Game Review - RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: Wacky Worlds for Windows

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 by Infogrames is an Amusement Park simulation game. You set the prices, place the rides, and do everything to ensure your visitor's happiness so they'll stay in the park longer. Wacky Worlds is an expansion pack, so it does require RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 to play it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is the absolute best simulation out there to date. Too bad this Wacky Worlds expansion is not... 

Oh, you get lots of new goodies with Wacky Worlds, make no mistake about that. You get 17 new scenarios, which are parks that are in various stages of disarray and it's up to you to bring them back to their glory days. Some of the new ones include Victoria Falls in Africa, Icebergs in Antarctica, Maharajah Palace in Asia, and Ayers Rock in Australia. Those aren't all of them of course, just a sample to give you a taste... the new scenarios encompass all 7 continents.

Along with those continents you get goodies for landscaping to go with them such as the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Great Wall of China. Of course there's a few new concession stands as well. Now that's all good...

What's bad is all the wonderful 50 new rides. Yes, that's what I said. There are scads of very cool new roller coasters in Wacky Worlds. So what's my problem? You have to build them. Before, they always gave you a pre-built of each type of coaster to use if you weren't in the mood to go through building your own configuration. Not so here. It's annoying as all hell. I like to build the parks in free build mode, I do not really get into building the coasters themselves. Boo Hiss Infogrames!

The graphics and sound are exactly the same as in the main game, with perhaps new sounds to give the feel of France and whatnot. Still clear as could be and not overpowering. The sounds are completely controllable as they always were, too. You can still zoom in and get up close and personal with your staff and visitors. No quality changes in either of those areas at all that I could discern.

There is no learning curve. It plays the exact same as RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, this is just an expansion, not a revamp.