RollerCoaster Tycoon 2: not an instant Chris Sawyer classic?

What about the gaming world of 2003 made RCT2 not the instant classic you'd expect, given how popular and well-loved it is even today? And does it really take me 51 minutes to explain what Marcel Vos did in just 13? Yes, I tried to create a video about RCT2's scenario progression, and because it is me I started looking at what original reviews thought of it, then exactly how well Wacky Worlds went down at the time, and 15 pages of script later here we are. I put a Transport Tycoon Deluxe box somewhere it's not meant to go.

You may as well just watch Marcel's:    • RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 has the Best D...  

But what is behind the surprisingly low scores for a classic game that has endured far beyond many of its 9/10 and 94%-scoring contemporaries? Why do people with YouTube channels say the game progression is bad, and what do we mean by good game progression anyway? What has early '90s CD-ROM-'em-up The 7th Guest have to do with any of this? Did I seriously draw a punk monk while attempting to come up with a visual metaphor for supernatural abilities? And how many commenters are going to spot and enjoy the many, many easter egg ride names I use in my own scenarios?

The following attractions are open today:

0:00 Hello again, context, whatevs
0:56 In case of Sonic attack...
1:39 This review does not exist in isolation
2:25 I return to narrating voxels
3:47 Vintage technical progression
4:39 Ah, so that's how The 7th Guest is relevant
5:17 At last, some sort of point!
5:57 uh well that's Sim Theme Park actually
6:57 Nobody plays RollerCoaster Tycoon now
7:28 A call for help
8:27 That having an actual point idea again
9:34 Hello, it's Ian Craft
10:27 RCT's short term reward loop
11:55 Classic scenario unlock progression
12:37 Not so classic scenario unlock progression
13:58 THAT scenario.
16:44 I show you a save game from 1999
17:26 Not a beginner scenario
18:27 Introducing game mechanics
20:50 RCT1's scenarios are great progression
23:27 RCT2's scenarios are not great progression
24:28 It's just an expansion tho
25:43 But not a great expansion
27:17 Yes I actually like Harmonic Hills
28:03 Secretly, it's just an excuse to mention the Groovies
28:58 The roller coaster British Rail built
29:51 Terrain problems
30:25 Wait, you're RESEARCHING these?
31:19 Oh dear, it's the Frontier expansion packs
32:15 Why I can't do an angry game review channel
33:23 Or possibly any channel, for that matter
34:16 Close your eyes for the next segment
35:30 Headless guests!
36:30 Quality Control, how does that work?
37:52 Wacky Worlds - not all bad?
39:00 Let's watch cartoons instead
39:25 Time Twister: "kinda... better I guess?"
40:15 Actually decent Frontier objects?
40:55 A beginner scenario at the start for once!
41:31 The problems come back
42:55 Justifying "kinda... better I guess?"
43:45 UCES, a whole video in itself
44:28 My great lost expansion pack
45:34 Undermining the last three quarters of an hour
46:42 Yet another point I didn't cover
47:12 Let's annoy the Grand Prix Unlimited fans again
48:24 Vague memories of assisted coaster piracy
49:15 Yeah, let's end it here

Stock footage from Pexels, Pixabay, iStock and Wikimedia Commons (CC0 only)

Games featured:

Sonic 3
OpenRCT2
SimCity 3000
Theme Park World / Sim Theme Park
OpenTTD
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
The 7th Guest
RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic
RollerCoaster Tycoon
Minecraft (Bedrock)
Super Mario Bros.
Factorio
Planet Coaster
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3
Grand Prix Unlimited

Yeah okay, so I started writing a script and forgot to... well, stop.

Comments are pre-reviewed to avoid spam. I aim to publish all comments, including dissent, but overly pedantic or negative ones may be moderated. Hearing about different experiences and what things were like in other countries adds a lot to the video! Please try to do so in a positive way while remembering that if I had to explain every minor international difference the video would be 178 hours long and boring, rather than 52 minutes long and boring. Failing that, at least make me laugh.

Bonus fact: RollerCoaster Tycoon featured a cheat protection mechanism where it checked the date of the scenario tracking file to make sure it had not been modified since the game last wrote it. Unfortunately this did not take into account Daylight Savings Time, meaning players of the first game had to get used to losing their scenario progress every six months, a problem which took multiple patches to fix.

Even worse, if you didn't have completed save games for each park you'd already finished the tool for recovering your scenario progress would be unable to unlock them, and wasn't always reliable even if you had. Often you'd have to play the parks again from the last saved point to unlock the scenario, meaning any vintage RCT1 fan had a lot of parks saved the day before scenario completion ready to load and unlock progress once more.

#rct2 #retrogaming