The final game, and here we go. What will it be?
33. RollerCoaster Tycoon
Infogrames
PC
1999
GameSpot Review – 8.6
Simulation – Economic
Not getting this on my previous list was tough. I really wanted to give it a spot and I was sad when it got cut in the numbers. Today, I get to rectify that.
This is a game that revolutionized and popularized the economic sim genre. It took a decently popular genre that had been the realm of games like Railroad Tycoon and Transport Tycoon and turned it into one of the default genres of the PC. Go into any store, and you will see a lot of PC FPS games, a lot of RTS games, a lot of MMORPGs, and a lot of Tycoon games.
Railroad Tycoon didn’t have this impact. None of the other subsequent economic sims had this effect. This was pure RCT.
People picked up and loved RCT who were not normal gamers. Mothers, kids, older people. They picked up and loved this game, and why not? Playing this game is a joy.
This was not the first tycoon game, and it wasn’t even the first amusement park sim. A little Transport Tycoon, a little Theme Park, a little railroad Tycoon, and a bit of new allowed Chris Sawyer to create this amazing game.
For those of you who may be hiding under a rock, nine years ago, RollerCoaster Tycoon debuted. It had issues that have been discussed in numerous places, such as the lack of a sandbox mode. The sequel was the same game, with barely any changes, and expansion packs added nothing but the old rides given new names, new scenarios, and new art. Another issue was that all of the guests were boys, disallowing a lot of diversity of interest among your customer base.
In RollerCoaster Tycoon, you select a scenario where you are given a challenge. Perhaps, you might have to build a park with 1200 guests in it in two years. Or, you might need a certain amount of money, or to pay back your loan, or certain happiness restrictions on your guests. Also, individual scenarios might have certain restrictions - such as the type of ride, or maximum height, or scenery that cannot be torn down.
Within this structure, your goal is to build an amusement park. You can place a ride, then drag a path to the exit and a queue to the entrance. Then place another ride, and do the same.
Expand your park by laying paths, benches, lights and trashcans. You’ll also need to provide services for your guests, such as bathrooms, food and drink stands, ATM machine, Info Booth, and various souvenir stands.
Some rides are easy to place A merry-go-round is a simple 3x3 square ride with an exit and entrance placed in any adjacent square of your choice. However, some rides are tracked. Hen you want to build a tracked ride, such as a roller coaster or go karts, then you have the option of building it yourself, or choosing a pre-built option in the game and placing that.
You’ll need to staff your park, so hire mechanics, security guards, entertainers and handymen. You’ll also want to unlock new rides, shops and decorations, so you need to fund research. Be careful, however, because you don’t want to drive your park into debt by having too many staff, too much interest on loans, too much research, and not enough coming back in.
Thematic elements include various signs, special benches, and decorations. For example, the Wild West decorations includes a mine shaft. You can theme up your Mine Train Coaster with a few Wild West decorations like barrels and such, place barrels for trash cans along the path, drop a wooden sign across the path announcing your ride, and then you can even change the land type from grass to dirt, to resemble the Wild West. Your entertainers can have their costumes changed to sheriff so that they fit your new place.
Your guests act reasonably. If they ride a ride with a high nausea rating, they may get sick when they get off. A sick boy might go to the bathroom and clean up, or sit on a bench for a while, or he might just throw up on the street. Eating food just before going on a major ride like that increases the chance of sickness. Learning the game and how the people act and react is very rewarding.
When you built a coaster of your own, the game’s physics engine took your design into account. You might build it too fast, or have hills too high up, and so forth. Hopefully you won’t smash something. Your coaster will come back with ratings in nausea, intensity and excitement.
The game had some clever additions. For example, some coasters could be built to race each other, which gave customers a fun experience. Others could be built with lock brakes, stopping the car during the ride and waiting until all cars are at brakes, before releasing them all.
Cars on coasters can crash, which is a Very Bad Thing ™. Drastic reduction in coaster attendance, overall park guest happiness, and so forth will occur. You’ll likely need to scrap the ride and start over. So, if you build your own coaster, be careful.
This game is a bit derivative, I admit. I love innovate games, and this game often stands on the shoulders of giants. However, for just pure sheer fun, this game is really high, and at the end of the day, a game should be fun. It was also revolutionary in the people it sold to, and the way it changed the genre. Here’s to RCT!
And now, the dynasty is complete. Expect some statistical compilations to follow.