There was satisfaction when you watched your park build up, seeing guests coming in through the entrance, long snaking queues forming at the most popular rides, and then seeing your guests jump into the air with excitement after coming off your ride. Not all moments were bad or frightening though. There would be an ominous silence, followed by a haunting message telling you how many guests had been killed on that ride. One notable gut-wrenching moment that most players probably experienced at least once was whenever a coaster crashed, the moment flashing up on your screen without warning in a pop-up box, accompanied by a frightening explosion. You would probably groan if you got a message telling you that a ride had broken down, or if guests were stuck and couldn’t find the exit. You would be pleased when you unlocked a new ride or scenery set, but not all notifications were good. One notable feature was the notification box, alerting you with a distinctive beeping sound. The original first two RollerCoaster Tycoon games was set in 2D isometric graphics, and the game now provides nostalgia for a lot of players. After the original, several games followed in the series, including sequels and expansion packs, as well as spin-offs. RollerCoaster Tycoon became a huge success and went on to be the best-selling game of 1999. The game also came with scenarios that had different parks and objectives. The main focus of the game was constructing your own rollercoasters, with lots of different types (hence the given title of the game), but other rides and attractions were available to place in your park, too, such as gentle rides and thrill rides, as well as stalls and scenery.
Probably one of the most famous theme park games, RollerCoaster Tycoon was originally released in 1999, created by Chris Sawyer, who was responsible for the Transport Tycoon series.
The original Theme Park has even been credited as being one of the greatest games within the genre for this reason. It must have succeeded, as it sold so many copies, and the fact that a game dating back to the 90’s gave players so much detailed control over their parks is impressive (and this was before RollerCoaster Tycoon came on the scene). Theme Park was designed to allow players to run their own dream theme parks, making the business side as realistic as possible whilst also allowing it to be fun (because if a game isn’t fun, then people won’t want to play it). Since then, Theme Park has had two sequels, Theme Park World and Theme Park Inc., as well as being released on different consoles, the latest being released on Nintendo DS in 2007 and iOS in 2011. Taking a year-and-a-half to develop, the original Theme Park sold over 15 million copies and was particularly popular in Japan. Employing staff in your park was also important, as having lack of staff would cause problems, such as having an untidy park or broken-down rides or even vandals trashing your park! Another important feature was research, which allowed you to not only unlock new rides, but also improve your current rides, help your staff be more efficient, and increase the amount of guests buses could bring into your park. Certain attributes of shops could be altered, so for example, you could change the flavour of foods.įor this early example of a theme park management game, over thirty attractions were available to place in your park, from bouncy castles to Ferris wheels to roller coasters. Such details included building rides and shops, as well as employing staff to look after your park.
The game was very detailed and realistic to how a real-life theme park functions, setting the groundwork for future theme park games. The goal of the game was simple, to build a theme park and make money from it and make it a success. Probably one of the first theme park management games out there, this was developed by Bullfrog Productions and Electronic Arts all the way back in 1994.
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