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Construct Your Coasters On The Go With RollerCoaster Tycoon For Switch
When you hear that a franchise is bringing a mobile version of a game to either PCs or consoles, it can be disheartening. That was certainly the case for me when they announced RollerCoaster Tycoon was coming to Switch, but it was adapted from the mobile edition. However, after seeing the game in action, I feel a bit more confident about what developer Nvizzio Creations is doing with the Switch version.
RollerCoaster Tycoon Switch lets you jump into the action with three different modes: Campaign, Scenarios, and Sandbox. Campaign gives you very little money with the goal of building up to a theme-park juggernaut. Scenarios often put you in the middle of difficult situations with an existing park and require you to dig yourself out of the mess. Sandbox lets you jump in and create with few limitations. In these modes, you can customize your rides, coasters, attractions, and shops with over 50 colors.
To fill your park, you have over 200 attractions to choose from, with seven different kinds of coasters to build out. You can also modify the land by placing rocks and other natural formations anywhere on the map, but I was a bit disappointed that each plot of land is the same flat, rectangular surface, and there's little in way of terraforming options. I was able to check out the trail customization and the different attractions, but the build I saw did not feature the game's coaster customization.
The simulation aspects are intact with this version of RollerCoaster Tycoon, with a streamlined park management system to allow for accessibility to a wide range of players. In addition, you can use the touchscreen when you're in handheld mode to make things even easier. Playing in handheld mode drops the resolution from 1080p to 720p, but it maintains a solid 30 frames-per-second.
RollerCoaster Tycoon is a great fit for Switch. Nvizzio Creations seems to be heading in the correct direction when it comes to building off of a mobile version to create a console experience; there are no microtransactions in this version. However, I still have a lot of questions regarding just how deep the customization goes with this version, so I'm eagerly waiting to learn more about this version. Hopefully the team is able to deliver the kind of RollerCoaster Tycoon experience fans crave on Switch when it launches this fall.
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