The worldbuilding SimCity NES prototype was rediscovered long after its cancellation in 1991, and has since been uploaded online.

SimCity NES would have been a first for the series, seeing as it had previously lived mainly on Macintosh computer systems beforehand. The series did go on to premiere on the SNES with a port of the original MAC and Commodore Amiga game.

The SimCity NES prototype was briefly showcased at a 1991 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, but was not heard from again. That is, until 2017’s Portland Retro Gaming Expo, wherein an actual cartridge of the prototype was showcased.

The Video Game History Foundation, an organization that tasks itself with preserving aging, rotting, and rare game cartridges into digital versions, has taken it upon themselves to rescue the SimCity NES cart, and has even made it available to download and play via the Internet Archive.

The graphics are pretty rudimentary, as many games developed in the NES era were, but it still looks like a pretty fun game. You’re likely going to have a much more fun time playing SimCity SNES, but if you’re a big fan of the SimCity series, there’s no doubt that you’ll appreciate playing through a nearly lost piece of the title’s history.

All physical media, such as game discs, DVDs, and game cartridges, will eventually cease to work. As this is all part of a natural process, it’s only natural that the world moves into a purely digital format for all video games to ensure that video games from all periods of history remain playable.

With the video game industry being remotely newer than the film or television industries, trends such as historical preservation and educational studies of games are bound to start cropping up.

The SimCity NES prototype ROM is currently available to download on the Internet Archive.