They're Still Trapped On The Ferris Wheel

The gates have once again opened to this popular theme park simulation with the release of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 was released in 2002 and is the sequel to the original RollerCoaster Tycoon back in 1999. This time around Hasbro is out of the picture and a new company called Infogrames has stepped in. Despite being a new game under new ownership, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 looks and feels very much like the original. Many of the older rides and scenery are still available with a bunch of new additions. Although most of the new additions are actually older rides slightly reconfigured, so it's not entirely all that new.

Gameplay

The basic point of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is to build a theme park by placing rides, shops, scenery, and hiring staff to maintain everything, while keeping your guests happy and eventually earning money. Because this is a simulation type game, there are things that must be dealt with along the way. Within each scenario you have certain goals that must be achieved.

For example the first scenario you need to have 1,500 guests in your park with a rating of 600 after 4 years. In order to attract guests into the park you need to build rides. Some guests prefer slow rides such as the ferris wheel, haunted house and merry go round. Then there are guests that prefer something a little more exciting such as go karts, jet skis and launched freefall. And for the extreme guests and the staple of a successful theme park, there are a wide assortment of rollercoasters to choose from.

Guests also need entities like food, drinks, restrooms, park maps (they may get lost in the park), toys and other merchandise. Providing these essentials keep guests happy which keeps them in your park, spending money, and getting you closer to winning a scenario.

Your park also needs maintenance. So you'll need to hire handymen to keep the park tidy. Mechanics help keep rides operational and safe. As a ride gets older its reliability decreases and could be prone to frequent breakdowns. Guests won't go on unsafe rides. As guests become angry they can destroy things in the park like benches and pathway lights. Hiring a security guard sometimes becomes a necessity. And of course entertainers are always a nice addition in crowded areas, as it makes people happy when they may otherwise become angry.

In addition to the basics of the game, there are a ton of decisions to make for just about everything that can affect you park. You can name each ride, choose a color scheme, have the ride wait for a full load or begin at any time, and in some cases you need to charge guests a price of admission per ride. If a ride or shop is overpriced they complain and choose not to participate. Placement of rides, access to pathways, restroom locations, queue line length, waiting times, price of admission, and overall ride excitement are all things to consider when building a park.

Unlike the original RollerCoaster Tycoon, this version allows you to micromanage just about every small detail in the game including a much larger assortment of scenery features. Not only can you place trees, bushes and walls on the ground, but now you can build upwards into a more 3d environment. By using the 'shift' key, you can build multi-story buildings using scenery. Instead of placing a roller coaster on flat surfaces with boring old pathways leading to the entrance and exit, now you can build walls, roofs, bushes, and all sorts of things around the queue line, entrance, and station platforms. This really opens up the thirst for imagination and creativity.

The newest feature is the custom creation utilities. If playing the default scenarios is too hard or too boring, you can create your own layout, which rides are available, which rides must be researched, how much money you have, and the overall goals. Also in the utilities sector is a ride creator. Instead of wasting time and money building rides during a scenario, you can build rides in the creator and then save them for later. This provides unlimited time and money to create a ride that is just right in every way. Not only can you use your own rides and scenarios but you can also share them online or download other's creations too.

There are also two expansion packs called Wacky Worlds and Time Twister, which are available for purchase or download (not included in the standard RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 package) however they are included in the triple thrill pack. Wacky Worlds adds extra themes from various places around the world and the Time Twister adds extra themes that are space oriented. These expansions packs merely provide more stuff to choose from when building rides and themes.

Graphics

For the most part, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 looks and feels very much like the original. The tab layout looks the same, the options are the same, the essential building of a park is really not that different at all. However, the graphics do have a slightly more detailed look than before. It's as if someone took the original graphics and used the 'artificial jpg removal' tool on them to give it a more indepth pixilated appeal. It doesn't necessarily look better, just more, detailed. That traditional 2d/3d angled view is still present as the main view. There are still options to see through rides, supports, scenery, invisible people, and all those graphical options. Rides themselves are still unchanged in the way they operate. Guests still line up in a queue, walk along the station platform, get into the ride, and basically become part of the rides graphics until the ride is over. Guests exit with a jump for joy as they blend into the masses on the pathway once again. You can also rotate the view from 0-90-180-360 degrees and zoom in and out up to four times. You cannot however ride the rides, or zoom in on a 'street view' type such as other similar games like SimCity4.

Sounds

For the most part, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 sounds very much like the original. I hate to rehash this again but it's worth saying if it's true. During the game you'll hear the same general theme park sounds of guests roaming along the pathways. If you get near a ride, you'll hear the sounds of that ride. You'll notice the air brake release at the station, the clunking of the cars going up a track, and passengers screaming in excitement as they drop down a hill. Move down the road a bit and you'll hear the cha'ching of money and success from selling food and drinks to hungry guests. Off to the side you'll also hear the end results of that hunger with the flushing of toilets. Many things have specific sounds but you probably won't notice them after awhile as those sounds mash together in one big rumble of noise.

Conclusion

While RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 tries to be new and different from the original RollerCoaster Tycoon back in 1999, it doesn't vary much in its basic sense. Yes, there are new rides, shops and scenery, but it's nothing more than an expansion pack of sorts that doesn't bring anything jaw droppingly new to the game. All of the scenarios are also unlocked from the start, so there is no feeling of progression through the ranks of difficulty or joy of unlocking a new feature. Many of the scenarios are also extremely difficult, even the easy set. RollerCoaster Tycoon seemed easy by comparison, only having to attract a few hundred guests, but these scenarios you need 2,000-5,000 guests which is insane. Once you understand how to use rollercoasters to your advantage, you'll be trapping guests and holding them hostage fairly easily. Ultimately, RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a game for the hardcore gamers that thought the original RollerCoaster Tycoon was either too easy or too boring and repetitive. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 brings a bunch of new features that provide another layer of micromanagement to the table, but on the surface it's basically the same as the original game. If you are new to the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, stick with the original until you gain a thirst for more advanced action.