Back in the day, when cereal companies were still cool, they would give games as prizes. How awesome was it to buy a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, AND get a game at the same time? I remember getting Roller Coaster Tycoon, Life, Clue, Yahtzee, and even some movies as well. But now all they ever give you are codes to redeem online. I want games dammit! But in all seriousness, the reason I brought this up is because this was how I actually ended up playing one of my first PC games. I can still remember seeing that box of Cheerios at the grocery store, with a shiny disc in the centre that read Roller Coaster Tycoon. I had never even heard of the game before, but when I saw it I just had to buy it. When I got home, I popped it in the computer, and for the next few weeks I barely left the room. I had never played anything so fun before in my life. I’m pretty sure I still had a Nintendo 64 at the time, and playing games on the PC was something entirely new to me. The only thing I can remember playing before Roller Coaster Tycoon was Reader Rabbit, so clearly, I had no idea what I was missing.
Quite possibly the most effective ad campaign ever. I don't even like Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
I already mentioned how it ate up the next few weeks of my life. I’m pretty sure my mom yelled at me bunch of times to get off the computer, but most of the time I would just stay on anyways. Like I said, the game was just an absolute fun-fest (not a word?). It was all about managing resources and devising cost effective strategies, something I don’t think many games had at the time. You were the owner of a theme park, and you had to build roller coasters and sell merchandise to earn money, just like a real theme park! Guests would come it, spend money on rides and attractions, and then leave depending on how happy they were. There were all kinds of variables to consider when managing your money and resources such as park value, loan interests, income, and operating expenses. Your top priorities were always to make sure guests were happy and that you were making money. Long line-ups, dirty paths, and broken property are all examples of bad management which would in turn make guests less happy. When you piss them off too much, they leave, and when they leave you lose their business as well. It’s a lesson you will quickly have learn if you hope to succeed with the the park.
Everything in the park costs money, and as such you need to make effective choices when contemplating your next endeavor. Should you build that massive roller coaster? Or should you hold off and just build a few small rides and some more food stands instead? You need to see what the customer wants. Often you’ll get warning messages that say things like: “Guests can’t find food,” or “Guests are getting lost or stuck.” These are signs to fix certain flaws in your park design. You may already have 5 food courts, but they might be hard to get to. You never want to run out of money and then have one of these warning messages come up, because the longer you leave them unattended, the more guests you anger.You also need to watch out for monthly payments and park expenses. It’s very easy to get too caught up in building a bunch of rides and not realizing that all you’re doing is just racking up your monthly operating costs. Then when the month ends, you’ve lost several thousand dollars. Bankruptcy is possible in this game, so be careful with how you spend your money.
The last thing I wanted to talk about is uniqueness. Not specifically in terms of the game itself, but in terms of how you decide to build your park. You’ll just never find two parks that look like one another. There is so much room for creativity and ingenuity. Building a park does takes a lot of strategy and good decision-making, but it’s also a product of the user, and it’s immensely satisfying to watch your vision unfold in front of your eyes. I know they’re just pixelated images, but there’s a special feeling you get when you spend hours building a huge roller coaster, and when you finally finish you hear guests say it was great. I just know I’d be thinking in my head: AAAAAWWW YYYEEEEAAAAAAHH!!!”
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This will undoubtedly go down as one of my favourite games of all-time. It taught me quite a bit about management skills and it’s still something I’ll play every now and again to this day. This review was mostly focused on the first and second iterations, as I have only spent a limited amount of time on the third installment. But the classic 2D versions are where it`s truly at in my opinion. Roller Coaster Tycoon is brilliantly crafted, expertly designed, and provides a deeply enjoyable experience. Oh, and did I mention I got it in a cereal box? Thank you Chris Sawyer and General Mills!