Theme Park

While the hayday of Bullfrog games have long since past, the company's legacy clearly lives on with groundbreaking games like Theme Park.
Long before Sim Theme Park and Rollercoaster Tycoon, Theme Park easily enraptured the hearts and minds of anyone who played it, or anyone in passing. Whether spending hours designing the perfect coaster, or even just spending a few minutes holding down the ‘c’ button and watching your money soar, playing the stock market, or even negotiating those damned striking workers, there was always something to do.

I remember hours in my father’s office watching as the seemingly intelligent AI rapidly bought up all my remaining stocks, as I purchased controlling shares in their company… then moments later smiled as people walked around with balloons, prizes, or whatnot. Even research piqued my interest.
Whether you’re a conniving evil-schemer, trying to get every last penny out of your customers, or you want to see everyone happy, having a good time, or just like the colors, games, and neat rides, this is a game for you.
More in-depth than Roller-Coaster Tycoon and easily far more entertaining, Theme Park lets you control everything from the quality of goods at the stands to the price and odds of winning the side-games. Post signs, one-way markings on the pavement, and line entrances that stretch for miles. Hire entertainers that please your guests, make them happy while in line, or, occasionally, strike. Build Arcades, bottle-knock-downs, novelty shops. Build coasters, moon bounces, haunted houses, and motion simulators. Keep your guests comfortable in the most high-tech bathrooms or force them to go to the back of the park to an outhouse, surrounded by evil-looking trees.
Pathways, trees, and all sorts of miscellany await the patient researcher (or the cheater who turns the game speed on high) – as a precursor to Roller Coaster Tycoon, it very much resembles those aspects of gameplay – be it prettying up your place, making it a wreck, or occasionally deleting a section of track and watching people fall to their death, screaming. The graphics in general resemble Sim Theme Park – decent even by today’s standards, very good for a DOS game.
You can do whatever you please in your area, strive to be the top in more than one city, let your stocks soar, or type your nickname as Zorba, hold down C, then watch your money rise. Then turn on the fireworks, set the resolution to high, and watch a pretty light show while buses come and go. It will entertain anyone from the bright child to the entertained adult. This is definitely worth a look.