SimCity 3000 is essentially SimCity 2000 (SC2K) with several small features added and graphics updated to a standard appropriate for when it was published (1999). Some people consider SC2K to be a better game than SimCity 3000 since the two are essentially the same and because of SC3K's greater system requirements, and game-play issues. For example, SimCity 3000 Unlimited occasionally gives the player the option of hosting a parade, which gives a boost to the player's city. The animation for the parade lasts a long time, the game pauses during the animation with no option of skipping over the animation. Critics note other similar flaws.
A re-release, SimCity 3000 Unlimited, was released in 2000. Unlimited added, among other things, Asian and European building sets, a snapshot feature, an improved version of the Building Architect Tool (a very basic psuedo-3D design tool based on cubes), and scenarios (along with a creator based on MS Access).
The SimCity 3000 Unlimited edition was distributed with different titles in some places outside of the USA:
- SimCity 3000 UK Edition in United Kingdom
- SimCity 3000 Deutschland in Germany
- SimCity 3000 World Edition elsewhere in Europe and Latin America
- SimCity 3000 China in China
- SimCity 3000 Japan in Japan
- SimCity 3000 Korea in Korea