Licensed To Thrill

By Will Barker

Everyone loves theme parks. Even Scientologists and Gnostics. I mean, what's not to like? There's junk food, fizzy drinks, badgers, gravity pulsing rides, feral cats, and an atmosphere of pure jubilation.

Even the people who are desperately trying to hold the vomit in their mouths, who proceed to blow chunks everywhere just after they get off the ride, they love theme parks too.

They are a beacon of adventure for all age groups and I'll be 87% honest with you right here; I was quite excited about reviewing Thrillville: Off the Rails.

Ever since the original theme park computer game, aptly named Theme Park, came out on the PC back in 1994 I've loved these kinds of games. Bullfrog did a great job back then.

Then Rollercoaster Tycoon came along in 1999 and went on to become one of the world's best selling games.

And now we have Thrillville: Off The Rails.

The best way to describe it would be a 'lite' version of the abovementioned games. You can build a theme park, with hot dog stands, toilets, all the coolest rides and attractions and of course puke-inducing rollercoasters (there is even a nausea rating!). 

You can dictate the price of entry, the price of food and rides, and also tweak a number of other settings, but it's all been designed to be far more approachable than the other games in the genre.

It has a somewhat childish theme, and isn't as complex nor has the micro management of Rollercoaster Tycoon or Theme Park, but considering this is a console game it works well.

There are a number of different modes you can choose from the main menu, including:

New Game: the main campaign mode.
Party Play: 34 minigames, up to 4-players.
Coaster Builder: pure rollercoasting.
Online: 34 minigames online.
Load Game: space-time portal
Options: time-space rift with mayo

The meat of the game is found in the 'New Game' campaign mode which allows you to create a basic character, your avatar, who can then walk around the park, build stuff, manage the park and interact with patrons.

Being able to chat to the customers in your adventure park is a clever feature and adds another element of interaction to the game.

Talking to people lets you know what they like and dislike about your park (needs more/less coasters, more/less food etc) and you can even win them over and make them your friends if you're persistent. 

All visitors have 'needs' that you can discover by talking to them and some of them even help further the plot, often affecting the storyline.

Some of your customers like a clean park (hire more janitors), some like to stuff their faces with carcinogenic junk food (buy more food shops), and some are easily pleased and will even put up with overflowing toilets. Gravy!

Better yet, you can challenge your customers to compete with you on the 30 or so minigames on offer, which is great if like me you don't have an abundance of real friends. Yeah, I'm talking about you Rex, you leech-like filth peddler.

As well as being able to walk around your very own theme park and talk to people there is of course the task of building up your park to be the best ever, and there is a plot too. Something about an evil corporation called Globo Joy trying to put your park out of business.

Your job as park owner and operator is aided by a crazed scientist, Uncle Mortimer, who is well-meaning but somewhat dubious. It's never explained where his R&D grants come from, nor who styles his outrageous hair do. 

Nevertheless, he is a handy bloke to have around as he ensures that you'll never have any messy litigation arising from injuries sustained at your park by developing interesting ways to save the lives of wayward rollercoaster riders.

The control scheme during the main game is very straightforward, to the point where this game can be played by very young gamers. There was a reference in the press released to the phrase 'family-friendly' and I think it holds true.

At the same token, there's enough variety and unlockable rides and new rollercoaster pieces to keep older gamers from getting too bored.

There's also a number of tutorials which do a thorough (read: incredibly slow) job of teaching gamers of all ages how to build all sorts of attractions, rides, shops and other things in your park.

The aim of the single player game is to increase your 'Thrills', which you get from building new stuff, playing minigames, and completing missions, which will then lead to promotions.

Missions provide the campaign game with structure and without them would become a bit aimless. You can be tasked with simple things like building a certain type of rollercoaster, to beating a certain customer in a certain minigame, but there's also some challenges in there.

Your arch-rival, the Globo Joy corporation, will do things like bribing magazine critics to pooh-pooh your rides so you have to build something ultra-daring.

Now, the rollercoasters are often the best bit of these sorts of games, and to a point this idea holds true in Thrillville: Off The Rails. 

Building rollercoasters, designing the track layout, and adding literally hundreds of stomach churning extras, like the loop-de-loops (it's a French word), terrifying jumps, flips, flaming hoops, sudden drops, and so forth is a lot of fun, and you can make some outrageous designs as a result.

As well as a range of different types of rollercoaster, from the bobsled type, to the traditional carriage, to car-like hot rods (referred to as WHOA Coasters) and of course the cool coasters than hang upside-down from an overhead rail, there is enough scope to make your custom 'coasters absolutely huge, with an impressively high 'ceiling' that allows you to build extremely high and max out the speed of your designs.

The bit that I was really hanging out for was getting to ride my rollercoaster once I'd created it. For the most part it's pretty cool and the sensation of speed is very good, but there are better rollercoaster simulators out there. 

If I was to be picky, I'd say it doesn't do enough to immerse you in the moment - it's too rigid and there's not enough bumps and vibrations like in a real 'coaster. All things considered it does a good job, and if you've never messed around with a 3D rollercoaster simulator you should find this one pretty spiffy.

The graphics are pretty good on most of the consoles this game has been made for (Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii + DS, PSP, PC), but are almost inconsequential when referenced against what you can achieve in the game. This game could easily work on a Sega Saturn or Sony PSX - it's more about the gameplay than the eye candy.

As well as the rollercoasters, the toilets, and the fast food outlets - and assuming you have a positive cash flow - you can populate your park with one of the 34 minigames on offer (20 of them from the first Thrillville game). These range from Tank Frenzy, a Cannon-fodder-like Amiga-inspired arcade game with a top down view, lots of power ups with simple mindless button mashing fun, to Bandito Chinchilla, a strangely stylised platformer that takes a leaf from the Ren & Stimpy book of design.

After playing through a few different parks, I found myself increasingly coming back to Thrillville: Off The Rails for the minigames, bypassing the main game and just hitting up the Party Play mode with some pay-pals. Most games can be played with up to four players at once, both co-op and battle which is just awesome on games like Stunt Rider and Event Horizon. I love lists, so here's my five faves:

• Stunt Rider: The best minigame in the world. It's a simple side-scrolling bike game not unlike the classic BMX event from California Games (circa 1987). The slow-mo physics allow you to perform double back flips on your stunt cycle and the two-player battle mode is equal parts brilliant and frustrating.

• Tank Frenzy: As mentioned, this is a Cannon-fodder wannabe. Like almost all the minigames in Thrillville, it's 2D, viewed from above, and involves lots of button mashing and cartoony explosions.

• Robo K.O.: This is simple-but-satisfying robot boxing, and often results in real-world blood shed.

• Event Horizon 2: Think R-Type. Side-scrolling shoot-em-up where you can pick from four different ships that come with upgradeable weapons. Surprisingly playable this one, especially with two or more players.

• Mini Golf: The classic game of putt. Far from the best mini golf computer game but always fun against friends.

There's also a number of car racing games included but these are based on the rollercoaster physics engine and as such your vehicles generally respond a very unrealistic manner. Didn't like them as much, but there are so many minigames on here that you could literally play this game for weeks without even trying out the main single player game.

At the end of a long hard slog with this game, I was quite surprised with how much fun I had. In many cases these 'family-friendly' games give me the irits but this one is different. Apart from the galling 'Thrillville theme song' there's a lot to like here. 

With an engaging single-player aspect, deep rollercoaster customisation, and a sensational selection of multiplayer minigames, Thrillville: Off The Rails turns out to be one of the most enjoyable titles that you can play with ultra noobs and young kids.

Unlike the woozy kid who tries to hold the vomit in his mouth after having ridden the hard core rollercoaster, staggering around in a daze laughing chunks of puke out his nose, this game doesn't blow chunks. It's one of the few theme park games out there that's accessible to everyone. Final words: big fun.

Game: Thrillville: Off The Rails
System: PS2
Players: 1-multi
Online: Yes
Developer: Activision
Distributor: LucasArts

Rating: 87%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)