Outside of RollerCoaster Tycoon, I've never been that fond of the builder/strategy/management genres. Then this demo was recommended, and I got hoooked pretty quickly. It's the right mix of the genres, but you also can't be too precious about the things that you're building out. Most games come in under an hour and a half, and there is enough to unlock that you'll be busy for a long time. The balance is extraordinary.
Every time I hear "Disco Inferno," I have to explain to my wife the casino and "Jackpot winner!" in DK2. This still stands as one of the best strategy-management game hybrids of the era, in part because it doesn't take itself too seriously. It improves on the mechanics and rules of the first game, with some OK-ish 3D action, which was still somewhat novel at the time. Some of the later levels are kind of hard, but if you get really stuck, of course there's help on the Internets. It was fun to play though this again. So much joy!
