The originalPlanet Coasterwas the experience that gamers and coaster enthusiasts alike had been waiting for. With a mixture of bothRollerCoaster Tycoonride creation andCity Skylinespark infrastructure and management, there were elements that an entire spectrum of people could get behind.
Yet, given how much time and effort went into the original, both in terms ofcontent drops and DLC, an entire sequel was a hard sell for many fans.To one-up the original in every way, a sequel must meaningfully add elements for ride creation, management, and theming.
The truth, as usual, isn’t always black and white; while some aspects are a clear upgrade, others have clearly regressed in quality.So, while some may be pleased with this sequel, others may view it as just an expensive upgrade to the original.
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As a massive enjoyer of the originalPlanet Coaster, I found many reasons to pick up this sequel. I enjoyedPlanet Coaster 2to keep bringing me back for the same reasons, but the entire time, a few missing aspects made me long for the original, and I wish we got more of a full package.
While Planet Coaster 2 is a solid buy for those who loverollercoastergames and the original, it is less of a bargain if you’re new or on the fence about giving it a go.
The New Aquatic Frontier
The three main facets of ride creation inPlanet Coaster 2are coasters, dark rides, and the new addition, water parks.Flat ridesdon’t totally count because you’re just placing a pre-constructed ride into your park, and the changes to the other two will be covered later on in this review.
Water parks, as the main new addition toPlanet Coaster 2, became a massive part of the puzzle of why someone may or may not prefer this sequel over the original. If you’re interacting with the sandbox mode, which I assume at least 95% of your playtime will be, you’ll always have the option to build a water park.
This new option includes changing rooms, separate water admission tickets, and a suite ofslides and poolsyou can build.Yet, being a sandbox game, all of this is entirely optional for your park.
You don’t have to create any slides or pools, and because the game is based on the framework ofPlanet Coaster 1, making your own standard non-water theme park already has infinite possibilities and endless value.
So, even though Iconstructed intricate slidesand pools and interacted with this whole system in my park, at times, it almost felt like a stain on the actual coaster capital I was trying to create because, to me personally, the coasters and park design are usually the focus while I’m playing.
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That isn’t to say that slide options aren’t exciting or engaging. Making slides is a lot of fun, but naturally,creating a simple slide for people to go down is usually not as satisfying as a metal wooden behemoth that impedes your park skyline with roaring screams and thunderous noise coming every which way.
That said, slides and pools will likely satisfy you if you’re interested in more resort-oriented design. I appreciated slides the most when combining them with other aspects of my park, such as having a fast launch coaster wind in and around mylazy riverand water slides.
Improved Park Creation Tools
The community is extremely excited to see many new options for path-making. The latest tools make creating paths much more straightforward and give players many more options. Despite the improvements, I still faced a handful of basic issues.
Placing scenery in the middle of paths still causes your parkgoers to phase right through them.Fans have already pointed out that this issue wassolved in Planet Coaster and Planet Zoowith ribbon gates, which are oddly not present inPlanet Coaster 2.
Similarly, creating specifically shaped paths, even with a drawing tool, can still lead to annoying issues, and working around guests phasing through scenery added to a slew of path editing nightmares.
At least the majority ofother scenery options, such as building creation, nature, and an assortment of other exciting objects, are present how you’d expect them to be, sostandard park creation with signs, lamps, trash cans, trees, and decorations is still up to snuff with the original.
The options for broader theming options, though, sadly became my biggest gripe with this sequel.
Why Are We Missing Themes?
Most of myPlanet Coaster 1time has been influenced by the slew of DLC on offer. Since its release,Planet Coaster 1has had a few DLC theming options andmany free included additions, such as western cowboy, pirate, sci-fi, and fantasy themes, which were all brilliant.
Some may argue that using these prebuilt sets restricts the creativity needed to build your own unique theme park, yet I’d say thathaving so many individual buildings, set designs, and tools made everyone’s cowboy or pirate area look entirely different and increased the theming possibilities of casual players.
I will forever be proud of the cowboy shootout ride I spent an entire day on, where you travel through an old west town having a constant shootout with cowboys with the blaster ride schematic, or my slow and profound pirate ride, telling a story of how a small group of pirates went from rags to riches.
Viking, mythology, resort, and aquatic are the only unique themes, and two are almost only applicable if you are building a water park area. Unlike the pirate and cowboy themes, which had animatronic cowboys and pirates, I’d argue there are almost no notable animatronics available in PC2.
Not only are all the Planet Coaster 1 themes entirely gone, but the replacements aren’t as good.
This may seem like a minor gripe, but the options available for themes in the original helped make visual storytelling throughout parks more engaging. They gave you an almost Disney-like toolset to create a park that felt truly special.
If it hasn’t been clear, I’m making a plea for Frontier to port these themes over, as added options can only improve the game experience.Many othershave noted alongside me that it’s a real shame Frontier didn’t have these in PC2 from the start.
The Intriguing New Management Systems
Honestly, I skipped scenarios in the original title to go straight to the sandbox. I’d recommendPlanet Coaster 2scenarios as these are a bit more valuable because they teach you precisely what new options you have for park creation, including water parks and general management.
You see, Planet Coaster 2 has a few new basic things to keep track of, such as an entire power and water filtration system, with wires, pipes, generators, and distributors that must be managed cleanly throughout your park.
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So, along with the new staff walkway system, to allow for paths only your staff members can access, I began building backstage areas (such as in the image above) with rest stations, power banks, and water filtration, all hidden from the general public.
Designing a park where you design elegant theming while hiding the confidential mechanics makes me feel like a sneaky magician performing an impossible feat before someone’s very eyes.
I attempted a similar “staff only” system in my originalPlanet Coaster 1park, even if it had no real functionality. This new addition to Planet Coaster 2 literally had me more excited than any new coaster or ride in the game.
Using scenery, angles, and pathways to format a park layout to cover up the staff areas and massive power boxes gives the park design depth and intrigue.
It shifts the basic game of coaster creation to an overarching, more complex park design that I found immensely fulfilling. I’d even argue that they could have pushed this aspect further.
This new play-state forms a third fantastic middle ground between infinite money mode andfull economy, as even those like me who love infinite money mode can feel like a management and design mogul, and the completelycustomizable sandbox choicesmake the game experience feel complete for any player.
The Many Coasters Of Planet Coaster
Therollercoasters and their featuresare just as solid as they were in the original. I tried my best to notice any significant changes in the main coaster lineup, and luckily,all of the heavy hitters are still here, with a few welcome additions.
Amazing wooden and hybrid designs allow for that classic boardwalk coaster feel or the twisted nature of designs from Rocky Mountain Construction.
One of my favorite things in PC1 is when theyre-created Steel Vengeancein-game, and hopefully, they will do other real-life coaster transformations in future updates of PC2.
Otherwise, the rest of the catalog features your typical chain lift, wing, inverted, launch, and drop coasters, along with some exciting additions like the controlled spin coaster reminiscent of Epcot’s Cosmic Rewind.
A coaster design element marketed withPlanet Coaster 2is the massive amount of switch tracks they added.These elements aren’t downright necessary when making a coaster, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t helpful when thinking of creating something special.
Additionally, I just want to highlight some other under-spoken extras like the gondolas, buses, and monorails, which make having a larger, more complex park look all the more visually interesting.
If Frontier aims to create the most versatile coaster editor possible, this is another step in the right direction. They expanded the coaster editor in meaningful ways and made all the intricate details feel all the more important.
This isn’t a real issue, but a small gripe as an ex-coaster enthusiast has to be that they botched Arrow Dynamics' “fourth dimension” coaster design. As a frequent Magic Mountain visitor who loves the ride X2, they didn’t allow for the fourth-dimensional spin option I would have loved (I’m just nitpicky about coasters; it doesn’t matter).
The “New” World Of Dark Rides
Let’s be honest:Planet Coaster 1never truly supported dark rides. As a California native raised through Disneyland trips, this was a huge gut punch to the younger me, who always thought of designing an amazing,immersive dark ride.
Luckily, not only does Planet Coaster 2’s lighting allow for (almost) complete darkness for indoor spaces, but a litany of new rides and tools make it much better if you’re willing to go the extra mile and be creative with the means given to you.
A few more mechanical movement systems, triggers, and scenery allow you to create a story within an enclosed space. Although it will take the community a bit more time to create something groundbreaking, with what’s given,it’ll just be a matter of time before you’re left thinking, “Did they really make this in Planet Coaster!”
Along with Frontier’s version of Disney’s incredible omnimover transportation system, I have to say, it’s looking good for dark rides. The only downside is that, as I griped on about earlier, Frontier decided to remove all of the themes fromPlanet Coaster 1.
Once again, Frontier’s decision to remove just a few themes has dramatically impacted the creative flow of a bunch of casual Planet Coaster designers, as the pieces to make a fantastic cowboy, sci-fi, or western dark ride were sadly removed.
While I see a glistening future for dark rides inPlanet Coaster 2, Frontier is not making it all easy for the community of creative designers.
Many Upgrades, Yet Overall, A Downgrade
Overall, I would say Planet Coaster 2 is an amazing experience and, like the original, is a fantastic theme/amusement park editor, even if the pro and con list of additions and removals from the original leads to a saddening conclusion.
The editor is still as excellent as before, letting you drum up almost whatever coaster fantasy your heart imagines. The overall path, scenery, and management systems add to the experience, even if they still aren’t as glossy smooth as you’d wish.
But the water park aspects and new theming options that the game invested all of its chips in only returned a small jackpot, especially because of how utterly complete the original felt.This makes any sequel that slightly removes something feel somewhat redundant.
Closing Comments:
Despite many improvements over the original, it’s hard to recommend Planet Coaster 2 to absolutely everyone. The lack of previous themes and other minor issues make Planet Coaster 2 less complete than one would hope. That said, as a deeply crafted and detailed sandbox, Planet Coaster 2 still shines in similar ways to the original, such as the coaster editor that allows you to create any coaster you could ever want. At its core, Planet Coaster will make some ask if enough changes were made to improve the sandbox or if it’s just the same Planet Coaster with some new bells and whistles.
Planet Coaster 2
Reviewed on PC
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