Rollercoaster Tycoon Review

Overall Rating

Freedom - Charming - Addictive

Uninspiring graphics - Panda drowning, they have enough problems as it is.

Management simulations like Rollercoaster Tycoon have always wielded a strange hex over me. Personally, assuming the mantle of God provides unnatural and unhealthy levels of gratification. I don't consider myself a rabid control freak; in fact I have a reluctant relationship with utter disorganisation in the real world. So why would a game like Rollercoaster Tycoon appeal then? Allow me to explain.

The premise of Rollercoaster Tycoon is unquestionably simple: create, manage and maintain a fully operational Theme Park. For many, this may sound marginally less interesting than the autobiography of Toby Anstis, but I assure you it yields substantial rewards. Created by Brit Chris Sawyer, the series has forged an impressive and deserved identity in the gaming industry.

As a novice, you will be confronted with a meagre plot of land and limited cash reserves with which to construct your amusement empire. How you choose to invest that cash, and any subsequent profits, is key to your progress. Obviously, as with any management game, the psychology of the games' populace and its manipulation is where progress is made and relinquished.

The interface couldn't be simpler. Each icon along the top of the screen represents a different aspect of park management. These range from managing loans and defining pricing structures, right down to determining the placement of litter bins and benches. Still veering towards the memoirs of Anstis? It is worth it, honestly.

Essentially, financial management is the core of RCT. Gaining popularity with the fickle inhabitants of each location can only be achieved by recognising limitations, exploiting opportunities and effectively responding to crises. This places demands on your capacity to judge a situation and react accordingly.

Each area requires certain criteria to be met before you can move on to greater challenges. Whether this be to attract a specified number of guests to your park befiore a deadline, or to fulfil a financial remit, there will be a defined target for you to aim for. The earlier levels are in all honesty a breeze, but offer a gentle introduction to the more stringent requirements ahead.

A successful park demands a balance between service and excitement. To achieve this, you'll need a park whose rides appeal to a wide demographic, whilst providing adequate facilities for full enjoyment. Get the aesthetics right as well, and you'll make your money without serious trouble. This will necessitate investment in research, the hiring and instruction of staff, and some hefty promotion through the media.

DOG FACE

RCT looks like an old mangy dog. No two ways about it. If this game were a person, it'd be John Merrick after a heated disagreement with a stadium full of Millwall supporters, about how many branches he hit when falling from the ugly tree. It is a two dimensional environment, in that lateral and vertical movement is all you'll experience.

The camera is placed at a diagonal from the action, an 'isometric' viewpoint, which can be rotated through 90 degrees for ease of use. You may also zoom in and out from the action if needs be, although you will not exactly cream yourself with the wealth of options on a visual level.

These compromises concerning appearance are justified though, and are compensated for by impressive amounts of activity on screen at any given time. Literally thousands of guests can populate an area, each one with his/her own thoughts, reactions and tastes. You can also populate any area with copious amounts of scenery and detail without experiencing problems. Every area is busy, and created in 'real time' - which means the park and its guests continue to function off screen as they would should you have remained in that area, rather than loading randomly.

This is what really makes the game and offers the satisfaction. For instance, leave an area understaffed, and it will quickly and visibly fall into a state of disrepair. Whether it be vandalism, litter, or simply the ravages of time, your guests will soon retaliate with their wallets should you let things slide. In addition, older attractions will quickly become unprofitable and unstable if not maintained and replaced frequently. It encourages foresight to keep everything in check and the gate receipts flowing.

Having panned the looks of RCT, there has been an obvious effort applied to add a veneer of realism. Guests will run to a new attraction, rest on benches to eat, consult maps when lost, or crap themselves when faced with a particularly intense ride. Each emotion has been animated, and these simple yet clear representations only add to the charm of the game. It's all you'll want really, and wouldn't be the same otherwise.

You can also reveal and strip away layers of detail, for example displaying gridlines to reveal land contours, or to establish underground areas etc. You can also remove your visitors from the screen if things have become too cluttered to handle. This assists in the conception and implementation of new ideas.

AUDI - O I THINK I'M GONNA PUKE

The audio is as faithful as you could hope it to be. Close your eyes and you could place yourself at a top theme park. As your park grows, the decibel level increases, with laughter, nauseous heaving, and irritating fairground tunes escalating continuously. Rather than simply following a loop, the sounds vary dependent on where you happen to be in your park. Hover over a coaster, and you will be greeted with the metallic clacking of the elevating sections, or the petrified screams of its riders. It adds to the atmosphere greatly and is bristling with nice touches.

PANDA GENOCIDE

The most impressive facet of RCT however, is the freedom factor. Anything and everything can be achieved. Where competitors have tried and failed to capture that freedom, RCT excels, while managing to remain friendly to the casual player.

There are layers of manipulation which can be employed or discarded at will. If you really couldn't care less whether your guests like the look of your park, then building walls and placing themed scenery can be ignored. Should you wish to push the prices of umbrellas up just as it starts to rain, well, you miserly, exploitative git, it's entirely your call.

RCT also caters for the anally retentive like no other game on the market. If you get tired of your handyman mowing the same section of lawn all day, rather than actually doing his job, you can pick him up by his stupid little uniform and drown him in your specially created drowning lake. Or make his uniform a camp shade of pink. Want to make your entertainers really keen to avoid bumping into their friends? Make them dress up as a giant Panda. Then drown them. Suffice to say, the unions have little influence in Rollercoaster Tycoon.

The addictive draw really lies with the guests though. You can actually witness your actions exert a positive effect on your financial situation, whether that be the creation of a new and outrageous rollercoaster, or a sly marketing campaign to unload gallons of overpriced cola on your dim-witted visitors. In addition, the game can never be complete in the true sense of the word, as each attempt will throw up unique scenarios and challenges.

Above all this, there is of course the fantastic value for money. I bought this from PC world for £4.99. Admittedly, the original has been eclipsed by updates and expansion packs, but I have rarely been as absorbed in such a cheap and simple concept.

The only detraction, of course, is when you find yourself sitting at your PC at two in the morning, coffee in hand, fretting over whether the recently increased price of Burger stand number three is agitating your visitors. Definitely one of those frightening "I've got to get a life" moments, but who cares; it's fun while it lasts.

THE OTHER STUFF

In summary, this is a low spec, great value, absorbing game. I had no problems installing and running this on my mid range PC, which at the time only had an on board graphics card, and 256Mb RAM running Windows XP. RCT will operate comfortably well below that spec, right back to Windows 95, with a Pentium 90 processor. So unless cavemen fashioned your PC out of twigs and stone, you'll probably be able to run it.

The loading times are next to nothing, and there is plenty of downloadable content floating around on the web, one of the best being:-

http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/ ,

100% Recommendation

I'm off to drown some more Pandas.