This seems to be the summer of amusement parks. In late June my seven year old and I spent the day at Six Flags (see accompanying opinion), and in July we bought Hasbro's Roller Coaster Tycoon. Although I originally bought the game for my son, I have enjoyed playing Roller Coaster Tycoon immeasurably more than my ill-fated trip to Six Flags. As for my son, he's still trying to get time on the computer!

Roller Coaster Tycoon's premise is simple. Choose a scenario, build (or add onto) an amusement park, and manage your park to meet the given scenario's goals. The scenarios available range from easy (have an attendance of over 500 guests in a given amount of time) to more difficult (double the park's net worth). I zipped through the first three scenarios without a problem, but have been stuck on the fourth for days and days.

There are many great things about this game. You must use strategy to decide where to place your rides (vertical rides such as the Observation Tower and Ferris Wheel are best at the front of the park, so guests can see all the cool rides the back of your park has to offer). You must decide how many handymen and mechanics you need. You must decide on admission and ride prices. And you must decide where to place the ever-important bathrooms and concession stands.

Then the game gets interesting. If you have a lot of high "thrill factor rides," such as roller coasters or spinning cars, your guests will invariably get ill and vomit all over the place, complete with sound effects. Enter your handymen, who mop up any "refuse" they come across. Oftentimes rides will break down (or even crash, resulting in deaths), and your mechanics must rush to fix or inspect any given ride. As your park ages, your rides tend to break down more frequently, and you may end up with a whole army of mechanics and handymen. There are also the occasional vandals, which adding security guards will help diminish. Your guests may also become lost, ill, hungry, tired, or even bored. Keeping them safe and entertained is your primary job.

Roller Coaster Tycoon also has a couple drawbacks. If you complete a scenario early (for example, you achieve the required number of guests and still have a year left), you must keep playing until the allotted time frame is up. I also wish the guests had more unique thoughts than the 10 or so provided. "I'm hungry," "Boat Ride 1 is a good value," and "I feel sick" get a little repetitive after awhile. Also, building your own roller coasters is very difficult; as a result it's much easier to stick to the prototypes the game gives you. Fortunately, the game does give you a good deal of choice when it comes to rides. Thrill rides, "wet" rides (like the log flume), quiet rides (like the merry-go-round) and spinning rides are all available and change each time you play the game.

Roller Coaster Tycoon's graphics and sound effects are also good. Our computer is somewhat powerful (it has a Pentium III) and the game plays with no problem. I enjoy hearing the guests laugh, and the sound of the various rides, although the sound of a guest vomiting is kind of gross.

My son has managed to sneak onto the computer and play this game occasionally. He enjoys it and has successfully completed the first scenario. However, he won't get a much of a chance to try the second one until I master the fourth. In any event, Roller Coaster Tycoon is fun, strategic and creative and, oftentimes, better than visiting the "real thing!"

Recommended: Yes