Roller Coaster Tycoon

Title: Roller Coaster Tycoon
Platform Played On: PC
Release Date: March 31, 1999
Date Played: 2000-2001
Time Played: 30 hours
Completed (Y/N): N/A (Scenarios No)
Score: 5/5

Opinion:

I've always enjoyed theme park simulators, starting with Theme Park for Sega Genesis. However most of them are not very good. This particular one, is one of (if not) the best.

I came upon Roller Coaster Tycoon by chance, it was one of a couple of games given to me by a High School friend (Joey). The moment I installed it I was overcome with memories of playing Theme Park on my Sega Genesis, and immediately became a fan of this at the time new franchise.

One thing that may seem strange is that I never cared for its so called "missions", some examples of which are to get certain number of visitors or certain amount of revenue by a set date.  Nope, for me it was all about making the craziest rides and keeping everyone in the park happy. I would make roller coasters that would go through mountains, loops of other roller coasters and underground. In other words, they would make you throw up mid-ride. The game provides you with tools with which you can make practically any ride imaginable, and that is where 95% of the fun is for me. And if creativity is not your cup of tea, then it comes with more than enough real world counterpart rides from all around the world, from Six Flags to Knotts Berry Farm to Disneyland, which you can just rotate and plop down.

Since Roller Coaster Tycoon I have tried a handful of theme park simulators, and none of them come even close to the charm, flexibility, and fun that Roller Coaster Tycoon had to offer.  All these other developers were trying to go into polygonal graphics, which did offer some neat features (such as first person view on a roller coaster, and ability to stroll around the park as one of the guests). But with that all charm was lost, characters and rides looked pointy and impersonal.  I was willing to give up those first person features for the charming sprite based look of Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Overall Roller Coaster Tycoon is my favorite game in the Theme Park genre. It is a lot of fun even today. Admittedly Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 is where those interested should go. It is everything this game is and then some.