Have you ever found yourself in love with a game, even if your skills don’t quite match up to your passion? For me, RollerCoaster Tycoon is the one that I can’t resist, despite my apparent lack of prowess. I’ve logged countless hours into the original and its sequel, which have become legendary in the gaming community. Yet, I admit, I’m not exactly a master at building the perfect coaster or running a theme park. But that’s part of the fun—watching the tiny visitors scamper around my chaotic creations. For many of us, those early RollerCoaster Tycoon games hold a special place, and no sequel has quite recaptured their magic. So, when RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic was suddenly announced and swiftly released as a port of the exceptional mobile version, it felt like a gift. Adapting to this version takes a little time, but it’s a brilliant way to dive back into the world of park management sims at their finest.
Let’s take a closer look at what RollerCoaster Tycoon is all about. It’s your classic management simulation where you’re the all-powerful park director. Your mission: take on various challenges within set deadlines as you construct parks in diverse settings. Whether it’s attracting a crowd with high satisfaction before time runs out or hitting profitability targets, the approach is entirely yours to craft. There’s a ton of maps to explore, each posing its own unique tests—from navigating a desert with a single extravagant ride to crafting aquatic attractions over a serene lake. Ever wanted to manage an established park like Six Flags or tackle uniquely themed scenarios? You can do that too. The game offers a plethora of rides that welcome your custom designs, where you lay out tracks and add your own creative flair, all while keeping an eye on your budget, cleanliness, and guest safety.
The gameplay loop in RCT is ridiculously satisfying. There’s nothing like designing—and often redesigning—roller coasters and rides that guests react to, tweaking them, and just playing around with park layouts. While the tutorials do walk you through the basics, I wonder if newcomers might find themselves missing some of the deeper mechanics. Much of your understanding comes from testing rides, monitoring guest feedback, and exploring various in-game menus. The customization options are immense, with features like land construction, underground routes, and scenery design. Every park you create will be distinct, and your evolving grasp of the game shows in how you boost income and attract guests. For those who love unrestricted creativity, there’s a designer mode to dream up full rides and save them, though the absence of a scenario editor—a feature that allowed for unfettered creativity with unlimited resources—is a notable omission.
The game’s visuals have made a successful leap from the original PC version, maintaining that timeless allure with their quaint sound effects and music, and how the guests spread across the map like ants. It’s visually charming both in motion and in stills, which is important since you’ll be staring at these vibrant parks for hours. I did encounter some performance hiccups, especially when zooming out, which was surprising given its origins as a mobile game. This ties into some control issues as well.
Originally designed for mouse and keyboard, RCT’s transition to a controller must’ve been a puzzle. For the most part, the controls are workable. When you’re building rides or pathways, the A-button handles segment construction, while the directional buttons adjust their direction. Moving the camera with the right stick, coupled with the ZL and ZR buttons for zooming and rotating, is intuitive enough once you get the hang of it. However, the real snag is in cursor movement, which lacks speed adjustment. Maneuvering from park management options at the top to construction tools at the bottom can be slow. Although shortcuts with the X and Y buttons exist, they don’t open menus, merely position the cursor, which feels like a missed opportunity. The inability to customize controls fully, especially for quick access to certain tasks or views, stretches tasks unnecessarily. For handheld players like myself, it’s disheartening to find the game doesn’t support touch input, a crucial feature from its mobile counterpart.
At its core, Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic is a loving tribute to a management sim icon. Despite stumbling over controls and experiencing some performance niggles, it remains one of the most detailed iterations of RCT available. While die-hard fans might prefer Open RCT2 on PC, this Switch version offers nostalgia in full swing for casual enthusiasts. Newcomers might face a learning curve, but the wealth of design choices, challenges, and creative freedom make it a journey worth taking. Maybe this time, I’ll nail those coaster designs and finally craft the park I’ve always daydreamed about from the game’s title screen.
