Thrillville (gamezone)

- gamezone -

For as long as I can remember I have always enjoyed roller-coaster simulation games. I can still remember the very first one I played and how basic it is in comparison to the games out now. In that game you couldn’t even ride the coasters you built, and you only knew you did a good job if the “test” crew was practically throwing up on the ride. Since that time there has been many advancements in the simulation genre, least of which is the graphics. Now once you design a coaster you can actually “get on it” and take it for a spin yourself. It was only a matter of time before this very popular simulation game was made available on console games and its name is Thrillville.

This game starts off when your Uncle Mortimer becomes so impressed with your coaster designs that he decides to put you in charge of his latest theme park: Thrillville. It is up to you to prove to him that you have what it takes to create the biggest, best, and most profitable amusement park that the world has ever seen. Every decision that you make affects what type of guest you will attract, from the food you serve to the actual coaster designs. The thing that makes this game even better is that you can actually go out and mingle with your customers and ride your own rides to make sure that they are “up to snuff” to keep the customers coming back for more.

In order to make your park successful you will have to manage five different aspects of your park: building your roller coaster rides and making sure they are fun, keep a nice selection of games to play in your arcades, build relationships with your guests, make sure all of your business-related things are correct (aka make sure you are making money instead of bleeding the company dry), and most important is make sure that everything is always kept up so as not to fall apart.

Building roller coasters is easy

To start off, let;s talk about the most fun aspect of this game - and it is building and riding the roller coasters. One thing that you will have to keep in mind is that you must build coasters that not only you will like but your customers will enjoy and keep coming back for more as well, as that means more money. The build menu in this game is pretty simple and easy to navigate allowing you to create some great roller coasters in no time.

When building a roller coaster you will have many things to keep in mind. For instance you will want to make sure your coasters are not overly expensive to construct, maintain, and have a low operating cost. Also the better the ride, the higher the ticket sales will be as well, so it is always a balancing act that you will have to maintain. Beware that while the over-the-top rides are a very good addition to your park, never neglect the “traditional rides” such as merry-go-rounds as they will also help rack up the cash. When building the park you will have to keep track of making sure you have enough bathrooms, food stalls, and other things. You will want to keep these in very easy-to-get-to places, such as a bathroom next to a ride that seems to induce nausea.

The thing that makes this game so much fun is that you can go in and ride the coasters yourself to see how you like them. After you are finished with that you can also go interact with all of the general public in your park. You can get various hints about your park to help make it better such as finding out if people are bored, hungry, or even have bladder problems. This is a good way to find out what is wrong with your park and how to help correct it. Another really interesting feature is that you can even flirt with people of the opposite sex in this game for some very decent mini-games.

If you have ever wanted to know about marketing then this game will give you a really good look at it as that is just what you will be doing in order to ensure that your park remains popular. You will do this by launching marketing campaigns, doing various demographics about who is at your park and how to cater to their needs, and even getting loans to make newer and better attractions. Then you must also spend money on research, which will pay off in the end because it tells what people are wanting and helps you set up a nice budget for the new rides.

The thing that all theme parks needs is a staff to take care of the needs of the park and the public. Your first hire should always be a mechanic which will help ensure that all of your rides are kept in top condition so that they will continue to make you money. Next up should be a good groundskeeper to make sure the mess left by the public will be kept up as no one will want to go to a dirty park. Then you will want to always have entertainment at your parks and dancers will help accomplish this by their nice acts, which will help keep your consumers happy.

The thing that makes the maintenance in this game less of a chore is that it is presented in more of a mini-game fashion, so you will not be crying each time that you have to fix a broken circuit board. Speaking of mini-games in Thrillville, they are very abundant and help keep places from getting a feeling of repetition. Any of the mini-games that you build can be used in the games multiplayer mode entitled party play and tourney mode. Party play allows you to select any mini-games and just directly in the action. Tourney mode also you to set up various tournaments with any of the mini-games.

The graphics for this game are not its strong point, but it is not its weak point either. In other words the graphics get the job done without trying too hard. The graphics for this game give it a very cartoony look and feel to it, without going over the top to keep your attention. The character models also have a very nice look and feel to them; the characters are not overly detailed but at the same time they are not sparse either. Like everything in the graphics category, it gets the job done..

The voice acting for Thrillville is really good. Hearing the announcer tell you things while you are going through the park is a really nice touch. When you are interacting with the various customers you will hear a wide variety of lines so you will not hear the same thing over and over again. The soundtrack and the sound effects really compliment the type of game that you are playing and fit well within the game’s universe. I wish there was more tracks to listen to but what is given is palatable.

Thrillville is rated everyone 10+ and contains fantasy violence, mild lyrics, and mild suggestive themes.

Review Scoring Details for Thrillville

Gameplay: 8.0
This game will bring you many hours of enjoyment as you are building and interacting with all of your creations. The creation system is really easy to use and you will be creating roller coasters in no time.

Graphics: 7.8
The graphics for this game are not spectacular, but they are not bad either. They get the job done and really compliment the game style.

Sound: 8.2
One of the best things that this game has going for it is that it has really good voice acting. The music is pretty decent but not outstanding.

Difficulty: Medium
Getting used to the controls and business aspect to the game will take some time, but the more you play this game the easier it will become for you.

Concept: 8.2
Creating any simulation game for a console is a daunting task, since you have a limited amount of buttons to work with in comparison to a PC keyboard. The developers of Thrillville did a really good job with this game and many people will have a ton of fun messing around with the controls and creating their own theme park.

Multiplayer 7.9
The multiplayer portion of this game is limited to the party play and tourney mode. Your friends and you will be able to play in any of the mini-games that are available.

Overall: 8.1
I have always enjoyed the Roller Coaster Tycoon games on the PC and was pretty excited when I heard about Thrillville for the Xbox. Getting used to the controls for this game might take a little bit, but once you do and see everything in action you will really enjoy all that this game has to offer.