"A disappointment from Bullfrog..."

The Story

You are a person who has big dreams; to build a theme park. You aim to make haunted houses that'll scare money right out of the kid's pockets, food so tempting that no ordinary child can pass it up, and a roller coaster that makes kid's eyes bulge right out of their sockets with fear and excitement. But fail, and you're dead. Owning and maintaining a theme park costs a pretty penny and failing is not an option. Do you have the ability, the intelligence, the power... to make the world's greatest theme park?
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Yup, it's corny. And it stays like that for the whole game, unfortunately. Simulation games have made their way into my favourites cabinet and Bullfrog is my choice for the leading producer of them. But I was disappointed to see what Bullfrog's done on Theme Park... why, Bullfrog, why!?
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Pros

The sounds are sort of realistic, but they can get annoying after a while; let's stick with pros now though. We'll get to the cons later.

The FMV sequences where you ride your rides are cool and fun.

You can see through the eyes of a giddy little kid that wanders into your park and splurges their money away. It was enjoyable, but it can be done without.
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Cons

It's extremely repetitive. Buy land. Build park. Sell park. Over and over and over again. Well, that's pretty boring, no?

The time used for loading is a downfall of this game. You move a little bit, it sort of lags, loads, then lets you move again, and repeats the process. I could really do without that!

The sounds! Annoying! A kid gets sick and pukes... another one gets sick and pukes... and another, and another... aaah! That drove me crazy after a while, and was one of the main reasons I quickly put this game down.

The AI of the workers is pathetic, to put it mildly. If you happen to build a little circle in your sidewalk, your handymen will run laps in it until you drop them elsewhere, then they'll just go back and do it again. What's really stupid is that if you pick, let's say, a mechanic up and drop him near a ride, he'll be mad(you can tell he's mad by the black cloud above his head). Do something with the grass below him and he'll be happy again. What the heck is this?
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The Bottom Line

If you're a diehard simulation game fan, try this. You may or may not(chances are, you will not) like it, but if you do, I applaud you. Enjoy the game, if that's physically possible!

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/22/02, Updated 01/22/02