Rollercoaster Tycoon 2

Rollercoaster tycoon was released in 2002 and runs great on my system even with thousands of guests in my park. The game has massive replayability. There are 26 parks to run with varying difficulty. Included in these 26 are five Six Flags theme parks and their rides. If you're not satisfied you can always use the scenario editor to make your own landscape on which to build parks. The included roller coaster design tool is fun to play around in and useful to construct, test and save your own roller coaster designs without costly mistakes (roller coaster crashes on test run, you lose guests because they're afraid to ride your zany rides:P).

You can use the six flags rides in other scenarios but you can't save modifications made to them. Not that you'd really want to, these rides are some of the coolest included. There are a large variety of rides that you CAN modify, however. You can build your own roller coasters from a vast selection of real types from classic wooden to more advanced vertical launch coasters. Of course there are also many more standard rides: ferris wheels, magic carpets, bumper cars, water rides and many, many more. The research panel allows you to research new rides, improvements for existing rides, shops and scenery.

Ride customization is essential if you want to give your park a unique feel. You can choose the music your ride plays, how long the ride lasts and what color theme you want on the ride. On rollercoasters the options can be overwhelming! You can have features on the ride. You can implement water splashes, s-bends, loops, corkscrews and more depending on your research levels and the park's limitations as some rides are not available on some maps. Use on-ride photos to raise profits on your roller coasters (only certain types). Place that new t-shirt stall you researched near a really fun ride's exit and watch sales skyrocket as a happy guest will be more likely to buy things. Put a first aid stall near the exit to keep a sick guest from wandering your park vomiting, making the footpaths disgusting.

One important aspect of the game is having a good staff. Entertainers can be placed to improve guests' happiness there are several different costumes you can choose for your entertainers to add variety or theming to the park. Mechanics must be hired to fix and maintain your rides or you will have all your rides broken down eventually. Handymen can be hired to sweep footpaths, mow grass and empty trash bins to keep your park clean and tidy. Security guards can be used to prevent vandalism but I usually did not hire them as happy guests don't vandalize and it's often cheaper to just replace the vandalized benches lights and litter bins than have to constantly pay a guard to prevent it. The staff management screen accessed by the 's' key or clicking the staff icon can inform you where your staff is, what they're doing and where you've set them to patrol. Having good patrol areas for your workers can really improve efficiency. Have a big moneymaking rollercoaster you want to keep in tip-top shape? Hire a mechanic to work only on that ride. High traffic area causing trouble with vandalism due to litter? Keep guests happy by keeping that area clean by hiring a handyman to clean just that area.

You have plenty of ways to satisfy your visitors. Scenery can be a real asset as it makes your guests happy to look at cool buildings, the pyramid comes to mind; I always had several people taking pictures of it in my larger parks. You have control over the overall theme of your park in this way. Jungle theming, space theming and egyptian theming just to name a few. You can adjust prices and even give away items free to boost the mood of your visitors. Place benches so your guests can recover their energy from wandering your large park. Keep them satisfied and they will stay. Useful things like ATM machines can keep guests from leaving as they run out of money. Then, when they do leave, they can leave happy and spread the word about your satisfying park!

Overall, I'd give this game a 9/10. It is colorful, addictive and the options are nearly endless. I look forward to trying RCT3. Buy it here.