RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (PC)

There are loads more rollercoaters and shops and the fireworks are great. A huge variety of different people come to your park. It is way more fun and challenging. I certainly recommend it!

Really, the only tycoon games that gave me real entertainment were the roller coaster tycoon games. And this new addition is by far the best.

The graphics are smooth and are something that you can never get bored of. Much more detail has gone into the guests, who all look different and at least have there own name instead of "Guest 100023456". The park feels so much more realistic and is more flexible to play about with. Using the terrain tools are a bit tricky at first since the land isnt just squares anymore. But once you get the hang of it its almost like Sim City's god mode in a park. Infact the only thing you cant do are cliffs, ironically the only thing you could make on the original versions.

There are tonnes more rides that all seem to be based on a real ride somewhere in the world (whoever said that most of them were made up should get a kicking!) and making them has never been easier. The biggest advance being the autocomplete function that puts and end to fiddling around with the last bit of track, trying to get it to connect with the station. A new feature is the building builder function which lets you design your own buildings. This can be a little time consuming if you dont have a clear image of what you are making or what purpose it will serve, but it is still quite wonderful to add yet something else that you made to your park.

The coaster cam couldve been better. Infact, on the official website the coaster cam is amazing, but in the actual game it lacks any realistic graphics to give you any amazment or thrill. The position of the camera never feels like its in the right place, wherever you put it and the screams of the peeps is just plain scary. But it is still a neat little feature that is there if you want it.

The only thing that lets this game down is the actions of the peeps. The crowd move so slowly around the park that it is a little irritating and they seem to stick to a main pathway or open space, not bothering to go down another pathway where all your rollercoasters and amazing attractions were placed. Infact, the main thing that determines if you make a profit is where you place the que line, which is just plain stupid.

One review was titled "Good, but lots of bugs" or something along those lines. I have seen only one bug; Sometimes the roller coaster's intensity ratings drop to "low" for no real reason when it clearly has 100 massive drops and some brain churning turns. When this happens, the peeps dont want to know the ride, and so it falls into dissuse and costs alot of money. Its a silly bug that should be fixed in some patch sometime.

Having critisised the game a little, I am still going to give it 5 stars because it dosnt actually deserve half the critisism it is getting. The two points I nagged at are things that can be fixed and it is highly likely they will be with the arrival of a new add on I am sure to get. Most fans of the original won't be put down, its just the picky ones that are used to the olden days that will be dissapointed.