Jerry Martin's jazz fusion score for SimCity 3000 is the kind of music that makes zoning residential blocks feel sophisticated. The whole soundtrack swings between smooth jazz and light funk with this effortless cool that defined late-90s Maxis games.
Read more
"Night Life" has this walking bass and brushed drums thing going on that genuinely sounds like a downtown jazz club, and "Sim Broadway" gets theatrical with big brass stabs. "Central Park Sunday" just floats. It's the musical equivalent of a lazy afternoon with nowhere to be.
The production is clean, warm, and so distinctly of its era that it practically smells like a late-90s PC gaming setup. If you grew up building cities to this, you already know these tracks by heart.