SimCoaster

Sim Coaster will have amusement park enthusiasts spending many hours creating, managing, and experiencing amusement park activities. SC has created a beautiful sim that is quite interesting in the amusement park genre. SC reminds me of an amusement park that meets the movie Toy Story with a twist of the old wild west movies thrown in! Though the title implies an emphasis on roller coasters, it is more of an amusement park managing sim then anything else. Not that it's a bad thing, just depends what you are looking for.

Let's start with the roller coaster aspects of the game. There are 18 different types of roller coasters you can build and customize to your liking. Customizations I feel are much easier than Roller Coaster Tycoon. When you customize, the mouse driven interface will show you where you can add supports, twists, loops, etc. Click and drag to build your custom roller coaster, adjusting height and drops and you are on your way. It's a snap! The best part is when you are done; you can actually ride the new beast you just created. Can't do that in RTC can ya?

Building other attractions and shops are just as easy, as well as the all-important footpaths. The other attractions and shops look beautiful graphically, but are a bit goofy looking as far as the looks of the rides. Keep in mind that this is a theme park, so don't be too critical, but its not exactly what you might see at your local amusement park.. If Toy Story had its own amusement set up…this is probably how it would look! It's a nice change and again the graphics are fantastic.

The best asset to this game is the 3D perspective. Not only can you ride the attractions you have built, you can actually view the park from a visitor's point of view. There you can see just what you park looks like as well as some of the goofy guests. Keep an eye out for the elderly; they can do some pretty wacky things!

Another nice bonus is the advisor. When things need your attention there is an advisor that pops up and recommends actions that need to be taken. Very nice considering you might not be paying attention to the emails you are sent while you are riding or building a new attraction. The down side is she is constantly on the screen, or though it seems. Before you know it, you start to realize this is more of a management sim, than a building sim.

There are plenty of corporate and objective challenges that unlock secrets and park areas well beyond just keeping guests happy or keeping your attendance up. Now you have to keep your employees happy and train them for special tasks as well. Ahh yes, more managing. But very important in corporate America! In short you meet your objectives, you progress through the 15 levels of the game.

If you are a Roller Coaster Tycoon fan or any other Sim Theme Park for that matter, you will most likely love this version. But keep in mind it has some other elements that do make it a bit complicated. Being a recent College grad with a business degree, I would have liked to use this sim instead of some of the textbook computer managing sims that my institution used!!!

Installation: Easy
No-brainer.

Gameplay: 8
Though quite fun to play, many annoying tasks take away from creating new rides.

Graphics: 9
Graphics are beautiful. The 3D effects are awesome and the 360-degree views from the coasters and the park guests, just plain rock! Would have liked to seen some splashing on the water rides though.

Sound: 8
Great sound effects and as you would expect from an amusement park.

Difficulty: 7
Not a bad learning curve, about an hour or so. The managing aspects may have younger players a bit frustrated. Customizations are quite simple which is a big plus!

Concept: 8
New elements to an amusement park sim but still some of the same. The ability to actually ride the rides helps out this rating.

Overall: 8
Beautiful graphics and great 3D perspectives make this game quite appealing to the eye. The emphasis on managing can get old too quickly.