Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 and Expansion Pack Soaked!

By Daniel MacKenzie

Introduction

I have always enjoyed the RollerCoaster Tycoon series but it always used to be for the PC. Then Aspyr came in and made it available for the Mac. I was quite pleased and this game didn’t let me down. You get to build and experience your own theme parks, test the rides and a whole lot more.

Getting Started

A good thing about most of the Aspyr games is that there is no installer. You just drag the folder off the DVD and into your applications folder. This game is no exception. After it copied from the disc, I was ready to go. Now, with the expansion pack you need an installer, but you just point the installer to the right folder and hit “install”. I had no problems whatsoever.

Playing the Game

The first time I launched it I went straight for the Career mode, because I wanted to get going, but after I started, I didn’t know how to do a lot of the things I needed to do. So I went back to the tutorials. There are detailed interactive tutorials that show you what to do and do it well. Unfortunately, there are a fair amount of tutorials and you have to go through a long loading screen before you start each one. It’s inevitable, but they could have made one tutorial of “The Basics” and spared all of the loading screens. Anyway, after you learn how to play the game, it is really fun. You get to build your own rides and place stores and attractions. One of the great things is you have objectives. There are three ranks per park. Tycoon, Entrepreneur and Amateur. Each rank has a certain kind of objective or objectives. Once you complete the objectives, you receive a cash bonus or a new park is open for you to use. Occasionally, a challenge screen will come up. It asks you if you want to do something like build a coaster with a certain length in a certain amount of time. If you complete it, you get more money. A good thing is that if you accept the challenge and don’t complete it on time, you don’t lose anything.

The Soaked expansion pack adds a large chunk to the game. You get more rides, shops and attractions than the original game had. It also give you the ability to create water parks, pools, pool complexes and more. It also lets you make your own fireworks and laser shows. You create the kinds of effects and sounds it makes and you can have it go off every simulated night. It’s pretty cool.

Conclusion

Overall, I have enjoyed this product. The fair graphics are backed up by the awesome game play which, I think, is better. The music is good and I barely had any problems with it. I would give it a 4 out of 5.

Recommendation

Anyone who likes simulation games or likes the idea of running their own theme park should defiantly check this out. It is worth your money.