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America - Front

America - Back

Review Scores

Ratings

 

Developer

Chris Sawyer

Genre

Simulation

Other Versions

Series, XB

Release Dates

03/31/99 Microprose
Cancelled
05/18/99 Microprose

Community Stats

Owners: 154
Favorite: 12
Tracked: 0
Wishlist: 0
Now Playing: 0
 
8.5

Avg Community Rating:

 


RCTjunkie

User Score
9.7
                         

Presentation - 9.5
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 9.0
Roller Coaster Tycoon, created by Chris Sawyer, is a up front but complex simulator where you manage parks, defeating several objectives. If understood, this game can be a lot of fun - or a nightmare.

*Please note that these are NOT my pictures. I promise, I'm better then this.

 

Roller Coaster Tycoon is a theme park simulator, plain and simple. You have the whole shabang: Rides that require careful design, guest that are whiny and needy, landscapes that can help or hinder conditions, workers that can be incompetent, and the list goes on and on. You start off with 5 objectives to choose from, unlocking more as you defeat each objective one by one, getting harder (for the most part) along the way. Do each of the game's features tie up together? For the most part, yes.

z  Each objective has unique features to distinguish themselves, from the flat, basic cleared forest, to the vast gardens, to desert with a Mine Train Coaster, to the water themed park. A lot of freedom comes with all of these objectives. You can alter landscape, add scenery, advertise, increase prices, and do whatever pleases you little heart. Bear in mind, if you play to win, each action has consequenses. Advertise without expanding, and your park will get too crowded. Build a roller coaster with too high G-Force, and it will be too intense for guest. Forget to build shops, and guest will get grumpy and leave. Many small but vital task are required for victory. Most of these are fun and charming, but some can get a little annoying. Ther guest are easy to displease, which can be annoying if you can't build a "bridge" roller coaster (one sensitive and thrill-seeking guest will ride). Trees can get in the way, and are hard to remove, especially in forresty parks. Workers are mindless and have to be constantly guided and monitored if you want productive workers. The many charming task (advertising, myriad of ride options, choosing research topics) overshadow the few flaws.

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The controls are close to perfection, but I expect none the less from PC gaming. The mouse click flows very well and allows you to do anything, but the amazing thing is the custumizable keyboard options. You press certain buttons to activate features a lot faster. You can also alter button actions to your liking. The best control is probably both. Use the mouse for building and people, and the keyboard for anything else. The graphics are nothing special, but smooth and no lag, even with multiple roller coasters running at once. Overall, no complaints for this section.

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The game is not very realistic, but this usually works in the game's favor. The ride construction has a lot of flexibility, allowing you to build in places that in real life would have been impossible. The construction happens the moment you click build, with special track features that will boggle the mind. No need to wait for a construction crew. You can also save your favorite designs and put them in future parks. Alter landscape with much ease. Raise water at your command. You're essentially God for theme parks. And since you're God, you can control the fate of guest. A favorite of mine is instead of firing incompetent workers, simply drown them. Crash some rides at your own will by increasing power launch speed. Or just trap them in a hole. These can be very amusing, but remember what I said earlier, your actions will have consequenses. Money is also easier to obtain then in real life. You can pull off a Mr. Krabs by charging for EVERYTHING: entrance, rides, food, even to pee. This is your only income, and the only thing limiting your construction, so being cautious with pricing is recommended.

hThe value of the game is relatively debateable. There are 21 scenarios that you can complete, but only a limited amount of themes, and the objectives are all similar. There is no sandbox mode until VERY late into the game, which can put a damper on demon players. The amount of types of rides could be considered "limited." Each objective can only take a few hours, but average 3 hours per park times 21 is quite a few. Since the game was released in 1999, the game can be found cheap at Amazon or private gaming stores. The amount you can do should overcome any whine of "they should've done this," because you have plenty to do with what you have.

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This game has so many little charming things that I didn't bring up in this review, like the humor of puking guest, or using see-through to watch guest urinate. All in all, everything ties up really well to create the best theme park simulator out there. My recommendation? Buy this cheap, and if you loved it, get the Loopy Landscape/Corkscrew Follies expansion, also cheap. If you don't like it... who am I kidding? Of course you'll like it!


Sales History

Total Sales
0.00m
Japan
0.02m
NA
0.02m
Europe
0.00m
Others
0.04m
Total
1 n/a n/a 64 19 83
2 n/a n/a 38 11 49
3 n/a n/a 22 8 30
4 n/a n/a 18 7 25
5 n/a n/a 20 6 26
6 n/a n/a 22 8 30
7 n/a n/a 22 8 30
8 n/a n/a 18 5 23
9 n/a n/a 15 4 19
10 n/a n/a 85 21 106

Opinion (9)

PhilTheGamer posted 27/03/2010, 04:03
Awesome Game.
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SSurTails posted 30/12/2009, 03:03
Only RCT 1 with his expansions was good. Rct 2 and 3 failed IMO
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supermario128 posted 14/04/2009, 04:22
Great game!
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Strategyking92 posted 07/03/2009, 07:51
this game is still good to this day.
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nintendo792612 posted 14/06/2008, 12:56
how am i susosed to add a release date. for some reason i cant add 1 for NA and i have one for there
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coolestguyever posted 07/05/2008, 10:37
i have more fun playing this than Half life 2 and Gears of war combined.
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