The author reminisces about their childhood experience with the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, starting from SimCity 3000 to RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, and then to RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. They praise RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 for its simplicity, depth, and the sense of fulfillment it provides. The author appreciates the game's ability to cater to both casual and experienced players, with its open-ended gameplay and the possibility to create custom scenarios. They also highlight the game's community, which is still active and creative, and the open-source continuation of the game, OpenRCT2. The author concludes that RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a timeless classic that has aged well and continues to be enjoyable, and its simplicity and depth make it a lesson to the entire tycoon game genre.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The narrator's name is Slat.
2. Slat's first game was SimCity 3000, a city builder game released in 1999.
3. Slat bought SimCity 3000 at an elementary school Scholastic Book Fair.
4. Slat's favorite video game genre is city builder/tycoon games.
5. The next year, Slat bought RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 at the same book fair.
6. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 was released after SimCity 3000 and was similar in gameplay.
7. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 was a huge departure from the previous games, with a 3D world and new features.
8. RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 had a day and night cycle, guests came in groups and families, and a coaster cam feature.
9. The narrator played RollerCoaster Tycoon for a decade.
10. The narrator believes RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is the best in the series.
11. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 has a large community with tens of thousands of subscribers on its subreddit.
12. The community has created mods, including OpenRCT2, an open-source continuation of the game.
13. OpenRCT2 allows for multiplayer, modern resolutions, and customizable gameplay mechanics.
14. The narrator appreciates the simple things in RollerCoaster Tycoon 2, such as the sound effects and gameplay mechanics.
15. The narrator believes that RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a lesson to the entire genre that games don't have to be flashy or have amazing graphics to be good.