| There’s a bit of a controversy over the Theme Park games. Theme Park was a highly regarded sim from a little company called Bullfrog, who went on to adapt the concept to the excellent Theme Hospital and, of course, the deliciously evil Dungeon Keeper games.
The planned sequel, Theme Park World, was delayed for whatever reason — and then Microprose struck. The publisher of some of the world’s best strategy games released Rollercoaster Tycoon, which many said was a direct rip-off of Theme Park. Still, the game featured excellent graphics and was very playable; it’s enjoyed a nice audience. (You can read our review of Rollercoaster Tycoon here)
Months later, Theme Park World was finally finished by Bullfrog and Electronic Arts. Apparently at the last minute, the name was changed to Sim Theme Park. (Hell, the opening movies still tout the game as "Theme Park World.")
This is, at heart, a kids’ game. The four themes — dinosaurs, Halloween, bugs and space — are set up on colorful islands. The player is given a golden key, which will unlock either the dino or Halloween island. Bugs takes three keys, and space five.
Once on the island, the player can build rides, shops, sideshows and the like. Pretty standard stuff, though different accomplishments are awarded with golden tickets. These are used to build Mystery Rides, plus every third ticket comes with a golden key. Researchers can unlock the secrets of new items, in turn used to drive up guest happiness or make money.
The player is advised by an add dot-man, who can sometimes get tedious and gives an indignant "Hmpf" every time he’s interrupted by the player. Luckily, he can be disabled at the options screen.
What the dot-man does well is tell the player of problems in the park, new inventions and challenges. Challenges offer the player a sum of money in return for building a specific ride or selling a certain amount of items.
Yes, there are rollercoasters. Unlike Rollercoaster Tycoon, these don’t come with pre-built tracks; you have to build ‘em. Like Rollercoaster Tycoon, there’s no tool outside the game to build tracks. It’s a frustrating problem that should have been fixed, because it means the player has to keep one eye on the coaster and the other on the park, and that doesn’t always make for good business.
So many other factors are frustrating in the wake of Rollercoaster Tycoon. There are far less decorations in Sim Theme Park, and so the park feels less the player’s creation than a means to an end (namely, getting enough keys to move on).
The graphics are bright and cheery, even in the Halloween land, reinforcing the idea that this game was designed for kids. Kids are the only visitors to the parks, and so the rides are universally bright and cheery. I don’t always want to build a bright and cheery park — the same folks who made Dungeon Keeper and its sequel should let me build an adult park, no? The graphics also don’t seem as precise as those in, say, Theme Hospital or SimCity 3000.
There are some frustrating bugs, too, like the time I was challenged to make a profit of $500 in 60 days. I made more than $1,000, and the game told me I lot that challenge because I had only made that amount instead of meeting the $500 challenge. Huh? In a game where money is often tight, players need to win all the challenges they can. This doesn’t help.
Bottom line, this is an injustice to the Sim and Theme brands. It lacks the quirky, sometimes dark humor of either series or the adult decision-making, and instead offers a bland simulation for the kiddies. That’s fine for them, but what about my needs? | 
