The roller coaster tycoon series has achieved near perfec- tion with the third title from Frontier Development. The new 3D engine in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 allows for a lot of improvement including easier construction. New features like VIPs and sandbox mode also help make the game more exciting.

Creating a theme park that serves and entertains all its guests is the overall idea. The setting of the game, with roller coasters and bright colours look fantastic. The sheer number of visitors is most impressive. Thousands of those little figures run around in groups, having fun. The variety of colourful clothes they sport makes the park look vibrant.

Without changing the construction process, the addition of a 3D camera makes building the coasters much easier. For those who aren?t familiar with the series, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 includes an extensive tutorial library.

The series hasn?t just undergone a facelift in-game, but it also runs throughout the entire menu system and interface. It adopts a much slicker system that has a nice look about it, with small buttons on the left side of the screen that eventually open up windows. The peep designer allows players to create their own special families or groups inside the game. The tool sets also include a building designer and coaster designer.

Both these features drop you into a flat environment with unlimited money for building any kind of coaster or scenery. These constructions can then be saved for later use.

Some of the park management has been made easier, including setting paths for park-staff. Another good feature is the ghost coaster cars. You can test a coaster out while you are at it, to make sure that what you?ve built so far works. VIP visitors of your park are also a new and enjoyable feature as you have to keep track of both them and their demands.

The last big innovative addition, something everyone will enjoy, are the fireworks. It?s easy to create an interesting and fun fireworks show that people will love. You can place fireworks anywhere around the park and tie each of them to a mixing programme so that you can time a show to the beat of music.

However, there are some small problems with RollerCoaster Tycoon 3. For instance, none of your rides have any people in line, and you have no idea why. But when it comes to the creative aspect of the game, it?s almost flawless. You can play this ultra addictive game for hours at a stretch and still yearn for more.

Minimum system requirements: Operating System: Windows 98/2000/ME/XP; Processor: 1000 MHz or higher; RAM: 128 MB, 256 MB for Windows XP; free hard disk space: 800 MB or higher; modem: 56 KB or higher (multiplayer), video card: ATI Radeon? 8500 or GeForce? 3 or higher.