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RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

Score: 90%
ESRB: Everyone
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Frontier Developments
Media: CD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Simulation/ Editor

Graphics & Sound:

The most noticeable change in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is its sparkly new 3D engine -- bringing with it all the usually bells and whistles like lighting, a free-moving camera, and other special effects. Each park in the Scenario mode has its own unique feel. Fans of theme parks will see lots of little details pulled straight from some of their favorite parks like Universal, Six Flags, and Disneyworld. These details include a monorail track and movie sets. Other effects include great looking water and natural lighting. While the engine helps make parks look great, it’s even better while riding the game’s main attraction -- the rollercoasters.

After seeing Tycoon 3 in action, you’ll wonder just how you managed to slum it in the last two games.

Music is a take-it-or-leave-it situation. The fun theme park soundtrack from the previous games has been replaced with mellow tracks that fit with the game, although the fit is awkward. One of my favorite features was the ability to import your own music into the game for the rides you create. There’s no limit to the number of songs you can have in each ride, and what you can hear is based on how close you are to the rides. This helps to keep you sane by not having you listen to three different tunes at once (unless your entire park consists of Nickleback songs).


Gameplay:

The core of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3’s gameplay is split up into three modes: an objective-based Scenario mode, a Sandbox mode, and a Scenario Editor. Each mode offers its own unique play-styles which should appeal to a variety of gamers.

Scenario mode is the core gameplay mode in Tycoon 3, and should appeal to micro-managers and control freaks. Here you take over a park and complete objectives. Each is set on a different tier that dictates its difficulty. Completing the first level objectives are pretty easy, and usually include building certain structures or catering to a park goer’s needs. As you move up through the tiers, things get a little more complicated. A big part of the upper-level objectives include making money and getting people into your parks. Other objectives include impressing VIPs with your rides.

Making money follows a simple to follow, yet complicated to perfectly manage economic model. Here you have complete control over income ventures like ticket, merchandise, and concession sales. Income is balanced against the costs of running your park like paying your employees, marketing, and building new rides. You can also tinker with fireworks shows to increase the visibility of your park, bringing in more customers.

Managing budget is a big part of the Scenario mode, with the other being keeping your customers happy. In order to do this you’ll have to do research on what park goers want, and also keep an eye on their habits in the park. Finding out what people want is a difficult task due to the lack of an option to get a general consensus of what people want. Instead, you have to choose people one-by-one and base decisions on that information.

Sandbox mode is for people who want to create without the limitations of money. Here you can build your dream park anyway you want it. This was the mode I found myself attracted to the most, and is in my opinion, one of the more entertaining parts of the entire game. Everything you need to create a park is right there -- from coasters to fireworks. As an added bonus, you can go online and download player-created rides, scenarios, and objects.

Scenario Editor is for the “tweakers” who love to get even more custom with their creations. Tycoon 3 gives you all the tools you need to build your own scenarios, which you can share with friends online. In the past, I’ve always been impressed with the things people have managed to build (such as scale recreations of entire real-life parks), so it should be exciting to see what people can come up with using Tycoon 3.


Difficulty:

Given the broad appeal of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, it’s hard to pin down a ratable difficulty level. When going through the objective-based scenarios, each task is set on its own tier. Lower tier objectives can be blown through in a matter of minutes, while higher tier objectives can take much longer and are much more difficult than putting down a building or changing a price.

As cliché as the saying may be, while in Editor and Sandbox modes, your only limitation is your imagination. There are no financial limits to hold you back, nor is the lack of a physics or business degree.


Game Mechanics:

Getting around RollerCoaster Tycoon 3’s interface takes a little work. Icons are small, but can be figured out after about an hour. Building coasters is just as enjoyable as in past games, and is a snap. When creating coasters, you also have the option of using AutoComplete (to finish off coaster tracks), or using pre-built tracks.

What is disappointing about Tycoon 3 is the number of bugs the game shipped with. While playing, I ran into a number of technical problems, like crashes and graphical hiccups, as well as some gameplay issues that can be crippling. These issues include ride popularity suddenly dropping and never recovering. A patch has already been released to address some bugs, and it seems like more are on the way to help improve the Tycoon 3 experience.

Bugs aside, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 is a fun experience, especially for theme park/rollercoaster fans. Three play modes may not seem like a lot, but given the depth each offers, there’s something here for everyone. The new look, coupled with the new options, makes the game a keeper.


-Starscream, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ricky Tucker

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows 98/Me/2000/XP, Pentium III 733 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 64 MB Video Card
 

Test System:



Windows XP, Pentium 4 1.7 GHz, Radeon 9100 128 MB, 40 Gig HD, 640 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0

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Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated