Thrillville Reviews

Pro Reviews

Average Review Score: 6.9

Thrillville Reviews

Thrillville Previews

"The roller coaster's grandest asset, along with the potential of nausea and/or death, is the rush it gives. Thrillville's aim is honorable, as it wants to bring the breakneck speed, sidewinding turns, and rising tension of climbing toward a coaster's highest point to your console. But the execution of that aim proves impossible. When it comes down to it, sitting on your couch and watching a roller coaster is good for a stomachache, not thrills. Still, LucasArts' latest kidcentric game should be commended for its ambition. It's basically a mash-up of The Sims, Mario Party and RollerCoaster Tycoon. The story revolves around a nutty uncle handing over his theme park to a know-nothing family member. That member, controlled by you, has to learn on the fly how to run the entire business. That means handling customers, managing a staff, building new rides, fixing broken-down ones...the whole shebang. While this would be overwhelming to any kid (or adult for that matter), the game presents these duties in such a way that they're completely overwhelming. To offset the amount of stuff that's going on, you're immediately led through a set of tutorials that tell you tons of things you need to know before you need to know them. By the time you figure out how to hire staff you'll be craving a nap. The tutorials are a discarded paper cup in the scheme of the theme park, but they're emblematic of bigger problems, like how the game is delivered to the user. It's simply not organic or sensible. Freedom's a wonderful thing, but there's too much of it here. Once you finally earn your bearings, you'll get the distinct feeling that you're not doing enough to keep the park running optimally. It's overwhelming. And when people get overwhelmed, it's a good practice to relax."

1UP »

"The roller coaster's grandest asset, along with the potential of nausea and/or death, is the rush it gives. Thrillville's aim is honorable, as it wants to bring the breakneck speed, sidewinding turns, and rising tension of climbing toward a coaster's highest point to your console. But the execution of that aim proves impossible. When it comes down to it, sitting on your couch and watching a roller coaster is good for a stomachache, not thrills. Still, LucasArts' latest kidcentric game should be commended for its ambition. It's basically a mash-up of The Sims, Mario Party and RollerCoaster Tycoon. The story revolves around a nutty uncle handing over his theme park to a know-nothing family member. That member, controlled by you, has to learn on the fly how to run the entire business. That means handling customers, managing a staff, building new rides, fixing broken-down ones...the whole shebang. While this would be overwhelming to any kid (or adult for that matter), the game presents these duties in such a way that they're completely overwhelming. To offset the amount of stuff that's going on, you're immediately led through a set of tutorials that tell you tons of things you need to know before you need to know them. By the time you figure out how to hire staff you'll be craving a nap. The tutorials are a discarded paper cup in the scheme of the theme park, but they're emblematic of bigger problems, like how the game is delivered to the user. It's simply not organic or sensible. Freedom's a wonderful thing, but there's too much of it here. Once you finally earn your bearings, you'll get the distinct feeling that you're not doing enough to keep the park running optimally. It's overwhelming. And when people get overwhelmed, it's a good practice to relax."

1UP »

"The roller coaster's grandest asset, along with the potential of nausea and/or death, is the rush it gives. Thrillville's aim is honorable, as it wants to bring the breakneck speed, sidewinding turns, and rising tension of climbing toward a coaster's highest point to your console. But the execution of that aim proves impossible. When it comes down to it, sitting on your couch and watching a roller coaster is good for a stomachache, not thrills. Still, LucasArts' latest kidcentric game should be commended for its ambition. It's basically a mash-up of The Sims, Mario Party and RollerCoaster Tycoon. The story revolves around a nutty uncle handing over his theme park to a know-nothing family member. That member, controlled by you, has to learn on the fly how to run the entire business. That means handling customers, managing a staff, building new rides, fixing broken-down ones...the whole shebang. While this would be overwhelming to any kid (or adult for that matter), the game presents these duties in such a way that they're completely overwhelming. To offset the amount of stuff that's going on, you're immediately led through a set of tutorials that tell you tons of things you need to know before you need to know them. By the time you figure out how to hire staff you'll be craving a nap. The tutorials are a discarded paper cup in the scheme of the theme park, but they're emblematic of bigger problems, like how the game is delivered to the user. It's simply not organic or sensible. Freedom's a wonderful thing, but there's too much of it here. Once you finally earn your bearings, you'll get the distinct feeling that you're not doing enough to keep the park running optimally. It's overwhelming. And when people get overwhelmed, it's a good practice to relax."

1UP »

"Ever wanted to make your own amusement park? Yeah, neither have we. One only has to imagine all of the red tape, legalese, investment concerns, zoning issues, contract disputes, liability claims, piles of vomit everywhere... you might be dead before you get around to designing your first ..."

Games Radar »

"There's really only one problem with monster-selling games like Rollercoaster Tycoon and Theme Park: they're no fun. Somehow, these micro-management games found a way to strip all the amusement out of amusement parks. Can Thrillville change it all? The simpler setup feels like a good start: You're the young relative of a theme park tycoon and he's thrilled that you're coming on board to help him run the place (and stop Globo-Joy from taking it over). You've got carte blanche to improve ..."

Games Radar »