It's the greatest of several successor to Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon has had. Doesn't diverge too much from the original, while spreading its wings the way the original couldn't. Graphics still look good in 2024, the economy is well-balanced. There are drawbacks, sure (no tunnel building for one!), but the economy model, the lively worlds and quite enthralling campaigns (for a Tycoon game) all make up for them. I've been returning to RRT2 at least once a year for the last 25 years. It means something.
Let's face it. The game is nothing compared to the genre's big names, say Broken Sword, Monkey Island or The Longest Journey. This one belongs to another league. Puzzles are fairly simple (apart from some pixelhunting, but hey, it's the charm of the past days), little music is to be heard and dialogue is vague to say the least. HOWEVER, if you just accept the simplicity, you'll need just a little bit of your own will to dive into the world Benoit Sokal has brought. Indeed, the setting is profound as well as immersive. You'll be astonished by how far the author came with creating this long-lost oneiric world of dreams, which is just pure fun to explore. It's all greatly augmented by the state-of-the-art graphics (as for 1999 standards). Besides, where it excels is consistence. Apart from the whole surreal theme, you'll find little illogical pieces of the game's world when it comes to plot or puzzles. Perhaps what annoys a little is tad tenuous navigation, as you move on rails in pseudo-3D environment, you'll find yourself lost in a labyrinth of nearly identical locations at least once in a playthrough. Keep in mind the game is relatively short, giving no more than five hours of continuous gameplay. If you're not a fan of adventure games or slightly surreal worlds (prefereably both combined), you might easily feel repelled. You have been warned.
