Us old duffers remember the original Railroad Tycoon -a wacky slant on that most perfect of gaming matter: trains. Who would have thought that controlling a transport network would be deemed a gaming classic? Admittedly, it looked like it was drawn with crayon on lard, but a fun-filled frolic of a game was had by all. Mysteriously.
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Get all the inside info, cheats, hacks, codes, walkthroughs for Railroad Tycoon II: Platinum Edition on GameSpot. Includes Railroad Tycoon II and the expansion The Second Century It can take you from New York to South Africa. It can take you from the year 1804 to the year 2000.
Even more mysterious is its reappearance after a whopping eight years. And it isn't even that much different. Alright, it's been given a complete cosmetic makeover, some slinky silk pants and a shave, but the game's still the classic beast it was, with added extras for the latest hard-bastard PCs.
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Railroad Tycoon II boasts about its 3D Studio-rendered buildings and its spanking high resolution, starting at a minimum 1024x768. Indeed, it does look like a bizarre hybrid of SimCity 2000 and a Talonsoft game, which can be quite strange. Some of the info boxes take up too much space and the animation can act up, with the trains jerking around akin to Ronaldo on a stressful evening. Hopefully, this will be fine-tuned for release. Mind you, the original suffered from about 20 colours in blocky resolution - but hey, it had that magical gameplay thang. Thankfully, this has been retained.
Spanning the years from 1804 through to the next millennium, you establish a transportation empire and outmanoeuvre fellow businessmen. Yep, the aim is to establish yourself as a Branson to be reckoned with throughout the railway industry.
Railroad Tycoon II is seriously Csupply and demand' orientated: offer an unwanted service and you won't make any wonga. Invest and manage funds in the stock market and blag cash off saps who should know better, then build your rail network across continents and viciously run your competitors out of town and off the rails. This sounds easier than it actually is - the Al is a nasty piece of work and will do anything to halt your desire for global domination. Alternatively, up to 16 fellow trainspotters can compare notes or pick on you via the Net or a network.
Where Railroad Tycoon was designed by the wee design god, Sid Meier, of Civilization fame, Tycoon II is the first release by PopTop Software through GOD. (GOD being the unassuming name of the Gathering of Developers.) GOD's aim is for game developers to be recognised as the stars rather than the publishers. A fine point: you wouldn't pop into HMV and ask for the latest song on the Virgin label - it's the band you're after. Whatever, GOD have successfully captured the look and feel of the original game.
So when this hits the sidings in November you can be sure that hardcore trainspotters, management sim-heads and nostalgia fans will rush out to buy it A few graphical tweaks and a little burst of speed should make this a stayer. All aboard, as someone tragic might say.
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March 2023
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