Earlier this month, we were excited about the release of RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe (RCTAD). At the time when I previously covered the release, I was unaware that the newly released game was a remastering and enhancement of the RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures released in 2018. Despite finding out it was a remastering, I was still eager to jump into the Deluxe Edition and hopefully get even a taste of the nostalgic love that I had for Roller Coaster Tycoon, Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. Now after spending almost a week with the game, we can finally share with you our review of RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe Edition.
As a lifetime fan of Roller Coaster Tycoon, the excitement to jump into the new release was high. As the hours passed, the excitement went from blissful nostalgia to mild amusement to general annoyance. Sometimes, when a game gets ported from one platform to another, it works fine just the way it is. In other instances, there are times when the game’s mechanics should have been changed for the new platform. With RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe, the latter is what holds true. Obviously, with any game released on consoles, it will not perform as well as its PC counterpart. But what can be said about a game previously developed for Nintendo Switch, being ported over to more powerful devices?
Game Modes
Tutorial & Adventure
Let us first start off with RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe game modes and what each one entails. When booting up the game, players can pick between Tutorial, Adventure, Scenario, and Sandbox. In the tutorial section, players can learn the core concepts of the game and how to create rollercoasters. Despite the game giving players a tutorial on how to create coasters, we still encountered some challenges; but, we will talk about those later.
In the Adventure game mode, players can select from one of four map terrains. The introduction of these four terrains is exactly the same; the only difference between these environments is the background terrain and the level’s music. The goal in adventure mode is to grow your park into a multinational tourist destination. During adventure mode, players are given tasks to complete and choices to make, depending on the choices made, players will receive a buff or debuff to their park’s growth. These choices can be anywhere from fighting a lawsuit to what color tablecloths should be. In reality, adventure mode doesn’t really feel like an adventure in park ownership. Instead, it feels like a checklist where you are just trying to complete remedial tasks in your entry-level job.
Scenario & Sandbox
In the Scenario’s game mode, players are tasked with completing different challenges by a set date. These challenges can range from having a happiness rating of 70+ to having a park value of $2,500,000 million. When looking at the list of scenarios, they are neither listed by difficulty nor in alphabetical order. The most disappointing thing about scenarios is it is almost like the estranged grandchild of a beloved family member that you have to deal with; it feels like the ghost of its former self. The game features sixteen scenarios. Most of these scenarios can be completed in a day.
Finally, there is Sandbox mode where players can build to their heart’s content. Sandbox mode uses the four maps that Adventure uses. Once a map is chosen, players can choose between creative or Career mode. With creative mode, the game gives players all the rides and shops available. Ultimately in creative, the world is your oyster and you can build to your heart’s content.
Negative Gameplay Impressions
At first, RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe gameplay scratches the itch of what we loved from the original three Roller Coaster Tycoons. Quickly we realized this new iteration was a shell of the franchise’s former self. Outside of Rollercoasters, players get very minimal opportunity to customize other rides outside of color choices; that’s right, you can no longer have fun making a maze, go-kart track, or even a log flume.
Oddly, the game allows roller coaster paths to go through other buildings and does not cause an accident. This is only one of the issues players will face while designing a rollercoaster. During our playthrough, we had multiple custom-made rollercoasters disappear if we exited the game and came back later. Building a rollercoaster is no easy challenge as well.
Every rollercoaster has a set track length that it can go before the game caps it. Going back while designing a track is no easy challenge and closing the track can be a headache as well. If you accidentally back out of designing the track, it is easier to scrap the whole ride since you won’t be able to pick up where you left off. Once you trace your track design you can add special pieces at the nodes. Unlike older rollercoaster tycoons, special ride parts do not cost money to implement into the coaster.
Speaking of other annoyances, Adventures Deluxe, selling environment pieces or other objects can be a bit of a challenge. As you are building your park and trying to accomplish different scenario points, your rides will depreciate and you will need to adjust the ride price. There is no management system similar to the computer version and you will have to go from ride to ride and lower the price manually and hope you don’t miss one.
Positive Gameplay Elements
Not everything about RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe is negative. When researching rides, the player can choose between different categories they want to be researched. When building environments, rides, or stalls, the player can tab over to the buy more option to purchase and place multiple consecutively. Building paths is easy since players can trace their layout and validate it; this feature is also used somewhat for coasters but does not work as well. The game also has a heatmap menu that can show satisfaction, revenue streams, peep load, decoration impact, and degradation.
Graphics
When it comes to RCTAD graphics, the game’s visual presentation is pretty well optimized. Each ride is highly detailed and doesn’t feel like it has been rushed to be added to the game. The game doesn’t have highly detailed characters. In fact, the parkgoers seem like a downgrade to the original games counterparts. The rides and environmental decorations look good but don’t stand up to other game franchises. It’s beautiful for its franchise and scratches the sim-building itch.
The game does not feature any customizable options for graphics. Players can adjust the readable language between English, French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian. The lighting changes between night and day can potentially cause someone to have a seizure. Players can disable grid visibility and peep speech bubbles.
Controls
The game features only four controller options that the player can adjust. Players can invert the horizontal and vertical camera. Additionally, players can adjust the camera rotation sensitivity and zoom sensitivity. Outside of building a rollercoaster, the controls are fairly easy to use and place the different buildings and landscapes. There are times when the camera can bug out and then it won’t move appropriately. Some landscapes when you pick them up can break when moving them if the controller analog stick moves while resetting. For gameplay, the controls are fairly easy to use with basic snap placements.
Audio/SFX
RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe features very minimal audio options compared to its predecessors. Players can not adjust the game’s sound levels and can only turn off sound effects or the game’s music. Most of the music gets fairly boring after a short amount of time and you will want to turn it off. Gone is the ability to set music for each ride or throughout the park. They really dropped the ball with the game’s audio.
Replayability
Let’s be honest, when it comes to any Rollercoaster Tycoon, the replayability level is fairly high. However, this RCT will not have players coming back as often as some of its predecessors would have. The scenarios in Adventure are exactly the same, so you can only really get them from the scenario game mode. Out of all of the previous Rollercoaster Tycoons, this one feels the most unsatisfying to come back to. If you want to get all the achievements, you can easily collect them all in two days.
Verdict
At the end of the day, RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe is just a shell of the franchise’s former self. Yes, it is easy to just pick up and play, but in a way, it loses a lot of the core features that fans of the original games grew to love. Yes, you can scratch the RCT itch with this game, but with the ability to purchase the originals or similar games, it is not worth the $40 price tag. A fair price for the game would be around the $15 to $20 range. The game’s mechanics outside of the coaster building, it is fairly easy to maneuver but there are some gameplay bugs that will make players frustrated. The game does not have many accessibility options and is not advised for those with sensitivity to sounds and lighting.
If you are looking to scratch your Rollercoaster Tycoon itch, we recommend looking elsewhere unless you are desperate or rather limited.
A code for RollerCoaster Tycoon Adventures Deluxe was provided for review purposes.
