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105 of 111 found the following review helpful:
More of the same....fun, engaging, but sometimes complexOct 16, 2002
By Jayson
After many of the 'Tycoon' style games that have been popular over the last few years, the reigning king was a simple family style game called Roller Coaster Tycoon. After two successful expansion packs, developer Chris Sawyer waited well over a year to launch Rollercoaster Tycoon 2. The sequel is based on a no brainer..."Build it and they will come". Seeing that the first game and its expansions still sell well, Infogrames already has a large base of built in fans looking for more of the same, but will these fans love '2', and will this attract new fans? Time will tell.Overall, the look and feel of the game remains relatively the same. A 3D isometric overhead view allows players to build a theme park from scratch and carry it through pre-defined scenarios. These scenarios have conditions such as have a park rating of X by year Y or have X guests by year Y or build N coasters of type T with an excitement factor of X. The game ships with about 25 scenarios that are grouped in categories of difficulty: easy, advanced, expert, and Real Parks. The website RollercoasterTyccon2.com promises to have future downloadable scenarios, and one major enhancement over the original game is the inclusion of a scenario editor. Players can now create their own parks/games and trade among friends. You can control all variables from size of park, weather, rides available for research and more. The 'Real Parks' are actual Six Flag parks from around the world that are pretty close to real world counterparts. You can choose to just manage them or alter them at will. Game enhancements:
1) Park sizes can be double that of the original game and it supports a much higher screen resolution rate.
2) Scenery: All the original scenery from the RCT and its expansions are present as well as new ones including: Pirate, Scary, Medieval, Gears, Wild West, Giant Gardens and more. There are also more fences, water themes, roofs and walls and the ability to stack scenery makes it much easier to create buildings.
3) New rides: Well obviously there are more coasters but also other attractions as well on top of all the originals.
4) Coaster and ride options: There seems to be much more customizations available for coasters including new car types, special banks, queue line options, supports, signs & banners, special track types and more.
5) New shops and stalls: Again, all the originals and more including sun glass hut, ATM's, First Aid station, more food choices.
6) More music options. Many more styles of music can accompany your rides.
7) Coaster construction: Tool here has been revamped and now you can make/test/save/see coasters better than ever. Now not everything is perfect in this game:
1) Graphics: Even though the screen resolution and park size has increased, the view is still the same as is the graphics engine. While there is more 'eye-candy' per-se, the overall look is still cartoony and has some 'jaggy' issues. Not to mention that hills, waters, mountains still look slightly un-natural as it did in the original.
2) Lack of scenarios that ship. There are only 3 easy scenarios, a handful of advanced, and more expert. This may prove complex for players who never had the first. Hopefully new ones will be available from the official website soon.
3) No major innovations in game play. I'd like to see new objectives, or disasters to overcome, or new behaviors of park guests, mechanics, handymen, mascots...still the same. The largest adjustment fans of the original will have to make is getting use to the new construction and customization tools. While they have been expanded (a large plus), they have also taken on new 'handling' characteristics which is proving somewhat confusing for me. For old players, it's retraining how to this new interface and sub-menus...lacking in the 1st game. While this new interface does seem to be much more rich and deep, I truly found it wasn't as intuitive as the RCT 1. I was looking for information that seemed to be present in the 1st game easily, now I have to dig to sub-menus I'm not familiar with. These were some of the reasons I chose o give it 4 stars instead of 5. Something's are just better off simple, not overly complex.
29 of 30 found the following review helpful:
 Insane! Inforgrames' Best EVER!Nov 22, 2002
This is by far the BEST game Infogrames (and almost all other computer entertainment companies) has ever brought to the stores.
I have played the original game for a year now, and I never dreamed Cris Sawyer could think of this much more. But RCT 2 has it all. There are tons of new roller coasters-they have the LIM powered coaster, the Spiral rollercoaster, etc. You can also build other new rides that aren't roller coasters, like the submarines ride.
And there are tons of new shops, including Star Fruit drink stalls, first-aid stalls, and ATMs.
Guests are smarter, too. They don't get lost and just walk around in circles on large sections of pavement, and they like to watch rides being built, and they say that they're running out of cash.
Tons of new scenery options are available, including queue-line TVs, different bench/trash can styles, and many more sinage options. New themes include pirates, giant garden, and wild west. New music styles are also available, like Rock style 3, Moderne Style and Mechanical Style. You also have the option to build buildings with the scenery - roofs can now be placed atop walls, etc.
Did I mention that the gameplay is also easier, and the different features are much better organized? I suppose not. The best examples are the ride windows, where you have seperate tabs for the music, repairs, etc. Now, you can go to the repairs tab and adjust how often the ride is inspected, and view breakdown specifics, AND locate the nearest mechanic. There are also different entertainer styles--bandits, pirates, etc. are now available for you to clothe your entertainers with. I'd better stop now if I don't want to be writing the next volume of Encyclopedia Brittanica, but overall, this is the BEST game I've played yet. I HIGHLY recommend it.
31 of 33 found the following review helpful:
 Great game, but with some disappointmentsOct 25, 2002
For at least a year, I was addicted to the first Roller Coaster Tycoon and its expansion packs, though I'm more into the "building a fun park" aspect of the game than the "building a great roller coaster" aspect. It always seemed that you could win most scenarios using the designed rides provided, and I never saw much point in spending the money to design new ones. To that end, RCT2 has two great features - the coaster designer and the scenario editor. I used the scenario editor last night, and I found it fun, though it did require me to refer to the instruction manual for guidance more than once. I could wish for a more intuitive design. I haven't used the coaster designer yet, but I am looking forward to streching my design wings this weekend. Two other pluses are the amount of new rides and shops and the fact that all of the scenarios are immediately avaiable for play. Because of the aforementioned aversion to designing my own coasters, I had been shut out of many of the scenarios in the older version of the game because I hadn't finished the ride design scenarios. I'mm glad that won't happen here. Positives aside, I do have a few gripes. First, it looks like many of the old coaster types are here, but, inexplicably, with different names. Users are left to try to figure out what their old standbys are now called. I'm still looking for the steel roller coaster (for the much-beloved shuttle-loop ride). It would have been nice if they had retained more consistency with the older version. Also, the new scenery themes are underwhelming. I was excited about "giant garden," because I was picturing new and different, well, gardens. Instead there are giant bugs and carrots. Woo hoo. Other themes also seem rather perfunctory (the sports theme, which had great potential, is pretty lame). Last, there seem to be fairly few scenarios, and even fewer that allow you to start a park from scratch. The Six Flags parks are interesting, but I don't enjoy finishing what someone else has started as much as making my own park. Overall, a fun game, but first-time users might enjoy the original more.
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
The Review of all reviewsNov 02, 2003
Okay let's get started... This game ROCKS!! Here's a list of what it has (make sure to read it all too): More coasters including the awesome Giga Coaster (Think of the Millennium Force). More Thrill and Gentle rides More scenery The ability to stack scenery A park/scenario maker A roller coaster designer Swooping banks on coasters Changing the lift hill speed More MUSIC More land Steep drops on some coasters (not just vertical) *PARK RECREATIONS OF SOME SIX FLAGS PARKS* Double paths to make your park look real New water colors Loops on Wooden coasters New coaster SCREAMS!! and sounds (chain lift sounds and coasters rolling on the track sounds) New look to menu stuff Ability to change loan interest New shops and stalls New park enterances That's all I can think of, but for anyone who hasn't played the first Roller Coaster Tycoon game should plan on buying this one instead.
19 of 21 found the following review helpful:
A 5-star game primed for several expansion packs...Oct 24, 2002
By Mike
In a nutshell, this game is great. The game looks and plays almost exactly like the original, which involves creating amusment parks and every little detail involved in that process from designing and building the roller coasters, to deciding how much a hot dog should cost. The major new feature is a scenario editor which allows you to create scenarios from the ground up including the land type and size, the amount of money available to you, and the features available as you play. This is a great addition as it provides the opportunity to create the park of your dreams with no limits, or simply see how well you can re-create your favorite theme park from scratch. Other new features include a coaster designer, some pre-designed Six Flags parks, and a few new rides/themes/shops. No, there aren't a ton of new rides/themes/shops like many had originally hoped - not yet anyway. The game has been built on a very large platform, but has not been fully utilized in an obvious effort to release many future expansion packs. The original Roller Coaster Tycoon had two expansion packs; no doubt the sequel hopes to provide even more. Overall, this is still the most addictive game ever created. It provides literally hours upon hours of non-stop enjoyment. A MUST for anyone with a love for theme parks and/or roller coasters.
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