First two RollerCoaster Tycoon games arrive on Android, iOS

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, a blend of the classic Windows PC game and its sequel, is now available for $5.99 on Android and iOS, publisher Atari announced today.

The game isn’t a bundle of those two games; it’s one product that combines features from 1999’s RollerCoaster Tycoon and 2002’s RollerCoaster Tycoon 2. That means you can play scenarios from the original game with improvements from the sequel, such as the ability to place rides and other attractions at heights above and below ground.

Chris Sawyer — the original developer of both games — served as a producer on RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, which was made by London-based Origin8 Technologies.

“As the creator of the original RollerCoaster Tycoon PC games many years ago, I have seen how much excitement and entertainment they have brought to players all over the world,” said Sawyer in a news release. “It was my long term ambition to bring the classic game to modern touch screen devices as its visual style and tactile nature are so well suited to smartphones and tablets.” While RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic retains the isometric view and old-school graphics of the original games, Origin8 modernized the gameplay and controls for mobile devices.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic does offer in-app purchases, but none of them seem nefarious. The base game includes 95 scenarios from RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2; players can obtain more by spending $1.99 each on the add-ons Wacky Worlds (17 scenarios) and Time Twister (14 scenarios), which were originally released in 2003 as expansions to RollerCoaster Tycoon 2.

The other microtransaction is the Toolkit, which costs $5.99. That addition greatly expands the capabilities of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, bringing the mobile game in line with the feature set of its PC predecessors. It lets players create their own scenarios, as well as design coasters and save them for use in other scenarios. The Toolkit also allows for sharing park designs with other players, and even includes the ability to import save files from the original RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 on PC for “most saved parks and scenarios.” Time to dig up that old 40 GB hard drive!

For more on RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, check out the game on the App Store and Google Play.