Theme Park

There is a thin tightrope the reviewer walks when scrutinising a port of a decade-old classic. How deep does he pick and scratch at that galvanised layer of nostalgia? Where does he draw the line between old school gameplay and outdated mechanics? And how does he weigh the needs of fans looking for a faithful restoration with those looking for an improved port? The DS incarnation of Theme Park, the PC title that birthed the management sim genre, hails any number of these questions. Yet, the easy truth may be that despite every clunky sprite and archaic bleep, Theme Park’s core gameplay is just as deep and addictive as it was thirteen years ago.

As a player might guess from the title, Theme Park DS is about constructing, managing and maintaining your own monument to corndogs and nausea. You will need to choose the rides, place walkways and queues, put up ice-cream parlours and burger stands, place trees and outhouses, hire mechanics and handymen, and balance every decision against available land and the bulge in your wallet – the genre fundamentals this game pioneered. You will start small with limited funds and a humble patch of pasture in the UK, your end goal to dominate the globe and make Walt Disney look like a chump.

Where Theme Park’s classic gameplay proves its timeliness is its intricate level of micromanagement. Beneath the haunted houses and rollercoasters lies a surprisingly complex eco-system which players must balance between happy visitors and healthy profits. Savvy managers will adjust the speed and capacity of their rides to increase excitement and efficiency; fine-tune the quantity of salt, sugar and caffeine at eateries to keep visitors peppy or hungry for more; and strategically place signposts and one-way paths to direct your patrons to the next over-priced gift store.

The ride doesn’t stop there; beyond building and tuning your theme park lies another layer of diverse gameplay. Players can buy and sell stocks as an alternative source of income (including shares in your own park). Stockpile resources in your warehouse, like coke and beer, so your stores never run low. View complex visitor stat tracking to improve your park. And, perhaps the most fun, put cash into research and development to unlock new rides and buildings. All of these features, with perhaps the exception of the tedious staff negotiations mini-game, add welcome layers of depth and variety to park management.

Theme Park’s conversion to the Nintendo DS is largely successful. The transition from mouse to stylus is as good as we have come to expect and makes placing paths and walkways simple. Menus and a live view of your park are displayed nicely on both screens (particularly handy since, just like the original, the action won’t pause when you’re knee-deep in menus). But other than these changes there are some niggles that should have been fixed in the upgrade. Visitor and staff AI can often border on ridiculously stupid, becoming stuck in doorways or circling uselessly, requiring players to perform ‘rescue missions’ that involve demolishing paths and dispersing entire queues. While these annoyances are not widespread, they’re improvements that are sadly omitted from this port.

It shouldn’t be surprising that after thirteen years Theme Park’s graphics bear the marks of age, particularly on Nintendo’s powerful little handheld. Visitors are simple sprites who arrive in little more than five colours, and park rides animate with little less than five frames. This isn’t a pretty game, but it’s workable and, for purists at least, reeks of old school charm. The sound however is less easy to defend. Background music consists of a repetitive array of giddy carnival beeps and bops, and sound effects are equally monotonous and often irritating.

Despite the wrinkles and creaky joints Theme Park’s place in history is sealed not simply by its genre-defining mechanics but core gameplay that’s still complex and satisfying even by today’s standards. While certain glitches could have been fixed and certain features expanded upon, at the end of the day DS owners hungering for an excellent management sim have finally been served.