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IGN Review of Theme Park
It's hard to win in a sim. A genre marked by open-endedness, simulation is a category of gaming where goals are often unemphasized or ignored. There just isn't a finish line to cross – and that's a big part of the appeal. When the DS system was first revealed, gamers bred on mice and keyboards quickly saw the potential for the touch screen. Using the stylus to trace and tap around a map would be a perfect substitute for mouse and cursor, if the right game came along to take advantage of that potential. And Theme Park has arrived. Though in no way perfect, and showing its age in several areas, Theme Park is a classic point and click sim experience that holds up well in portable form. It uses the touch control and double screen set-up of the DS in a natural way, making it easy to get involved in the game. And getting involved is what sims are all about – they're definitely not about winning.
That's not to say that Theme Park has no end goal to aspire to. It does. But the fun of the game is not in seeing your profits climb to the final level needed for your park to be declared a success, it's in the creation and management that get you there. In Theme Park, you're an aspiring amusement park developer. You've been given an empty plot of land, a fistful of cash and a dream – to build the greatest showcase of rides, restaurants and attractions this side of Disney World. It's a lofty pursuit. Luckily, you're not alone.
The game begins with an in-depth tutorial, hosted by one of four advisors. These cartoon characters are here to help, explaining the basics to you at the start and then transitioning into a voice of gentle commentary throughout the rest of the game. Computer-controlled business partners can be overbearing in sim games. Here, they hit the right balance.
Your chosen associate will teach you how to lay down paths, install rides, hire staff and performers and more. With the basics under your belt, you're given free rein to design your park as you wish. It's satisfying, simple and fun to manage the placement and maintenance of rides and eateries for your visitors. But that's just scratching the surface.
There are added layers of depth to explore in Theme Park, and once you're comfortable with the building and maintenance aspects of amusement park design, you can dive deeper into the meat of micromanagement. You can adjust the rate of speed at which a ride operates. You can tweak each individual staff member's salary down to the dollar. You can even alter the level of fat content contained in your ice cream shop's servings of frozen yogurt. Theme Park lets you live in the minutiae.
And at its most advanced, you'll be able to play the stock market to capitalize on or compensate for the rising and lowering profit margins of your park. Theme Park looks simple on the surface, but there's hours worth of exploring to do in the most minor of menus.
It's no strain on the eyes to navigate them, as the menu system implemented here is clean, easy and functional. Quick taps on bottom screen buttons allow you fast access to any information you may want or need, and the upper and lower screens swap positions as needed – most of the time one displays an overall map of your park, while the other is your zoomed-in view. The touch control isn't implemented perfectly, though. You'll find a lack of precision in the recognition of your screen taps on occasion, especially when trying to tap on small, specific employees running through your fair.
A bit disappointing, too, is the graphical representation of your park's elements – the sprites and models seem to be plucked from the past and re-presented without much alteration or upgrade. There's no way to rotate or shift your camera position to see behind the larger rides and restaurants, and no way to alter the direction they face.
Theme Park offers an attempt at multiplayer play, but it's unlikely you'd have much use for it, or even an occasion to try it out. It's really just profile sharing with other people who own other copies of Theme Park. You can let them know your name, your gender, and your blood type. I'm now officially disturbed by the inclusion of that feature – because it's not the first time a DS game has asked me whether I'm A, B, or O positive. Is there some DS-playing vampiric subculture out there, stalking through the night? I'm going to start wearing turtlenecks.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
That's not to say that Theme Park has no end goal to aspire to. It does. But the fun of the game is not in seeing your profits climb to the final level needed for your park to be declared a success, it's in the creation and management that get you there. In Theme Park, you're an aspiring amusement park developer. You've been given an empty plot of land, a fistful of cash and a dream – to build the greatest showcase of rides, restaurants and attractions this side of Disney World. It's a lofty pursuit. Luckily, you're not alone.
The game begins with an in-depth tutorial, hosted by one of four advisors. These cartoon characters are here to help, explaining the basics to you at the start and then transitioning into a voice of gentle commentary throughout the rest of the game. Computer-controlled business partners can be overbearing in sim games. Here, they hit the right balance.
Your chosen associate will teach you how to lay down paths, install rides, hire staff and performers and more. With the basics under your belt, you're given free rein to design your park as you wish. It's satisfying, simple and fun to manage the placement and maintenance of rides and eateries for your visitors. But that's just scratching the surface.
There are added layers of depth to explore in Theme Park, and once you're comfortable with the building and maintenance aspects of amusement park design, you can dive deeper into the meat of micromanagement. You can adjust the rate of speed at which a ride operates. You can tweak each individual staff member's salary down to the dollar. You can even alter the level of fat content contained in your ice cream shop's servings of frozen yogurt. Theme Park lets you live in the minutiae.
And at its most advanced, you'll be able to play the stock market to capitalize on or compensate for the rising and lowering profit margins of your park. Theme Park looks simple on the surface, but there's hours worth of exploring to do in the most minor of menus.
It's no strain on the eyes to navigate them, as the menu system implemented here is clean, easy and functional. Quick taps on bottom screen buttons allow you fast access to any information you may want or need, and the upper and lower screens swap positions as needed – most of the time one displays an overall map of your park, while the other is your zoomed-in view. The touch control isn't implemented perfectly, though. You'll find a lack of precision in the recognition of your screen taps on occasion, especially when trying to tap on small, specific employees running through your fair.
A bit disappointing, too, is the graphical representation of your park's elements – the sprites and models seem to be plucked from the past and re-presented without much alteration or upgrade. There's no way to rotate or shift your camera position to see behind the larger rides and restaurants, and no way to alter the direction they face.
Theme Park offers an attempt at multiplayer play, but it's unlikely you'd have much use for it, or even an occasion to try it out. It's really just profile sharing with other people who own other copies of Theme Park. You can let them know your name, your gender, and your blood type. I'm now officially disturbed by the inclusion of that feature – because it's not the first time a DS game has asked me whether I'm A, B, or O positive. Is there some DS-playing vampiric subculture out there, stalking through the night? I'm going to start wearing turtlenecks.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved