The RollerCoaster Tycoon franchise is all but dead thanks to progressively worse sequels and mobile spinoffs, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still feel the (virtual) wind in your hair as you drop, zip, and spin along the tracks. Rollercoaster Dreams looks like it has the chance to be a true successor to RollerCoaster Tycoon, and it’s doing it all in PlayStation VR.
Described by developer Bimboosoft President Hirofumi Hattori as an “amusement park-management game,” it would be wrong to think of Rollercoaster Dreams as a top-down, “god” simulation like the Tycoon games. It certainly has those elements, and allows you to place concession stands, micromanage the loops and turns in your rides, and set prices, but the game’s PlayStation VR support is what makes it special. The first-person perspective is boosted by audio designed specifically for use with the headset, which Hattori says utilizes “differences in sound timing” to make the noise of rides change based on where you are in the virtual world.
Roller coasters aren’t new to the VR world, but the amount of detail you can see in Rollercoaster Dreams is what helps to set it apart. As you shoot toward the ground in the first roller coaster car, you can see the rides smoothly moving beneath you, and with the option to check out other players’ amusement parks, it should offer some gorgeous views. Plus, after each ride, you’ll have a chance to examine some very important data, including “number of damp seats,” “number of people who fainted,” and “number of people missing.” Wait, what?
You still have plenty of safer options on the ground. Classic park games like the “hoop shot” and darts can tempt you with the plush prizes you’ll never be able to win (I swear that basketball wasn’t regulation size), and you’ll even have the option to annoy the other virtual patrons by riding the bumper cars.
While the game is designed with PlayStation VR in mind, Rollercoaster Dreams is still fully playable on a standard PlayStation 4. The game arrives to both platforms October 13.
