Coaster Crazy Deluxe Review
- Publisher: Frontier Developments Ltd
- Genre: Simulation
- Released: 21 Nov, 2013
- Size: 352.2 MB
- Price: $1.99
PROS
- Tweaking and testing your coaster is an enjoyable process.
- Loads of options available from the start, with continuous additions as you level up.
- Crazies are full of personality.
CONS
- Camera controls can cause frustration.
- A speedier fast-forward option would be welcome.
VERDICT
Despite its slightly fiddly camera, Coaster Crazy Deluxe successfully brings roller coaster creation to the App Store without the freemium baggage, offering hours of imaginative design.
- Full Review
- App Store Info
You'd expect the creators of Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 to be able to cook up a decent coaster-based game for the iPhone. Well, that's exactly what Frontier Developments accomplished last year with Coaster Crazy, a free-to-play rollercoaster creation game based around tailoring individual coasters to their patron's needs.
Now a year later, the free-to-play aspects have been removed, new challenges have been added, and two whole new areas have been bolted on. As a result, we thought we'd take another look at the game, now titled Coaster Crazy Deluxe, in its new premium format.
You start by choosing a country, and picking a site on which to build your first coaster. The first few rides you build will be partially complete as the game teaches you to use the camera, and how to craft the best coaster possible. As with most sim games, you navigate the menus and augment your coasters with a series of taps. To manipulate the camera, you need to use two fingers to pinch, zoom, and rotate, controls which don't work quite as smoothly as we'd like.
The ultimate goal is to build a ride that will satisfy the needs of the patrons so that you can open the ride to the public and passively collect income as you craft your next creation.
To complete a coaster, the crazies (which are the amusing little denizens of this world) must test drive your track. If your design leads to a crash or loss of momentum you can eject crazies, and go about fixing that part of the track. You only have a limited length of track to work with, and all the availability of utilities and extras (such as loops and corkscrews) are tied to your in-game cash flow. These financial barriers force you to think creatively to generate the thrills required to get the crazies to sign off on the ride. But, if you want to make the coaster of your dreams, there is a sandbox mode available.
It's difficult to imagine the same enjoyment and flow would have been present the free-to-play version. As it stands now, Coaster Crazy Deluxe is a great example of streamlining a sim to focus on a single mechanic. As such, it's an easy recommendation for thrill seekers and sim fanatics. Just remember to hold your iPhone high in the air when you're about to go over the edge of a drop.
Screenshots
$1.99
