How many times have you said, "If this were my theme park, I’d ..." or "I wish this were my theme park, I’d ride all the rides all day long."

OK, time to put up or shut up. The folks at Bullfrog and Electronic Arts are challenging you to do it better than the rest with their latest release SimTheme Park. Yep, you’re the new Walt Disney and you get to design and run your own theme park. Sound like fun? Sound like hard work? It is - on both counts. You begin by selecting one of two pre-determined general themes - Lost Kingdom (dinosaurs), or Halloween World (do this one right and you’ll cackle as the cash rolls in). There are others like Space Zone and Land of Wonders, but you have to earn the right to create them by earning Golden Keys. You get Golden Keys by winning Golden Tickets. You get Golden Tickets through park attendance and good management. The tickets can also be spent on attractions, which occasionally pop up on your screen, enticing you to give your park that added zing.

Once you have chosen the first theme for your new park, the program really takes off. Using a fun player interface - which carries the feel of an amusement park very well - SimTheme Park is in-depth, challenging and very time-consuming. While you get a couple of rides to start, this is not a pre-fab park where all you have to do is sit back and count the cash. There is so much to do, so many things that need attention.

For example: Have you got your research staff working on updating your attractions? How about security? What time will you open the park? What time will you close? Do you have enough staff? Are there enough bathrooms? Do they need to be cleaned? Are your patrons happy? Do you have a solid cash flow? Is the price of soda pop too high, or can you inch it up a couple of more cents? It goes on and on. It is easy to become so immersed in this game that you lose sight of a couple of very important elements. This is an incredible looking program with tremendous sound quality. The graphics are bright and vivid ­- what else would you expect in a theme park? - and the audio brings the whole thing to life. The manual is a wealth of information and tips. The interface is easy to navigate. And the game board is a scrolling delight of sites and sounds that consume hours of real time, and can be just as aggravating as it can be delightful.

Pop-up screens give instant access to a wealth of information, as does the manual. Though the book is brimming with everything you need to know, you don’t need to study it to begin to play. This program is easy to jump into. And there are added extras. You can take a camcorder through your park, recording it for posterity. You can even snap pictures of your theme park and send them as e-mail postcards to friends and family. Too cool!

For those who have tackled SimCity, this is a logical adjunct to that program. It is a separate title, but nonetheless contains the intricacies that make SimCity games so much fun. And if you have played any of the Sim titles, you’ll also know that even the tiniest patrons are rendered with loving care.

And yes, once you’ve finished building a ride, you can take a virtual ride in it. It might be a lot of fun - and it looks great - if you didn’t have this nagging feeling that you forgot something ... Oh, no - you didn’t order enough garbage cans. Now you’ll have to hire another janitor! Nobody wants to visit a trashy park.

This program is rated for everyone and is supported by a Web page at The site will feature theme park designs by players, as well as hints and tips for making your park an incredible attraction. Buy a ticket and get in line, this is more fun than a tilt-a-whirl.

Installation: 6. What livens this up is the little characters - kids - in different costumes and with different expressions. It carries the theme of the program quite nicely.

Gameplay: 8. Very smooth.

Graphics: 9. Exceptional three-dimensional feel.

Sound: 8. What you would expect in a theme park.

Concept: 9. The land of the Sims just keeps getting better to live in and more fun to experience

Difficulty: 8. It’s not easy running an amusement park

Value: 8. This has it all. Pay attention to the system requirements, and if your computer can manage it, you will have a blast.

Overall: 8. Who says you have to be a certain height to ride - you can do anything you want when you own the show. Yahoo!