And, in the end,
SimCoaster is basically a tidied-up version of
Sim Theme Park. While it offers a few new innovations, and a new goal-based structure, the game still uses almost all of the same mechanisms that
STP did, and with that comes the baggage that the previous game had.
SimCoaster doesn't have quite the range of wild environments that Sim Theme Park did. With the World of Invention, a polar-themed world with a goofy walrus (or something) as its mascot, and an Arabian Nights themed area, you'll have to contend with fewer unique settings. But those settings are subdivided into sections, and each section is reached in a different way.
Instead of the more freeform style of STP or even Rollercoaster Tycoon, SimCoaster has you going after a series of goals. Opening up each new area, and the new parks, requires completion of Challenges. These challenges are reminiscent of the park goals in RCT -- keep people happy for a certain amount of time, or make sure no rides break down, or other such things. You can pick and choose when you start on a given scenario, which gives you time to prepare for it. This is a Good Thing. And as you complete the challenges, new rides, areas, and whatnot will open as you collect Golden Tickets.
The game itself plays much like the last one. Instead of just having kids, however, there are now adults and senior citizens as well. Every group is interested in getting something different out of the park, and catering to them all is the only way to keep everyone happy. Once again, a balanced park is an important thing to have, and a tough thing to perfect. Veterans of the series should have no problems trouncing through SimCoaster, but newcomers will definitely have to tinker before everything falls into place.
Unfortunately, though, there are some nagging issues with the game, both in the core conceits and in the general presentation. Once you've entered the game itself, the interface is clean, intuitive, and quite easy to use, but the fact that the game makes you sit through an annoying introduction before you sit down and play is rather annoying. The fact that there's no real 'main menu' to speak of when you jump into the game is similarly annoying. There are other similar nagging issues in the way the game works -- kicking you out when you alter settings, jumping you to new theme parks, and so on. The atrocious load times only exacerbate the situation. It's nothing crucial, and only nitpicks will notice it, but it's still somewhat annoying.
My main beef with the series as a whole, however, is that it never quite congeals the way that Rollercoaster Tycoon does. With all of its pretty graphics and wonderful places to explore, it never quite gets as deep or as addictive as RCT. I've never understood why -- perhaps it's the fact that Molyneaux no longer works on this series, or the fact that it goes for glitz over core enjoyment. That's not to say that it's not a fun game, because it is, but it's just not of the same caliber as the Tycoon.
