Theme Park

Keeps crashing at least you can save if you just remember

Theme Park is a true classic in that it sparked a slew of imitations and sequels. The most logical comparison is Rollercoaster Tycoon. And compared to this Theme Park sadly does stand out as a bit primitive, which considering the five year difference is understandable. The plot is the same. You are building your own theme park and you have to compete with other parks for the first spot. You can do this in a lot of ways. You can just build a fantastic park but you can also play the stockmarket. And so can your competitors. This is something which you don't see in the competitors and I can see why. Cause I honestly don't think it contributes to the gameplay. Still this is if not a great game then a very very good game and well worth the price of admission.

It's a shame this game has so many problems because the framework of a good game is there. You start off with your first park and the excitment builds as you place more rides and shops. more little people enter your park and the money starts rolling in. Things are growing and you're excitedly planning for some of the bigger rides. Then the bugs start kicking in. Little people wandering off in a well signposted park. Handymen disappearing from their routes, leaving a horrific mess in their wake. People walking the wrong way through ride entrances. It kills the fun completely. The other thing that kills the fun is the poorly thought out 'full' mode. Stock ordering is a nightmare. Buying shares is bad but thankfully easy to ignore if you buy all your shares ASAP. Only worth playing if you want to see what was a groundbreaking game in it's day. I had trouble with the game crashing randomly every 1-2 hours but I managed to stop this by turning off sound effects. The only problem is that sound effects are pretty important in this game to direct your attention where it is needed.

As a child running a park was very exciting but I didn't really get a chance to play the game on the family computer so I never really got to grips with it. When I got a bit older I had many hours of fun with Theme Hospital and Theme Park World, so when I saw this I had to buy it. Unfortunately, this game has not aged well for me. The interface is so convoluted and really doesn't add to the enjoyment of the game. Having to order stock in all the time is the most annoying mechanic. Building multiple of the same ride gets quite boring fast. It was obviously a revolutionary idea at the time but they made a lot of necessary changes to later entries to the series. It should be a 1* for gameplay but it gets an extra 1* for nostalgia and significance.

Before Rollercoaster Tycoon there was Theme Park, and it's a true classic. This game had the perfect balance between business management and fun. Give it a download!