Stern
RollerCoaster Tycoon Pinside Rating
This game received 159 approved Pinsider ratings and currently rates 7.201 /10
RollerCoaster Tycoon
Score breakdown
Score breakdown in the 4 main categories:
Game Design: 7.365
Artwork: 7.099
Sounds/Music: 6.485
Other Aspects: 7.394
Pinside staff rating
This is how we, the very knowledgeable (wink wink) Pinside.com staff & moderators rate this game. 3 of us have rated this game.
Found 84 ratings (with comment) on this game
There are 84 ratings (that include a comment) on this game.
Currently showing results page 3 of 4.
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8.944/10
10 years ago
Davenport, FL
To a small degree I can understand why some people give this pin such a hard time. It doesn't have a deep rule set. However, I think it depends on what you personally like. Sure, I would love to have a game or 3 in my collection with a deep rule set, but I think for what it is, Rollercoaster tycoon is a GREAT game and a massive bang for your buck.
This game succeeds in being fun, and that's it's intent. If you like satisfying ramps shots, then you'll get that feeling from this pin. Everyone who plays ours agrees that it has a great flow to it with the 3 main ramps all feeding nicely back to the flippers. That means that there's always a satisfying and productive ramp shot to shoot for in between other shots or to set up other shots. The incorporation of the theme is really great. All the ramps and habitrails really give you the feeling of rides. You hear a lot of oohs and ahhhs from first timers.
If you own it in your home, you're likely to get good enough to get to Park Tycoon on a regular basis. However, this is not a bad thing. The Wizard Mode in the game is AWESOME!! I never get tired of it, and it really makes you want to get to it every time you play. Then you'll want to get to it more than once per game.
RCT is the perfect example of how a pin doesn't have to have modes within modes within modes to be fun. It's fun. It's a crowd pleaser. Non-pinheads love it. Some people hate the Troll in the game, but we love it (even made a custom swim suit for him), and again, it's a crowd pleaser. If Stern made this game today, just as it is, this would be an LE model.
It's my first pin and no matter how big my collection might get in the future, I will never sell it. I'll keep it for the Multiball callout/animation alone!!!
This game succeeds in being fun, and that's it's intent. If you like satisfying ramps shots, then you'll get that feeling from this pin. Everyone who plays ours agrees that it has a great flow to it with the 3 main ramps all feeding nicely back to the flippers. That means that there's always a satisfying and productive ramp shot to shoot for in between other shots or to set up other shots. The incorporation of the theme is really great. All the ramps and habitrails really give you the feeling of rides. You hear a lot of oohs and ahhhs from first timers.
If you own it in your home, you're likely to get good enough to get to Park Tycoon on a regular basis. However, this is not a bad thing. The Wizard Mode in the game is AWESOME!! I never get tired of it, and it really makes you want to get to it every time you play. Then you'll want to get to it more than once per game.
RCT is the perfect example of how a pin doesn't have to have modes within modes within modes to be fun. It's fun. It's a crowd pleaser. Non-pinheads love it. Some people hate the Troll in the game, but we love it (even made a custom swim suit for him), and again, it's a crowd pleaser. If Stern made this game today, just as it is, this would be an LE model.
It's my first pin and no matter how big my collection might get in the future, I will never sell it. I'll keep it for the Multiball callout/animation alone!!!
7.340/10
10 years ago
Got a chance to play a much nicer-playing RCT recently, so I revised my rating. Can't say I hate this one anymore. Plays good, has good flow, and the flasher shows are quite nice.
1.973/10
10 years ago
Helsinki
Not that anyone tells me I've got it in for Stern. I play them as I can and I can't always play.
Well, the thing is a contract. And a contract has to be done. I guess. I don't know. You could also go to the bathroom for a long time.
The whole thing is half-assed and for 2002 I can't believe anyone playtested these things.
I mean you can't just make a table that is just plain worse than many things coming out of the ninties...
Also
Maybe my version had been less well maintained but I have not gotten worse responsive feeling from using the flipper button to the thing acutally doing something. It feels like the machine has been drinking and is just trying to hold on to the last bits of its non existant self esteem.
A garden troll twitiching about? Wow. How original.
And the voices...so embarrasing.
If this was for kids, the cabinet would be lower. Barely hovering above the ground.
So what's going on here?
The park visitors count is a good idea and adds tention but doesn't make any sense to me in how it's implemented. I can't really see anything anyways and many of the materials are so unrefined and undworked on. Just this slab of metal here and there not even polished, I hate when you can see that the mechanics are unrefined in the way they are implimented but just there.
The whole thing feels like I am playing some kind of skeleton.
Or something that just wants to die but can't.
(By the way, I played it in an amusment park, and the people probobly got it because of the subject matter. How sad)
Not fun.
It's chaos but nothing is happening. How can that be? Worst of the worst.
Well, the thing is a contract. And a contract has to be done. I guess. I don't know. You could also go to the bathroom for a long time.
The whole thing is half-assed and for 2002 I can't believe anyone playtested these things.
I mean you can't just make a table that is just plain worse than many things coming out of the ninties...
Also
Maybe my version had been less well maintained but I have not gotten worse responsive feeling from using the flipper button to the thing acutally doing something. It feels like the machine has been drinking and is just trying to hold on to the last bits of its non existant self esteem.
A garden troll twitiching about? Wow. How original.
And the voices...so embarrasing.
If this was for kids, the cabinet would be lower. Barely hovering above the ground.
So what's going on here?
The park visitors count is a good idea and adds tention but doesn't make any sense to me in how it's implemented. I can't really see anything anyways and many of the materials are so unrefined and undworked on. Just this slab of metal here and there not even polished, I hate when you can see that the mechanics are unrefined in the way they are implimented but just there.
The whole thing feels like I am playing some kind of skeleton.
Or something that just wants to die but can't.
(By the way, I played it in an amusment park, and the people probobly got it because of the subject matter. How sad)
Not fun.
It's chaos but nothing is happening. How can that be? Worst of the worst.
Woolloongabba
6.575/10
11 years ago
An ok game, cant really go wrong playing any pin in the end. That being said, the game just lacked that "wow factor" in alot of ways imho. Sounds got repetative, art was ok, not great, and just didnt hold my attention.
8.320/10
11 years ago
Pretty good; one of Stern's better games; lots of ramps; great flow; fun game with great artwork; I'd rate it a top five Stern table.
Paris
4.104/10
11 years ago
Strange table. very closterphobic, and lots of ugly design choices. Feels like someone dumped their kids toy box into the cabinet. Tons of colors, tons of ramps, a troll doll? everything is a different color from everything else, and its very confusing. I played it a dozen times at a local bowling alley, and had fun flipping the ball around, but not a clear idea of what the rules were. Also I don't know if the cabinet is always that dark inside or if the owners needed to replace a light.
5.332/10
11 years ago
Played this one recently and found it surprisingly fun. I like the shots and the sounds of the rollercoasters but the voice is annoying. Seems like it would be too easy for home use and the rules were just OK. If I see it somewhere I will play it again.
6.912/10
11 years ago
Paisley
I was very pleasantly surprised by this table. I know Pat Lawler does excellent work, but this machine seems to be on a few black lists.
It needs a lot more sounds and music, but the rules are solid if unspectacular but the playfield layout and ideas are brilliant and add a lot of fun to the play.
I am very pleased to have this table and do not regret buying it all.
It needs a lot more sounds and music, but the rules are solid if unspectacular but the playfield layout and ideas are brilliant and add a lot of fun to the play.
I am very pleased to have this table and do not regret buying it all.
4.777/10
11 years ago
I really do not like this game at all. The concept of a roller coaster themed game seems great, and there are some good ones out there, but this game simply cannot hold my attention. A place near me had one for years, and I wasn't even that sad when they got rid of it and replaced it with nothing!
The game is pretty easy, so combined with the theme, it might be a good choice if you have kids. But I just do not find it engaging at all. I also find the sound extremely irritating.
The game is pretty easy, so combined with the theme, it might be a good choice if you have kids. But I just do not find it engaging at all. I also find the sound extremely irritating.
8.003/10
12 years ago
Underrated game well suited for family play. The game is lacking expensive toys, but the colored rails nicely engage the player in a roller coaster theme. Not deep, and reasonably easy, the game will not be well received by hardcore enthusiasts who value a more popular theme, more toys, and deeper game play. This is a fun game designed by one of the best in the business, to do a lot inexpensively and with low maintenance.
6.245/10
12 years ago
Roller Coaster Tycoon seemed to be an excellent game the first few times I played it. The game suffers from repetitiveness of shots and fairly uneventful multiballs. I am also not a big fan of the audio work and much of it is kind of annoying. This is a great game for kids to learn to play pinball on, but the theme does not translate well to an adult audience.
2.034/10
12 years ago
Litvinov
I really hate this game... the artwork, the sounds and the gameplay are all bad... but to be fair, my knowledge of the gameplay os a bit limited because I can't stand to play it enough to be able to really become one with the gameplay, even though I had one set up in my house for a while...
8.754/10
12 years ago
Played this machine for the first time tonight and I ended up playing it for 2 1/2 hours. I think the flow of the machine is great. Rules are easy to follow and objectives are clear and well balanced. The sounds are great and lets everyone around you know when you are doing good. I think it would be a great pinball to add to ones collection. The ramps and wire tracks are great. Only thing that bothered me was the troll in the dunk tank. Couldn't of put a clown or something better themed in there?
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