Theme Park DS review

It's hard to comprehend the fact that the original Theme Park was released thirteen years ago. It seems like such a long time ago, but we remember slaving away on our theme park trying to make it the best in the world as if it was yesterday. Playing the DS version took us on a much loved trip down memory lane. Apart from a few technical and presentation differences this is very much a port of the original game. This maybe a bad thing for some people, but to us it just meant that EA Japan couldn't possibly mess it up.Starting up you're given the choice of three different difficulties. You have the standard sandbox which lets you build to your hearts content as long as you have the money and this is what we imagine most players will select as a straightforward introduction to the game. The two other difficulties are called Sim and Full, with these two you can do things you couldn't in sandbox mode, like negotiate wages, manage finances, and if you want to you can even unleash the businessman within buying and selling on the stock market. It does add some more depth to the game, but manages to take away all the simplicity the original Theme Park was known for.After a terribly slow tutorial that holds your hand all the way, you're given full control of your own theme park. De ja vu suddenly hits as you feel like you've been sucked back in time to the good old days. Rides are exactly the same with bouncy castles, the maze and snakes and ladders all returning, as well as various food and drink stands that series veterans will all find very familiar. Of course, having a good variety of attractions is key to getting the most visitors and profit; and you do have help making decisions thanks to your assistant. Your assistant (who you can choose at the start and is always viewable on the top screen) will give you general advice like suggesting to raise the ticket prices and advising you on what ride to build next. Some of the advice though is far from helpful. He or she will constantly tell you to build signposts showing where the exit is and by the end of it we had about fifteen set up (with only half of our park complete) and still our visitors were getting lost and wandering on our precious grass.This may be because of our old age, but in this latest version of the game everything seems to go at an astounding pace. Although the option is there to change the games speed, on the default settings it will be the end of the fiscal year before you know it, and even more annoyingly the rides seem to break down far more frequently than we remember. At its peak we had four rides shut down for repairs which is made even more irritating when we had to hire extra mechanics to get the job done. After all, we don't want the rides to explode, otherwise the spot that it occupied can no longer be built on tarnishing the look of your theme park.On the whole though, a few minor annoyances cannot lessen the quality of a game that has stood the test of time remarkably well. Graphically similar to the PC game it does have a few slight tweaks to make better use of the DS hardware and dual screen. The music does grate however after lengthy sessions, which is disappointing because at times you can find the game difficult to put down; probably the best compliment you can give to a game of this nature.Gamestyle does still love Theme Park just as much as when we first played it in 1994, it is still disappointing to see that EA Japan haven't added anything apart from having a little helper guide you through the game. Surely it wouldn't take to much development time to add a few new rides and attractions. Or maybe giving you better objectives instead of simply having to make as much money as possible. It is only a mild disappointment though because Theme Park is a refreshing trip down memory lane where for once we weren't looking through rose tinted glasses.