Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack Review

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(More customer reviews)"Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 - Triple Thrill Pack" finally delivers the RCT2 I wanted. It not only lets you simulate building amusement parks, complete with rides, food & drink stalls, and other attractions, but this pack includes a huge number of different coasters and examples of each type, and also allows you to try to build your own coasters. There are many other types of amusement park rides, including log flumes and water slides, merry-go-rounds and ferris wheels, go kart race tracks and car rides, and many others. There are also over a dozen scenarios ranging from fairly easy to fairly difficult. The fact that all the scenarios are accessible from the beginning of the game is a big plus.
The replay value of this game is great. I find myself coming back to see if I can better my previous rating or ending park value, or both, or add something to my previous parks to make them more interesting. I know I've spent countless hours designing little tweaks to make my parks or rides "just right".
The primary program, "Roller Coaster Tycoon II," provides many good features that are a big improvement over RCT1, but the same graphics engine is used. I really like this sim game - probably more than any other game like it. If you like amusement parks and roller coasters, and you like games like "Civilization" and other simulations, you'll love Roller Coaster Tycoon 2.
"Wacky Worlds" adds a lot of scenery like the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower and many others to make your park a true international experience. There are over 20 new scenarios, 50 new ride types (not all of which will be coasters), and about a total of 250 new game elements. But the total of the new elements in "Wacky Worlds" wasn't worth the price of admission all by itself.
"Time Twister" adds even more great rides and some really wonderful scenarios to the overall mix. There's a few for every age - from the Medieval to the present and beyond. There's also a few new rides and attractions. "Time Twister" also suffered from not having nearly enough material to satisfy RCT fans by itself.
But now you can Triple your fun with this all in one pack. Amazon.Com doesn't have half stars, so I can't give this game the 4 1/2 stars it deserves, but I'm sure if you've found previous games in the series interesting. you'll love tripling your fun!
If you've never tried Roller Coaster Tycoon, and you like amusement parks, you'll love the ability to design and build your own amusement park. RCT2 gives you almost everything that the old game had. But if you've already tried RCT1 you may find that this game just isn't different enough from the original, even though it includes the new scenario designer and other new features. The graphics haven't been updated much at all - and the graphics were already a little dated in RCT1.
But if you =really= want the =complete= pack, do an Internet search for "RCT2 User Created Expansion Set" and download that. You will be highly surprised at the many new features, rides and other things that fan-created expansion does for this game.
Now that my predictions have come to pass and everything is available for RCT2, I very highly recommend this purchase over any of the other stand alone sets, including the incomplete "Combo Pack". But if you already =love= RCT2, then just wait a few weeks - Chris Sawyer and Atari are rolling out RCT3 - which finally has a 3D feel and a coaster cam! If you've never tried to build your own amusement park, and had a secret yen to try it, then RCT2 is a great game. Watch out Disney World - here comes Roller Coaster Tycoon 2!

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The Complete RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Series!Product InformationTriple your thrills! Add rides and scenery to the world's greatestattractions with the complete RollerCoater tycoon 2 collection! Travelthrough time span the globe or simply create the most gut-wrenching rollercoasters imaginable. Test your Tycoon skills with 25 amazing Six Flagscoasters and 5 Six flags parks including Six Flags Magic Mountain and Six FlagsGreat Adventure. Create incredible roller coasters with the amazing RollerCoaster Designer thrill your guests with over 200 rides and attractions andtake on more than 45 scenarios that challenge beginners and experts alike.Customize your parks with themes from around the world and historic timeperiods.Product Title IncludedRollerCoaster Tycoon 2RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Time Twister Expansion PackRollerCoaster Tycoon 2 Wacky Worlds Expansion PackProduct OverviewRollerCoaster Tycoon 2The best-selling game that started the "Tycoon" craze ramps up the funwith all-new rides features and gameplay that make creating and running theultimate amusement park more fun more creative and totally addictive! Those of you that think you have mastered the previous 'Tycoon' games andcreated the most nauseating coaster designed the ultimate theme park or managedthe financeslike a top CEO can think again. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 provides a new dimensionof creative freedom that allows you to take your parks and rides to anunprecedented level of fun. Break ground and start from scratch open the gates to existing parks or justcreate the most gut-wrenching roller coaster ride ever - now you can play yourway. As a RollerCoaster Tycoon there are NO LIMITS!Features:New gameplay options in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 allow you to play your way and focus on the aspects of the game you love the mostIncludes 25 coaster designs and 5 Six

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Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am certainly impressed by the sexy new 3D graphics, but sadly, some features from RCT2 have been lost, and some old problems still exist or have gotten worse. I hope most of these issues are just bugs that will be corrected shortly with an update or two, although I'll never understand how such a popular game was ever released in such a state. So here are a few good news/bad news review points of RCT3.
Good News: The 3D graphics really are impressive and riding the coasters via the all new coaster cam feature is a lot of fun, especially on coasters you build yourself. The ability to zoom in and out and view your parks from any 3D angle and see some parks lit up at night is great. You can even zoom right down on a path and see your park from a Peep's perspective. Bad News: You'll need plenty of horse power in terms of CPU, memory and graphics card to get the full effect. I have a 2Ghz 2900+ Athlon processor, 512MB of memory and a 128MB GE Force graphics card. I can run the game satisfactorily at the Medium graphics settings, although refresh rates start to drop as you add more rides to a park and your park fills up with Peeps. I'd hate to see the graphics and responsiveness (or lack thereof) on a PC with minimum published requirements. The game has locked up or dropped back to Windows on me about a half dozen times in less than a week.
Good News: Peeps and/or park inspectors now respond to park esthetics, and will even complain if your theming is inconsistent or your fireworks displays are stingy. They can also recognize VIPs that visit your park and hound them for autographs, a new feature RCT3. Bad News: AI for Peep navigation has taken a few steps BACKWARDS! THIS IS THE MOST DISAPPOINTING ASPECT OF RCT3 and needs to be addressed before I can ever endorse this game. Peeps can't navigate parks very well unless you keep the pathing system extremely simple, as in a simple straight midway. Put a turn or two in a ride exit path and some peeps will have difficulty finding there way back to the main path and you'll get an alert messages to check your exit path for the ride. Peeps tend to wander aimlessly around the park, or worse yet, huddle in their groups without moving for days (and days and days and days), without queuing up for rides. Hungry Peeps walk right by food stands even when prices are free, and they zoom right past rest rooms while holding their groins because the really, really need to go to the bathroom. I'm NOT making this up!
Good News: The Terra Forming tools are fantastic, a major improvement over RCT2. Hills and mountains and canyons and craters are incredibly easy to make and look great. Bad News: Aligning sloped or raised paths with uneven terrain is a big headache, and I don't find the raised/sloped pathing tools to be very intuitive or friendly. Building structures on uneven terrain is also quite a chore and can even be tricky on seemingly level terrain. Put down two shops side by side, the first sits level with your path and the second levitates inexplicably above the path level and Peeps can't get to it.
Good News: The system for assigning patrol areas to janitors and mechanics is much easier and precise to a single square. Very slick. Bad News: Janitors and mechanics stray from their assigned areas and there's no way to see what areas of the park have already been assigned to other staff. On top of that, park staff can now get tired, bored, and/or cranky, so now you have to try to keep them happy too along with your Peeps. Oh, shops and stalls break down and need maintenance just like rides in RCT3. "Information Booth 01 has broken down"???? Yes it all adds new levels of complexity to the game, but I'm not too thrilled about it.
Good News: You can easily zoom in, zoom out, or view the park from any angle while placing rides and coasters, and they've added new track pieces like zero G rolls and hyper banked curves. Bad News: The handy feature in RCT2 that allowed you to flip the coaster to a mirror of itself image is gone. All you can do is rotate the coaster 90 degrees at a time, resulting in a lot less flexibility in building/placing coasters in your park. The new interface for building coasters, in fact the whole interface for RCT3 in general, seems clunky to me. It doesn't adhere to Windows standards. Tool tips would be nice. The game also circumvents the standard Windows save file dialog when saving coasters. If you've already saved a file with the same name, it automatically appends a sequence number to the file name rather than giving you the option to overwrite the existing file.
Good News: You can now program fireworks displays and Peeps love them, especially expensive, extravagant displays. Peeps complain if you're stingy on the pyrotechnics. Beside the 3D graphics, this is probably the most interesting new feature in RCT3. They evidently put a lot of work into this new feature, hoping to provide something more than just a 3D version of RCT2. Bad News: I have yet to find an Undo feature anywhere, something people have been suggesting in RCT forums for a long, long time. The fireworks are great, but I feel should have been saved for an expansion pack while other issues and requests from RCT2 were addressed in this release.
Good News: There's a sandbox mode built right in as promised. You don't need to use a cheat code or solve all the scenarios. It's on option on the game menu where you can build and play with out regard for funds or attendance or park ratings. Bad News: There doesn't seem to be a way to figure out why your Park Rating is dropping like a stone while playing scenarios. The Peep thought summary window from RCT2 is nowhere to be found in RCT3. The documentation states that an Opinions window is available by clicking the Park Rating on the dashboard, but there seems to be a bug because nobody has been able to make it work yet. Park Rating is much more volatile in RCT3. I've actually received an award for Tidiest Park immediately followed by and award for Best Toilets, immediately followed by a fine (yes an $800 FINE!) for Most Disappointing Park. Weird!
If and when you buy RCT3, be prepared for some frustration. The interface has changed quite a bit, and not for the better in my opinion. I would say there are a LOT of bugs, a lot more than I would expect from a game as popular as the RCT series. When I play the game, I can't help but get the feeling that it was never really played or tested by any member of the original RCT fan base before it was released. According to the official game forum, the first update will be released within days. I think it may be the first of 2 or 3 updates before the hard core RCT fans are satisfied. Don't get me wrong. This game really does have a lot of potential. But it is a pretty buggy release and I feel has lost some of what made previous versions of RCT so much fun to play.


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Platform:WINDOWS 98/ME/2000/XPPublisher:ATARIPackaging:MINI RETAIL BOXRating:EVERYONEAn All-New Roller Coaster Tycoon! Completely updated and redesigned to take the series to all-new heights. Featuring incredible 3D graphics and the exclusive new Coaster Cam you can now see your park from any angle and ride the coasters you build. From street level to blimp see your park pulse with fun and excitement like never before!Experience Incredible 3D GraphicsRide the Rides with the Coaster Cam. Build rides easier with the enhanced user interface. Light up the night with the new park lighting system. View your park from any angle with complete camera control. See breathtaking park vistas including realistic sunsets moonlight weather patterns and more!Huge Array of Guests... Everyone is Unique! Create your own family members and friends and add them to your park. Respond to the individual likes and dislikes of kids teens and adults. See fully animated individuals including facial expressions exhibit intelligent behavior both individually and as a crowd More Rides and Attractions. Create pyrotechnic wonders with the new Fireworks MixMaster. Build your Dream Park in Sandbox Mode Add music to rides and fireworks shows from your own MP3 library. Includes manyNew-to-RollerCoaster Tycoonrides and attractions. Design your park with 5 fun themes: Generic Spooky Western Adventure and Sci-fi.There are currently no downloads available for this product.System Requirements :Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Pentium III 733 256MB RAM 600MB free hard drive space 4X CDROM or faster Any ATI Radeon or GeForce 2 with 32MB RAM and hardware T&L Windows 98/ME/2000/XP compatible sound card DirectX 9.0 (included on CD) Keyboard and Mouse

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Rollercoaster Tycoon 3: Platinum Review

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(More customer reviews)Roller Coaster Tycoon has been one of the most successful of the 'tycoon' games on the market today, and it's easy to see why. RCT is probably, down and away, one of the most fun and addictive of all the tycoon games. This version of RCT3 now has all the expansions included with the main game: "Roller Coaster Tycoon 3," "RCT3: Soaked!", and "RCT3: Wild!".
I've played all three - RCT1, RCT2, and now RCT3. I enjoy all of the franchise. I've always wondered what it would be like to BE Walt Disney - even if it's just in a game. And Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 Platinum does not disappoint.
Although the interface isn't quite as good as is on Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, it's still usable once you get over the rather kiddiefied look. It's the three dimensional look that gives this game a fresh slant to earlier versions. And the new coaster cam adds a bit of a thrill, although I myself only found myself using it infrequently at best.
RCT3 itself adds the coaster cam and three dimensional look and feel. RCT3: Soaked adds water park features, and RCT3: Wild adds a bit of Zoo Tycoon to RCT3. The customers look like "The Sims," and there's now obvious older and younger customers, and you must strike a balance of pleasing both.
I enjoyed my adventures with RCT3 very much. It can be very addictive. Just a little tweak can increase your park's success - or cause your failure. The scenarios are numerous, and the new three challenge in one scenario feature was a nice touch, even though I thought that some of them were a little too easy to reach the top.
The scenarios range from the tutorials (highly useful, even if you've played other Tycoon games), beginners scenarios, advanced scenarios and expert scenarios as well as a couple "Real" parks.
The new Fireworks shows feature is nice, but I found designing your own to be a bit time consuming, not to mention in-game expensive for the small return you get.
The new VIP guest feature is also a nice touch. Please the VIP, and you often get a nice bonus that lets you finish that roller coaster that you were building, or add other new features to your park.
The Coaster Design 'sandbox' feature lets you design and test coasters without using a park or scenario. This is a nice touch, and it was very helpful to be able to see what features of the roller coasters added which excitement level, what nausea level (yes, peeps still barf! :-) and what features add or subtract from those figures.
But I find myself drawn back to RCT2 over and over again. RCT3's building features are not as good as RCT2's were, and there are nowhere near as many fan-created rides, scenarios, or sets (whole parks) as there are for RCT2. Building water park items, such as dinghy slides, is now more difficult, since they must end in a swimming pool complex.

Although I'd recommend this game, even to RCT die-hards, if you already =really= enjoy RCT2, you will probably be disappointed by RCT3. And it's really recommended to newbies, especially since they finally got the game and expansions in one pack. Although Chris Sawyer denies working on RCT4, my guess is that you'll see it eventually. Until then, Happy Tycooning!

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RCT3 Platinum combines the excitement and roller coaster, theme park fun of the Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 with included expansion packs Soaked! and Wild!Now enjoy more options than ever.Build your own water slide or create your own safari with real animals.Watch guest reactions to your ultimate theme park!

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