A sim city clone that puts the player in charge of building the Babylon Project.

Anyone familiar with the classic PC city-builder will know what to expect. You have to choose which type of buildings (residential, hospitals, power stations etc) to create and where to put them. You'll need to balance the monthly budget, deal with unexpected occurrences like earthquakes and fires. All the information you need is relayed through pop-up windows.

Eventually you'll experience crime and it's here that the Patlabors make an appearance. Provided you've set up a Police Department you'll be able to combat criminals head-on in a turn based battle sequence.

The fights are fairly static with only tiny amounts of animation. You make your move, be it attack, defence or negotiate, and the events are played out. The outcome of this confrontation will impact on the development of your city.

And that's about all there is to it. Patlabor is a fairly in depth city building simulation. There is nothing but Japanese text which will put off most western fans. The musical accompaniment is good but there are few sound effects. The graphics are a bit bland but they do their job.