Tons of fun, minor problems
Written: May 02 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great gameplay, good graphics for a sim, lots of options
Cons: addictive, bad sound, one gameplay mode
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| tag_1234's Full Review: Roller Coaster Tycoon For Windows |
Ah yes, I have long been a fan of Hasbro's MicroProse group because of their wonderful action games. I must say I was a bit skeptical about their ability to make a good non-violent game. I bought it for my sister and during the week I had to use brute force to remove her from the screen.
System Requirements and known problems
Processor requirement is nothing a mere 90 MHz Pentium will run the game for you.
32 Megs of ram is also "required" but I'm sure that you could get away with a mere 20 if you really had to push it. The game seems fairly well built.
Windows 9x+ and 2 megs of Video ram are needed and there are a good deal of graphic conflicts. As I was browsing the aisles at Bestbuy A woman approached me (apparently I look like I work there, go figure). She told me of her Video card's problem with the software. She had a 4 MB AGP card and the game would barely run and when it did it was prone to problems. I've had no video card problems but know that this can be a major possibility (as I did more research). If you have a screwy video card you should look into it more.
On to the Game
In Rollercoaster Tycoon you manage your own amusement park. You hire employees, research and build rides and generally try to make sure that all of your guest are happy.
As I look at my glaring screen I wonder why,
Little sprites look back, some of them cry,
Others are happy, happy as can be,
All of it, because of me.
The interface is simple point and click. With minor exceptions you never use the keyboard. Everything is nice and intuitive and rather easy to learn. The wide variety of plants, shops, rides and of course rollercoasters allow for a wide range of game play and hours of fun.
So what's the object?
Game play consists of several scenarios that you can play. In each you have a goal (which is normally several hours away). You start with a clean slate in some maps a thriving business in others. You might be asked to obtain a certain park popularity, a certain park value or a certain number of people in the park after a certain number of game years (each being around an hour). Each map has certain new items you can research and build allowing for lots of time delayed discovery. As you win certain maps new ones open up and the cycle continues. This is the only mode of game play.
Any gripes?
While fun and entertaining this game does get on my nerves. There is no map builder so you must use default maps and goals. While these provide a good deal of variety I still long for a day when I can make a perfect park with all of the rides. Impossible with current means I bought the expansion pack.
The interface is a full screen MSDOS format window with easy to use menus. My major concern with this is how temperamental this screen is. If I adjust my sound (which is on a control panel) the game shuts down! I have two choices: the sound when I went in or mute. This extends to other out of window functions and the game dislikes being downsized.
I like rollercoasters..
The one thing I like about this game most are the rides. An easy to use interface allows you to build original track rides and alter some of the set ones. Everything in the game can be colored. There are over 15 rollercoaster types to choose from in the game (the most you will have to select from is around 8). You add track piece by piece and view your money going down the drain as you go along. You must be careful in designing these things, however. I learned this the hard way when a 150 foot rollercoaster 8 cars long hit a sharp right turn at over 80 mph.. oops. People will remember this and be less likely to come to the ride again. Fatalities seem to be a bit bad for park morale.
In general
This game has thousands of options and little fun things to explore. It is similar in style to almost every other Sim game (Simcity 3000 being closest in mind. People are very well done (so what if they all look the same). They throw-up, eat, drink, goto the bathroom and complain. The difficulty of this game will provide hours, if not days or weeks of entertainment. This one is a real winner.
Sound: 4/10
The sound in this game is mediocre. The same endless loops of crowd sounds repeat and in general the sound seems to be around 2k 8 bit 8000 Hz wav files.. gag me.
Graphics: 7/10
This game is by no means a masterpiece but good, solid graphics and lots of options make the little people and towering rides look really nice for a simulation.
Gameplay: 9/10
This game is wonderful, time consuming and lots of fun. Almost everyone who can point and click will get enjoyment out of this game. Try it today and let others know what you think.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tag_1234
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Member: Jeremy Vancil
Location: Knoxville, TN
Reviews written: 71
Trusted by: 84 members
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