This is a really really great game and retains a lot of the micro-management of the original game, while bringing it all into 3D. The game has loads of things to do, scenario editors, sandbox mode, coaster designer and loads of genuinely fun missions and all packed full of loads of rides, shops and activities. There is a lot of game here. I'd question the price point for a game that is 6 years old and think $14.99 would have been more appropriate. There is only one failing to the game in my view, but it is a rather spectacular flaw. The AI does not respond well to mega park designs. In my experience of having produced a number of large parks in this game, I'll quickly find that nobody actually goes on my rides :( They are good rides, but the AI gets confused and over-whelmed with decisions and will often spend hours walking back and forth between food attractions or just wandering around aimlessly, only having paid for 1 or 2 rides. It's still possible to make money in this scenario, but a lot of the joy of seeing people queuing to get on your rides is lost. This won't effect the scenario missions to any noticeable degree in my experience but on custom, Mega sized parks it becomes very obvious once you get to 1300+ visitors. The economy is also a little relaxed from the first game, making it easier overall to make money but that doesn't detract too much from the challenge.
RCT2 was essentially RCT rebuilt from the ground up with extra content and for that reason it is a solid, brilliant game. However there were two issues I encountered with it, that held me back, and they are ones of personal experience. Upon finishing RCT I played the Mega Park map to death. I poured literally hundreds of hours into it, resetting my park every 8 or 9 years in game time. I'd sell off everything and spend perhaps 2 years re-landscaping the entire park, planning out the staggered opening, footpath layouts and themes on sketch paper. It was probably the most satisfying experience I've ever encountered to produce a park which was largely automated. I'd revise price structures, free entry/paid rides or paid entry/free rides or a mix. Constantly trying to squeeze money out of my customers while making the park as perfect as possible. No vandalism, litter, no hungry or thirsty peeps. Symmetric rides, interacting with other rides, interacting with food area's, going under and over path ways. So what's the problem? Well RCT2 has one massive advantage here, it allows me to to create the mega park from the start, but two features removed in the sequel handicapped any attempt at doing what I did in RCT. Even though a scenario editor is included, the ability to "naturally" modify landscapes is removed while playing. Landscaping must be done one tile at a time to produce mountains or similarly natural features. A painful exercise and one which pretty much removes the capacity for massive landscaping projects while playing a scenario. The other issue is the inability to change pricing structure while in game. The pricing system is decided by the scenario designer and cannot be changed and cannot be mixed. IF you charge into the park, you cannot charge for rides, if you charge for rides you cannot charge entrance. This feature would be okay if you could change the system while playing, but you can't, you are stuck with the same pricing structure from start to finish, even though each structure has its advantages depending upon what point your park is it. Most don't seem to mind these two features in the game, but because of my own personal experiences with the first game, these features made the second game very very hard to invest in. Other than that it plays essentially the same as the first.
