Sim Theme Park
Ages Everyone - but at least 10

For those of you who may have played the original Theme Park, this one is off the charts. The new 3D Sim Theme Park has four themes - Space Zone, Lost Kingdom, Land of Wonder and Halloween with hundreds of attractions. After creating the roller coaster by first laying down track, you then raise and lower pylons, create loops, and bank the tracks for an even more exciting ride. And since you can ride the ride - you can adjust every little part until it's perfect.

Of course it's not just all fun and games. There is a lot of maintenance work in running a theme park - fixing broken rides, cleaning up, keeping employees both busy and happy, attending to the research department - the resource of all your new rides. The bottom line is to please the visitors and make a nice profit. And of course the goal is not just to create a goodtheme park but to build a mind blowing, incredibly greattheme park.

OK - As Sim fans know, Sims aren't one night stands - they are a long time commitment. The game is more fun as you learn how to navigate and become familiar with the hot buttons and the pop-up panels - of which there are many. The manual is almost book size, and trust me - spend some time with it. There is a Training module which starts you out with a minimal pre-assembled park with some tasks done for you - like researching new rides. There is an Advisor throughout the game that alternates between being helpful and annoying. Navigation seems a little awkward when laying out rides that take lots of space - but that might disappear with more playing.

This is much more fun than skulking in dark corridors and shooting at things. Hey, maybe a shooting gallery?

Genevieve