about the game
review (rct original)
review (rct two)
screenshots (rct original)
screenshots (rct two)
screenshots (rct three)
game fun
cheats
top tips
rollercoaster tycoon was created by Chris Sawyer, a Scottish games developer, and launched back in 1999 by Hasbro Interactive (became part of Infogrames, which is now Atari). Since then it has become a classic in management simulation games, defining the concept in many ways including financial aspects, realism, customisability and fun. Of course, a major part of the success of the rollercoaster tycoon series is the fact it involves one of life's more enjoyable aspects - amusement parks! it is not, however, as simple as that: the genius is shown by the way the game, in large and small ways, takes all of the aspects of managing an amusement park and puts them together in an interesting, varied and addictive game. For example, you design your own tracks for rollercoasters, you try to achieve objectives (such as a certain number of guests in the park by a certain date) to unlock that next level and, of course, you can always crash the rides if you get bored! When I got bored of that, however, I ended up designing all kinds of buildings on the game from film studios to entire towns. I don't blame it for taking up literally days of my life, but thank the small team of developers.
In this section:
history of rct
a brief history of the games and when they were released
review of rct original (plus expansion packs)
a comprehensive review if you are thinking about buying the game
review of rct two
another detailed review, comparing it with the original
screenshots of rct original (plus expansion packs)
so that you can see what the game looks like
screenshots of rct two
so that you can see the improvements
screenshots of rct three
so that you can see the stark contrast with the other two games
game fun
there are lots of fun things to do on rct - here's a guide
cheats
the hidden extras that can just about be called cheats