Do you ever take public transportation anywhere? Ever have one of those bus rides that just made you want to unleash a giant Godzilla-like monster on the unsuspecting masses of a teeming city? Yeah…uh…me neither. Even still, SimCity is coming to the Nintendo DS and basically giving you the opportunity to do just that.

The gameplay looks to remain largely the same as the millions of fans of this game are used to. You can start from scratch and build an empire in which the SimCitizens are at the mercy of your stylus. Navigation appears to be pretty easy – you can simply drag the view around using the stylus, and planting trees or placing roads is just as easy. Simply tap and drag to become a godlike city planner and create large scale cities with train tracks that look like they’re spelling out “UBER PWNAGE!”

The top screen of the DS acts like your navigation window. It shows a zoomed out view that gives you a good look at things that are going on around you. This is also where information like date and budget are displayed. There’s a CNN-esque news crawl that creeps across the bottom screen and constantly gives color-coded updates on what’s going on in the city. If you receive a red warning that you don’t have enough firefighters, for example, you’d better be on the lookout before disaster strikes.

Random or date specific events also provide a new challenge here. The example that I saw had Santa Claus flying across the city as you tap him repeatedly with the stylus in order to make him drop presents for your city’s residents. It could provide a cool and interesting break from the massive micro-management that makes up the majority of this game.

If you’re like me and enjoy the destructive scenarios the most, then the new “Save the City” mode is right up your alley. Jump right into established cities and fight off destruction that comes in the form of alien invasions, earthquakes and destructive monsters or tsunamis.

The game takes advantage of the DS’s Wi-Fi capabilities as well. Once you unlock the post office building and place one in your city, you’ll add a new option to the main menu. Accessing the Post Office option allows you to swap messages and perhaps even items with your friends. The microphone will also be used, allowing you to extinguish fires with your mighty breath.

If this is your first outing in city planning, fear not. There are 15 tutorial missions covering everything from “The Basics” to “Destruction.” There’s also a guide who appears to accompany you at nearly all times. She’s a blonde lady, but seems to remind me strongly of the guy from Brain Age. Perhaps it’s her red glasses.

SimCity looks like it’s coming along extremely well, and should be out soon to the delight of Sim(insert noun here) fans everywhere.