This game made me nauseous... literally. This is a positive testament to the high quality of the graphics and sounds of this game since I suffer from motion sickness. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, like its predecessors, is a simulation game in which players create and maintain the perfect amusement park. In order to attain park perfection in the various scenarios provided, gamers are supplied with an initial loan funding their pursuit. Pre-built rides, food and souvenir stands, and landscape scenery are among the tools and items gamers can purchase to use to please their paying patrons known as "peeps". Whether you enjoy watching peeps screaming for joy on a coaster or watching them spend every last dime in their pockets, you will still need them and their dough to attain park nirvana. Also, gamers can become visitors in their very own amusement park, as RCT3 now provides a camera that allows players to experience each and every ride from a first person perspective.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 features various editing tools with which gamers can use in the goal-oriented Career mode (in which players can strive to be apprentices, entrepreneurs, or tycoons) or the creative design-oriented Sandbox mode. For example, there is the peep designer in which players can customize the patrons and their parties visiting the park, and their ride preferences. In another section, the building editor, one can design different structures, which can be used to decorate the park. In the scenario editor, gamers can define their own goals for running a successful park.

And perhaps the best part of the RCT world is the coaster designer. With this tool, gamers can build the roller coaster of their dreams or their nightmares. Gamers first pick which style to build from the 22 types of roller coasters, from wooden coasters to floorless coasters to vertical drop (to name a few), they would like to create. After making their selection, players are limited only by their imaginations and supposed physics. With a simple click of the mouse, players can add or subtract to the track of their coaster. Want a barrel loop going left? No problem! *Click* How about a vertical decline? Why not two? Want to put in a camera to take pictures of screaming peeps so you can charge them an arm and a leg for it later? No prob!

While arguably the roller coaster editor is the most fun of all the tools, it can also be perhaps the most frustrating when battling with RCT's concept of physics and lack of explanation. As I merrily made my own worst nightmare of a coaster, I was pleased to see an "auto complete" button, which would leave finishing my coaster creation up to the computer. Unfortunately, as wonderful a tool as this may sound, it does not always work; looking at the odd turns of my coaster, I realized it would be next to impossible to complete the circuit. However, instead of giving me suggestions as to how to fix the rest of the track so a connection would be possible, the auto complete simply timed out with no words of encouragement. I was also pleased to see I could simulate trains of the coasters, and witness whether my masterpiece would actually work. However, as I sadly watched the cars of the train chug their way up the very first hill of my monstrosity and roll backwards to the starting gate, no advice was given as to how to fix my coaster so it could become a reality. I felt like a deflated balloon.

Another frustrating aspect of the game involved the lack of feedback given to me regarding my amusement park. While I could read individual peeps' thoughts about the rides and food stands, I received no feedback as to why no one was on line for the Heartline roller coaster, even though many peeps supposedly loved the extremity of the ride. While the tutorials adequately described how to use the tools of the game, players usually are left to their own devices to figure out how to make the park work and be profitable. Also, some glitches I discovered while gaming flawed my experience quite a bit. For instance, as I adjusted the terrain around a land plot I was going to use for a ride, I was dismayed to learn that I disrupted one of the nearby paths, stranding some peeps to the point of starvation because they could not adapt to the slight difference in height between the square on which they stood and the next one. It took me a while to figure out which terrain tool to use to rescue them. In addition, some of the goals in the Career Mode scenarios were not explained during the tutorial. VIP guests, for example, have certain requests (or demands) that must be met in order to meet a goal. Some demands are easy ("Clint Bushton wants to ride a roller coaster with a excitement rating of at least 6.00"), while others, such as Cami O has a low litter tolerance, need further elaboration. I could also not figure out why Cami was not impressed by my clean park (was she upset because too many peeps wanted her autograph?) or why Clint Bushton was leaving the park before riding a coaster I built to impress him. The VIPs were another system that I had to learn by trial and error.

Overall, Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 was incredible and impressive, perhaps closer to the ideal sequel fans wanted. The colors, graphics, and sounds were fantastic, as I could clearly see and hear every obnoxious seagull who feasted on park trash and be grossed out every time I heard and saw someone threw up after a ride right onto the walking path. The detail with which these parks are depicted are amazing, as you can hear the hissing of smoke as a ride breaks down or see the sunlight change as you ride Top Spin. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 is a wonderful game with a few flaws that might mar the landscape or your amusement park, but not destroy it.