RollerCoaster Tycoon 2

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 (or RCT2 for short) is the second installment in the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. Like in its predecessor, the player must build successful theme parks to fulfill a set of objectives in various scenarios. The game was further expanded with two expansion packs, Wacky Worlds and Time Twister, which brought more themes and theme-inspired derivatives of existing rides, as well as new scenarii. These two add-ons were not worked on by Chris Sawyer.

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 uses the same game engine as the first game, but somewhat optimized to sport more polished graphics, higher resolutions, a more intelligent guest AI and the ability to stack scenery items, enabling the creations of wonders of architecture.

New features

 * Scenario Editor
 * The ability to create a new scenario from a saved game
 * Roller Coaster creator (sandbox mode)
 * Ride track manager
 * Ability to use the Shift key to change the elevation of rides, paths and scenery
 * Ability to use the Ctrl key to set an automatic height, making it easy to place several times a scenery item at the same height.
 * Automatic scenery removal during ride and path construction
 * Custom scenery and rides support.
 * General scenery removal function
 * Custom-made material support (rides, scenarii, parks, paths, scenery items)g

Release dates

 * North America: October 14, 2002
 * Europe: October 24, 2002
 * Australia: October 18, 2002

Transport rides

 * Miniature Railway
 * American Style Steam Trains
 * Steam Trains with Covered Cars
 * Steam Trains
 * Trams
 * Monorail
 * Streamlined Monorail Trains
 * Retro-style Monorail Trains
 * Small Monorail Cars
 * Suspended Monorail
 * Chairlift
 * Chairlift Cars
 * Ski-lift Chairs
 * Elevator
 * Monorail Cycles
 * River Rafts

Gentle rides

 * Car Ride
 * Dodgems (formerly known as Bumper Cars in RCT1 US release)
 * Haunted House
 * Ferris Wheel
 * Hedge Maze
 * Observation Tower
 * Spiral Slide
 * Space Rings

Roller coasters

 * Wooden Roller Coaster (includes elements of the Wooden Twister Roller Coaster from RCT1)
 * Wooden Roller Coaster Cars
 * Wooden Roller Coaster Cars - 6 Seater
 * Wooden Roller Coaster Cars - 6 Seater (Reversed)
 * Articulated Wooden Trains
 * Wild Mouse Roller Coaster
 * Junior Roller Coaster
 * Looping Roller Coaster (formerly Steel Roller Coaster in RCT1)
 * Roller Coaster Trains
 * Twister Roller Coaster
 * Twister Coaster Cars
 * Hyper-Twister Roller Coaster
 * Reverse Freefall Roller Coaster (formerly known as Reverse Whoa Belly Roller Coaster in RCT1 US release)
 * Compact Inverted Coaster
 * Inverted Roller Coaster
 * Inverted Coaster Cars
 * Corkscrew Roller Coaster
 * Corkscrew Coaster Cars
 * Side-Friction Roller Coaster
 * Giga Coaster
 * LIM Launched Roller Coaster
 * Air Powered Vertical Coaster
 * Floorless Roller Coaster
 * Bobsled Roller Coaster
 * Reverser Roller Coaster

Thrill rides

 * Twist (formerly Scrambled Eggs in RCT1 US release)
 * Swinging Ship
 * Swinging Inverter Ship
 * Go Karts
 * Motion Simulator
 * Launched Freefall (formerly Whoa Belly in RCT1 US release)
 * Roto-Drop
 * Enterprise
 * Top Spin (Formerly Gravitron in RCT1 US release)
 * 3D Cinema

Water rides

 * Dinghy Slide (formerly Water Slide in RCT1)
 * Log Flume
 * Splash Boats
 * Rowing Boats (formerly a vehicle type of Boat Hire in RCT1)
 * Jet Skis
 * Swans (formerly a vehicle type of Boat Hire in RCT1)
 * Water Tricycles (formerly a vehicle type of Boat Hire in RCT1)
 * Canoes (formerly a vehicle type of Boat Hire in RCT1)
 * Water Coaster (also classified as a roller coaster)
 * River Ride (also classified as a transport ride)

Shops & stalls

 * Beef Noodle Stall
 * Burger Bar
 * Candy/Toffee Apple Stand
 * Candyfloss / Cotton Candy Stall
 * Cash Machine
 * Cookie Stall
 * Coffee Stall
 * Drink Stall
 * Doughnut Stall
 * First Aid Room
 * Fried Chicken Stall
 * Fried Rice Noodles Stall
 * Fries Stall and Fries Shop
 * Funnel Cake Stall
 * Hat Stall
 * Hot Dog Stall
 * Hot Chocolate Stall
 * Ice Cream Stall
 * Ice Cream Cone Stall
 * Iced Tea Stall
 * Information Kiosk
 * Lemonade Stall
 * Meatball Soup Stall
 * Pizza Stall
 * Popcorn Stall
 * Pretzel stall
 * Restroom
 * Roast Sausage Stall
 * Sea Food Stall
 * Souvenir Stall
 * Soybean Milk Stall
 * Starfruit Juice Stall
 * Sub Sandwich Stall
 * Sunglasses Stall
 * Sujonkwa Stall
 * T-Shirt Stall
 * Wonton Soup Stall

Scenery list

 * Walls and Roofs
 * Classical/Roman Theming
 * Egyptian Theming
 * Giant Candy Theming
 * Giant Garden Theming
 * Mechanical Theming
 * Medieval Theming
 * Panda Theming
 * Pirate Theming
 * Six Flags Theming
 * Sports Theming
 * Water Feature Theming
 * Wild West Theming

Official

 * Wacky Worlds
 * Time Twister

User created

 * UCES
 * VJ's scenario pack

See Also: Amazing Earl

Criticism
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 has received criticism for not being a true 'sequel' to RollerCoaster Tycoon, and being more of an "RCT 1.5". This is due to the game using the same engine as the first one, although being massively upgraded. It made the two games very similar in both graphics and gameplay. For the critics, the only thing that truly changes is the greatly increased amount of rides and attractions, and massive scenery improvement thanks to the new features. Unlike the first game, the "scenario indexes concept" was scrapped, unlocking all the scenarios from the start. Although obviously due because of the new "Scenario Editor" feature, this reduced the feeling for players of actually being rewarded. The largest negative point arises with the lack of backward compatibility from RCT and its expansions in certain rides (e.g. the Steel Mini Coaster of RCT1 is incompatible with its RCT2 port, the Junior Coaster), which made long-time first-game players disappointed with the sequel.

The add-ons had different critics : Most players & reviewers were satisfied with the first addon, Wacky Worlds, but many were disappointed with the second add-on Time Twister as it felt incomplete, simply being new objects & scenarios thrown on a CD. The add-on theming & objects were also too numerous & massive to be imported in new parks, drastically reducing their use on the game and most often reducing their usage to the official scenarios on which they were used. They, therefore, never became vitally needed on the parks, making the addon discs nearly unnecessary : most custom & downloaded parks actually only require the addons for a couple rides & scenery objects...

System requirements

 * Operating System: Windows 98/Windows Me/2000/XP/Vista/7/8
 * Processor: Pentium® II 300 MHz or equivalent
 * Memory: 64 MB RAM
 * Hard Disk Space: 100 MB free
 * CD-ROM Drive: 4X or higher
 * Video: 4MB Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP-compatible video card^
 * Sound: Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP-compatible sound card^

^Indicates device should be compatible with DirectX® version 8.1 (included) or higher.