It’s hard to think of Rollercoaster Tycoon without putting on nostalgia glasses and thinking back to simpler times and simpler graphics. That being said, if you saw the trailer released earlier this month; you wouldn’t be alone in thinking developers felt the same way exactly.
This first look at the game in development is book-ended with real-life depictions of an amusement ride, but what is shown in between has garnered much criticism from longtime fans and passing viewers alike.
Roller Coaster Tycoon (RCT) First came out on PC in 1999 and is still considered one of the best tycoon games in a long list of construction and management simulators. The game puts users in the role of amusement park management and puts them through a series of scenarios to fix up or improve a theme park. Think SimCity – but instead of fixing up L.A. after some kind of catastrophe, your mission is improving Knotts Berry Farm’s bottom line.
It’s not hard to see how the game has spawned several sequels, and kept fans playing for over a decade.
RCT2 was very popular in the early days of YouTube, as many players would make videos of real world coasters they had painstakingly recreated in the game. These elements of creativity, which border on what we’ve seen from the Minecraft world, have helped RCT2 create and sustain its own community of sandbox players in recent years. It should come as no surprise that Atari wishes to push out another title in the wake of Roller Coaster Tycoon 4 Mobile.
Area 52, who is developing for Atari, made an official blog post last week assuring us that all the faults in the trailer would be remedied by launch.
In addressing concerns from the YouTube trailer, they promise more realism and better graphics, claiming that the game won’t be out until it has met these higher standards:
“We will not release the game until we know that it is truly ready. If the game needs to be “put back into the oven,” then we will do it. We have waited for more than 10 years for the next great edition of RCT, and we plan to take the franchise to new heights with RCTW. We will take the time required to achieve that goal. We will communicate on the expected release of RCTW later this year. The team needs the time to craft the experience that so many of you have been waiting so patiently for.”
-RCT Team
While this statement might be a day late and a dollar short, it’s important to note that they “have waited for more than 10 years” to make this “great addition”. Considering the negative reactions to RCT 4 Mobile, this should be seen as an acknowledgement of what not to do and hopefully it can be taken in good faith. While only time can tell what will become of RCT, Area 52’s promise to listen to feedback and keep fans informed throughout development makes it seem like this will be an honest attempt at a worthy successor.
Rollercoaster Tycoon World’s launch date is TBD until further notice.
