Count the number of games that start with the word Sim. There’s the original — Sim City and two sequels. Then you have SimLife, SimAnt, SimCopter and now even just The Sims. Bullfrog/Electronic Arts just added Sim Theme Park to that list and really should not have.

Bullfrog was the original creator of the amusement park simulation, Theme Park, for the PC. That game was ahead of its time and is still fun to play. While updated, Sim Theme Park already has a competitor that plays much better: Rollercoaster Tycoon.

The biggest annoyance is the animated adviser. The thing reminded me of the pop-up assistant in Microsoft Office, except this one won’t shut up. It would benefit from a little bit of variety. I can’t tell you how many times he told me I was this close to reaching my next goal. (Unfortunately, you can’t use the cursor to strangle the guy.)

His tips and hints were very repetitive. Annoyingly, he would frequently warn of an imminent breakdown of a ride — five seconds before it would happen, not enough time to react. (Bullfrog really should have looked into a “strangle” command.)

The graphics are great and the ride animations are cool, but there just aren’t enough. Research gets you more, but it’s a slow process and I went on for a long time, getting every shop, attraction and piece of scenery that I could. I also spent a lot of time twiddling my thumbs (and acknowledging ride breakdowns).

The people management is cool, hiring grounds keepers, entertainers, security, etc. based on skill level. But the prices of things were skewed. I was selling balloons for $35 apiece, and paying a janitor $80 a month. Admission to the park started at $20. This did not seem very logical.

Sim Theme Park means well and looks good, but I found myself wanting to play Rollercoaster Tycoon the whole time I built my initial park in STP.

If the desire comes to build your own Disney World, pick up RollerCoaster Tycoon and leave the newest Sim on the shelf.

Bullfrog Productions
System requirements: Windows 9x (NT not supported)
200 MHz or faster Pentium MMX/AMD K6,
300 MB hard drive space,
32 MB Ram,
4MB PCI/AGP video card
** of ****

Originally printed in the News & Observer and NandoNext.