Roller Coaster Tycoon Corkscrew Follies

DEVELOPER : Microprose
PUBLISHER : Microprose

Ratings

Graphics: 7.0 – Still hold up, but I wish you could zoom in a bit closer.

Audio: 9.0 – Superb.  Sounds just like a real theme park.

Interface: 7.0 – Good, but I always thought building complex coasters and other tracks were a bit more difficult than it should be.

Gameplay: 9.0 – One of the most addictive games I’ve ever played…and Corkscrew Follies adds even more stuff to do!

Replayability: 7.0 - 30 new scenarios is quite a bit, but still no sandbox mode.

Multiplay: N/A

Learning Curve: 8.0 – I’m assuming that buyers of Follies have played the original quite a bit, so it should be smooth sailing.

Manual: 3.0 - The only real complaint.  No list of the new features?

Pros:  More of the same great stuff that makes RC Tycoon one of the best strategy games available.

Cons:  Nothing really, but its only for the devoted.

Overall: 7.0

I am just going to take a sec to get two things out in the open before I review the game in more detail.  Is Corkscrew Follies a good product? Yes.  Is it for everyone?  No. 

Roller Coaster Tycoon kind of came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular strategy games.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to build a theme park in which hundreds of little kids hop, skip, and throw up.  Ah, and the satisfaction of building a huge, exciting roller coaster (and then finding out it is so nauseating that no one wants to ride).  Anyone who had played Bullfrog’s Theme Park knows that RC Tycoon borrowed heavily from it, but similarities aside it offered a compelling experience from start to finish.

 Rule of Game Marketing # 1: In the event that a game is successful, immediately follow up with an expansion/add-on. 

 Well my friends,  Hasbro Interactive is not one to break the rules.  In fact, they came out with an expansion quite speedily, and herein lies one of the problems.  If you bought RC Tycoon you may have either played it so much that the thought of hiring another handyman makes you physically ill, or you have not even begun to get all there is out of the original.  After all, there are an endless amount of things to tweak, customize, and try out.  If you fall into one of these categories, chances are Corkscrew Follies is not for you.  It probably will not make you addicted again (that is something only time will heal), and if you haven’t done all there is to do in the original, you are probably better off spending your gaming dollars on a new product. 

But wait! Those who fall into the “I’m so helplessly addicted to RC Tycoon that I’ve played the same scenario five times and never get bored!” category run down to your local software store and buy it! 

Wait!  Where are you going?  Sit down and read this first.

The most important addition that Corkscrew Follies brings along is the slew of new scenarios…30 to be exact.  Assignments range from building a huge, successful park out of a barren landscape to doubling the value of an already established park.  Alas, there is still no “sandbox” mode, but the openness of some of the scenarios basically provides the same experience.  One of the scenarios even lets you build a cliff-side theme park!  Fans will revel in these challenging endeavors.

Equally important is the google of new park enhancements.  Most notable are banners, or scrolling signs that you can place in your park to separate it into distinct areas, and you can even use them as barriers.  For instance, build a pathway leading to five different roller coasters, slap a banner down that says “Roller Coaster Land” (or something to that effect) and you have instant “themes” within your park, or block the exit path to a ride so that it doesn’t get too crowded.  You can now enhance the scenery with the new scary, Jurassic, and jungle themes.

But there’s more to a park than scenery, right?  Corkscrew Follies adds a new hat stand, hot dog and candy apple vendors, a miniature golf course, an entertainer dressed as a Roman guard, and more!  There are also new historical roller coasters that have to be seen to be believed.  You want more rides?  How about building the Crooked House, a fun house that will have your guests topsy-turvy?  Or maybe the new suspended monorail or ghost train is more enticing.

You can pack your park full of excitement, but if it isn’t beautiful guests won’t be happy.  Choose from a plethora of new flowers and trees to spice up the surroundings.  You can also change the color of balloons and of individual sections of the roller coasters.  This means that a coaster of over a dozen colors is now possible.  I did, however, have to play the game to discover many of these new features.  I have no problem with that, but it would have been nice to have a manual that lists them, instead of the thin jewel case sized manual that comes with it.

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Reviewed by Anthony Micari