Like SimTheme Park, SimCoaster features different zones. After you complete a few objectives in one zone, another will become available. The zones are supposed to be part of the same park, but they are very distinct areas. They aren't connected, other than on the larger, overview map, and your monetary earnings in one are unaffected by the others. The zones are the retro-science-fiction of the Land of Invention, the icy Polar Zone, and the desert landscape of Arabian Knights. As in SimTheme Park, the only real differences between the zones are the difficulty (determined by the amount of space and the variety of rides and attractions available to you at the start) and the graphics. Each zone features the same basic rides--just with a graphical change that suits the theme.

The camcorder view lets you wander around your park from a first-person perspective

The rides in SimCoaster are imaginative, but nowhere near as fantastic as those found in SimTheme Park. There are no huge apes spinning bananas over their heads. The misleading title would have you believe that the emphasis in SimCoaster is on designing and building roller coasters, but, in fact, the title seems like little more than an attempt to cash in on the incredible success of RollerCoaster Tycoon. There are a wide variety of coasters in SimCoaster, but, unlike in Chris Sawyer's game, they are not based on real-world and theoretical coasters. The coaster design kit lets you design thrill rides when you are not actually working in your park, but SimCoaster's track editor is simpler, and less satisfying, than the one in RollerCoaster Tycoon. The only real advantage in SimCoaster is that you can actually ride the coasters you design.

Unless you crave micromanagement, you'll find SimCoaster to be less satisfying than RollerCoaster Tycoon overall. This fact seems ironic given that RollerCoaster Tycoon was clearly inspired by the original Theme Park. It's true that SimCoaster is a better-looking game than the relatively older RollerCoaster Tycoon, but even SimCoaster's engine is starting to look dated--its colorful rides and attractions don't look as crisp as they did a year ago. However, the design of the game's scenery is imaginative, and wandering around your park can be fun. It can be especially enjoyable considering that there are a variety of new types of guests in the game since SimTheme Park. In addition to children, you'll see adults and seniors wandering around. The seniors actually add a strange element to the game--you'll occasionally get reports that someone is saying bad things about your park and that you should call a security guard to stop the person. It seems that basic human rights don't apply in SimCoaster's amusement parks.

Good ride and shop placement is the key to success

In a case like this, you simply right-click on the unruly guest and select "call guard for discipline." SimCoaster has added a number of convenient interface options, and you can right-click on anything--from guests to vomit--to get a list of actions you can take. Unfortunately, there are some small problems with the interface. Once you open an interface window, you can't open another until you manually close the active one. Though your scientists all hang out in the research lab, you can't actually hire them from the lab. It's unintuitive and inconvenient at times when you want to put more scientists on a particular project.

Much of SimCoaster seems inconvenient. SimTheme Park was enjoyable and easy to play, though there were complex mechanics going on beneath the surface. SimCoaster just brings all the complexity to the surface, without adding any real sense of reward for making you jump through the continuous hoops it places in front of you. The resulting game seems to focus on all the wrong elements. Instead of letting you create a park and watch your guests enjoy it, the game makes you spend most of your time fretting about things like having to give a two-dollar raise to a guy in an animal suit.