RollerCoaster Tycoon

The Good
Roller Coaster Tycoon has a wonderfully short learning curve. You don't have to be the Supreme Roller Coaster Designer or Fortune's CEO of the Year to get started building your first successful park. The game comes with plenty of pre-built coasters that you can just plop down in your parks (if you have the cash), and the business management aspects of the game are extremely simple and easy to master.

Of course, if you can master the art of building a good coaster, the game becomes even more fun. It's really a blast to make an exciting coaster with lots of visual appeal and then watch your park guests zip around your creation. Once you start making your own coasters, the game becomes a challenge of trying to top your last design, or trying to make a good coaster within the limitations of the scenario's landscape. (One of my favorite custom coasters was a small wooden coaster that I built entirely inside a small hill.)

The Bad
The pathing management for your park employees is really a pain. I would love to have the ability to highlight just the path that I want my groundskeepers to walk instead of having to lay out a 4x4 grid everywhere. The 4x4 grid makes it very difficult to get proper coverage because you can't always keep your staff out of areas with a zillion intersections. And it's far too easy to miss sections of path if it's on a bridge or if there's a level difference between the path and the surrounding terrain.

The designer of the game, Chris Sawyer, seems to be extremely anal retentive about 3rd-party, fan-created add-ons to the game. He's released a couple of patches that served no purpose other than to thwart the existing crop of fan-created add-ons. And the programs he's most opposed to are the programs that allow you to create your own scenarios, or that let you play in "sandbox" mode (i.e. just a blank landscape without any scenario restrictions or requirements). In short, Sawyer gives the impression that he's a control freak who's determined to make sure that you can only play the game the way he wants you to play it. Fortunately, the fans have not yet been thwarted to any permanent degree, so these programs are still available and still work despite the efforts of Mr. Sawyer.

The Bottom Line
Despite my gripes, the game is fantastically fun and addictive. I recommend it highly to anybody who likes SimCity type games or who likes going to amusement parks.

The Good
Must play game. Must play Game. Must play game. Must play Game. Must play Game...... Wow. Sorry about that I can only talk for a few minutes I have to get back to my game.

All kidding aside Rollercoaster Tycoon can be VERY addictive. This game really was genius. It has just the right ballance of all the important things. (1) Good Learing Curve. (2) Good Graphics. (3) ORGINAL thought. ie.. they didnt just copy the game from someone else. (4) game draws you in and doesnt let go. (5) Replayability (I can pick it up after not playing it for a month or two) (6) Depth of programing. a good example would be how much thought and feeling went into each stall and sound of the game. (7) It all comes together and is still fun to play. All too often a great idea and lots of hours of work are for not, because it didn't all come together into something that is fun to play.
This is the only game that my wife is addicted to. If you can make a game that she even likes then you have accomplished something. So this is a must for Women who are looking for a PC game to play but dont want to see naked women or blow up everything. (although my wife does like to throw guests into water when they get lost... someday that will be me)

The Bad
Well even this game does have parts that can be bad. The land controler is horrible. They need to take a note from Sim City 3000. Second where are my arcades and skeet ball games? You cant have a park without Skeetball! :-)

The Bottom Line
Overall this is a game the entire family can enjoy from sun up to sun down. They should give out a copy to everyone who buys a new PC.

The Good
There's a lot about RCT to like, but the major points include:

1. As business simulations go, RCT is arguably the best of the bunch. It's well-balanced, deep and complex without being overly complicated, and gives the player a lot of freedom.

2. The roller coaster construction functions are surprisingly cool. I've been able to replicate just about any coaster I've ever personally been on. The building and terraforming controls are very nicely done.

3. The game is a visual and auditory feast; frankly, it just looks awesome. It's colourful, has great little animations, and has great-looking rides.

4. It's a very accessible game and a load of fun for either the obsessive gamer or the casual computer user. RCT is one of the few games I'd be confident anyone would enjoy.

RCT is probably the third-best pure business simulation ever made for the PC; I'd rank Railroad Tycoon and SimCity ahead of it, but not by much.

The Bad
1. As has been complained about by many others, RCT's scenarios are nice but the game really does need an open-ended sandbox mode or some random land areas or something. Furthermore, UNLOCK THE DAMNED SCENARIOS! (You have to win some to unlock others.) I paid my money for this game; why should I have to win a scenario I find uninteresting to play another?

1. The game's manual is atrocious.

2. It could use midway games. I've never seen a theme park that didn't have midway games, so their absence is a strange oversight.
   
   The Bottom Line
   A classic and fun game that anyone will enjoy.