Glico's primary ...
store.
''The Tower II'' is a fully 32-bit program unlike ''SimTower'' which was 16-bit. It can even run on all 64-bit Windows operating systems. ''The Tower II'' also has a resizable window that can support very high resolutions (3200 x 2160).
Expansions
A new addition of the game is the ability to expand the game using
plug-ins released for download which would add new features, such as new facilities (e.g. additional shops, restaurants, and services, ranging from a
Glico
, commonly known as just Glico, is a Japanese multinational food processing company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka. It does business across 30 countries, in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
Overview
Ezaki Glico's primary ...
store to a
swimming pool), new events, billboards, and movies, as well as other aspects of gameplay. Inspection of the game's official website through
web archives indicates that although the
American version never got any true additions, the Japanese version got several updates, including new movies and locations. However, none of these appear to have survived when the official websites relating to the game and its developer OPeNBooK9003 went offline between the years 2001 and 2002. Through translations on the Japanese downloads page, an
Austin Powers
''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...
movie can be downloaded.
The original ''Tower II'' game came with
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. The American version had Tokyo, Hawaii, and
Kegon Falls
is located at Lake Chūzenji (source of the Oshiri River) in Nikkō National Park near the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The falls were formed when the Daiya River was rerouted by lava flows. The main falls had a height of appro ...
. However, unlike in Japan, America did not get updates. In Japan, each expansion pack was sold under the Towerkit title.
Locations
Waikiki, Hawaii
The easiest of the three scenarios, Hawaii has users building a mixed-use structure featuring
condominia and
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s. After building up those plus an underground
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
, users can place a
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
on the top floor (the 45th).
Tokyo, Japan
The advanced Tokyo level has users building a fast-paced tower with primarily offices and eventually other uses as well. Users place a
stadium on the top level.
Kegon Falls
In this scenario, the player is required to construct mostly underground, building a vast underground tourist attraction through hotels, shops, and a museum. This was initially sold in Japan as an expansion, but is included in Yoot Tower and later The Tower II releases.
Statue of Liberty
This expansion, was released in Japan in February 1999 under the name ''Towerkit CD-ROM: The Statue of Liberty''. It was also originally meant to be available to download from the American official website, but the English version never materialized. The expansion is rare in Japan.
Tokyo Tower
In this game, player build below
Tokyo Tower
is a communications and observation tower in the Shiba-koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, built in 1958. At , it is the second- tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and ...
.
Yoot Saito
is a Japanese video game designer. In 1996, he founded the video game development company Vivarium Inc., Vivarium. His latest game is Guild01#Aero Porter, Aero Porter, which is part of a collection of games called Guild01 for the Nintendo 3DS. I ...
also indicated the ''Tower'' team was working on another location, "Tokyo Towe
but the addition was only released in Japan as Towerkit. This is not to be confused with the "Tokyo" location.
Kyoto Station Bldg.
The
Kyoto Station
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
was launched as a product based on the ''
Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys'' movie. This version was sold as Towerkit, or bundled with the base ''The Tower II'' game.
King Naniwa Building Legend
In this add-on, player built around
Tsutenkaku.
This version was sold as Towerkit, or bundled with the base ''The Tower II'' game.
Christmas Story
In this add-on, officially titled ''The Tower II - Christmas Story ~サンタクロースになれる聖夜~'',
the player constructs a log building and collects Christmas-themed items whilst Santa can be spotted walking around.
This version was sold as Towerkit and the rarest and most obscure of the released items.
Cancelled releases
*Lunar base
*Luxury cruise ship
*
Hokkaidō
Reception
The game was dismissed by some game review websites and magazines as being too much a rehash of the original ''SimTower''. Many wrote the game off as being basically identical to its predecessor. Due to the average reviews and spotty distribution, the game was largely ignored by the mainstream gaming public after release, possibly contributing to its poor sales. This in turn is the most likely reason why none of the new locations or expansion plug-ins were ever localized for the English version. It sold well in Japan, however, and received several new plug-ins. Another criticism was that some in-game text was not localized effectively. This resulted in some minor text errors and unfamiliar items to American audiences (such as placing cigarette machines commonly).
References
External links
''The Tower II'' homepage(Japanese)
contains patches to the game. (Japanese)
*
{{Sim series
1998 video games
Business simulation games
Classic Mac OS games
Sega video games
Video games with expansion packs
Windows games
Video games developed in Japan
Single-player video games