| The Basics:
It is inevitable that comparisons will be made between Roller Coaster Tycoon and Bullfrogs Theme Park. For me Theme Park was more of a strategy and management game, whereas Roller Coaster Tycoon is a design and construction game, and although you are managing a Theme Park, you don't need to worry about stocks and shares etc. this leaves you free to concentrate on the important things, like bigger and better rides. You do need to keep an eye on the number of visitors coming through the gates, you can hire and fire staff, but overall the main goal is to build rides, and sit back and watch your visitors enjoy themselves. If you are a Roller coaster addict, you can design the type coaster you would like to ride, or if you are a coward like me, you can take pleasure in making the scariest rides ever and let your visitors to the park "Face the Fear". Roller Coaster Tycoon has taken this type of game to new heights. (No pun intended).
The Plot:
The plot is quite simply to design and build the best theme park ever, sounds simple when it's said like that, but as with any good game success depends on many factors. The main aim is to attract visitors and earn points. It is not just a case of building the biggest, the most frightening rides, you also need to provide entertainment for the less adventurous visitors, such as carousels, Ferris rides, log flumes, miniature trains, boats for the boating lake, clowns to keep the kids amused, balloon stalls, food and drink stalls toilet facilities, and handymen to clean up the litter and vomit. Yes I said vomit, give too many loops and to much G - force and your visitors will be more than green around the gills when they come off your rides.
One of the most amazing things about the game is the attention to detail, the coasters are based on the type of rides we have today in various theme parks, including the inverted coaster, ( the ones that have you hanging upside down). You also need to remember the park needs to be attractive to bring visitors back again, so flowers, seating benches and trees are important too.
Graphics:
You can play at normal resolution or go up to 1024 X 768. The map can be rotated to allow you to see how best to fit your new ride in, you can also zoom in and out of the map. No need for 3D acceleration, Roller coaster Tycoon can be played on a Pentium 90 upwards, and it looks good. Build a drinks stall and watch your visitors carry little cups around with them. Build a balloon stall and the screen is covered with little blue balloons. This is another game that proves gameplay is more important than just good graphics.
Gameplay:
With over 50 different designs of coasters from the traditional wooden ones to the more high tech versions, you have a vast choice, building the coasters is great fun, it's like Scalextrix, with different tracks to choose from. Loops, corkscrews can all be added to make the ride more of a thrill, but beware these rides need to be tested before you let the visitors on, to scary, to much G- force and no-one will ride them, not enough G - force and you may not make it up the track. You can put various photo spots in just like the real thing. Research is an important part of the game, you can allocate funds each month, to research a big coaster, or concentrate on some smaller ones until you have made enough money to invest in the larger ones.
Marketing is another important aspect, you can offer free or half price entry to the park, or on certain rides (always a good way to get people to try your new ride). The visitors to your park will let you know if they want better rides, or if your rides are to frightening. There is a message board at the bottom of the screen, it gives you useful information. There are five initial scenarios to complete, they range from an established park, which you need to develop further or virgin land which you start from scratch, there are various challenges with each scenario, such as hills, sand dunes, or lots of trees that can't be cut down, and which the rides need to be built around. Ranging from Bumbly Beach, which is a compact area near the sea front, to Trinity Islands, which are a group of mini islands connected by bridges.
You have the option of using the default track layout, which you can personalize with your own colors, you can paint your rides, change the names of the rides, or you can have your roller coasters starting at different speeds. You can even rename the park. The default setting is useful in the early stages of the game, and the tutorial at the beginning shows you how to build your own rides. When you build your own rides, you will find it is not quite as easy as it looks, there are different track pieces to choose from, curved, banked track, angles of steepness, brake runs etc., designing is fun but it can be tricky making sure your track beginning and track ending line up is ok.
I had problems building over water, sometimes it can be hard to work out where the tracks link up, but with practice it becomes much easier. After creating you ride you need to make sure the visitors can get entry to it and exit from it. You won't make any money if no-one can get to the ride.
Each scenario has a goal, e.g. getting a certain number of visitors into the park by a certain date, or getting a good park rating ( long queues, broken rides, too much litter etc.) will lower your rating. Once you have achieved the goal set, you can move on to other scenarios of which there are 21 in total, lots of gameplay there. Or you can continue to develop your existing theme park to bigger and better things.
The menu system is easy to use and the options section is great, you can change the currency to Yen, Pesetas, Euros, UK Pounds and Dollars, and by changing the currency you place the park in the country whose currency you have chosen.
Sound:
The sounds are super, if you are near the roller coasters you hear visitors scream as they go loop the loop, if you are near the log flume, you will hear the water splashing, and at the toilets, well I won't go into the vomit again.
Bugs and Performance:
I have to say I found no bugs in my version. I played it on a Pentium 100, and on a P 2 400 with no problems on either machine. There were no installation problems.
Final Thoughts:
Roller Coaster Tycoon is a totally addictive and absorbing game, it will keep you up late into the night as you perfect your new ride, well it did me, there is a lot of pleasure in watching the visitors wander round your park and when they jump up and down when they come off a ride they have enjoyed, one that you have created then you can go to bed happy. Till tomorrow when you will want to design a bigger and better ride.
It takes practice to build good tracks but that is the fun of the game, and that is the word FUN, it is along time since I played a game that was such fun. With new rides already available for downloading from the Internet, it is in my opinion a game that will give you, hours, weeks and months of pleasure, and a game you will come back to time and time again. |