Even more bizarre, it applies to things like monorails. There’s no way to do it in the overview Park Management menu, nor is there a button to just “Apply to all similar.” The same problem plagues shops-get ready to set the price of four different menu items individually at every single instance of that restaurant. Want to, for example, set all the bathrooms in your park to charge $1.00 per person for entry? You’ll need to hunt down each bathroom in your park, click on it, and set the price individually. Need to train them or raise their salary? First you have to go into the staff menu, then it’ll center the camera on them, pop up a new menu, and then you change whatever needs changing.
Despite including a screen that shows you all your hired staff, from janitors to mechanics to entertainers, you’ll need to click on each individual to actually interact with them in any way. But maybe it’s for the best that it’s that easy, because trying to actually manage your park can be a struggle. The whole “pleasing customers” side of this sim is pretty damn easy-for instance, 600 guests might show up when you only have a single ride and a bathroom, and despite voicing their disappointment you’ll rarely see anyone get fed up and go home. Interface issues are actually chief among Planet Coaster’s problems. Trying to debug why your guests aren’t excited about a ride or why they’re getting sick can be like banging your head against a wall of numbers, and fixing the issue can occasionally mean re-building entire parts of your coaster when the game’s too dumb to correctly interpret your click-and-drag movements. Trial-and-error is all well and good, but the interface and information presented can be a bit convoluted at the best of times, or inscrutable at its worst. Still, considering coasters are ostensibly the game’s central focus I’m surprised there’s not a more concise tutorial for players to run through-or at least more information about what you’re doing wrong. It took me a few hours to meet the game’s stringent demands but I liked that it pushed me to be creative with my layout, packing in loops to meet the length requirement without making my guests vomit uncontrollably. One level in particular is an excellent showcase for coaster building, tasking you with assembling a massive 900-meter coaster that plunges through a narrow canyon.
Career Mode’s built-in scenarios are a good way to get a handle on the basics, though I expect you’ll soon leave those restrictions behind for more creative pastures. An intimidating joy, perhaps, but one that’s powerful once you’ve learned its quirks. Speaking of which: The coaster-creation in Planet Coaster is also a joy. This weekend passed by in a blur, laying out new rides and then spending hours placing trees and rocks, tucking fountains and statues back in miniature clearings, burying a kraken in a pond so it pops out to scare people using my custom fantasy-themed toilets, and creating the perfect castle-themed tunnel for a roller coaster to speed through. Planet Coaster: Console Edition is available for pre-order here.I’m obsessed. Thank you so much to Frontier for the early hands-on opportunity for Planet Coaster: Console Edition Kicking back and building an incredible theme park from the comfort of your sofa is something to really get excited for come this holiday season.
This is the full Planet Coaster experience, and then some. To those who have been clamouring for this title to release on consoles for nearly four years now, you're in luck. As someone who wasn't sure about how well a complex title like this would translate to controller input would go, I am very pleasantly surprised. My time with Planet Coaster: Console Edition has managed to exceed my already high expectations. In fact, it felt like I built that coaster quicker with a controller than how I usually would with a keyboard and mouse! All of your post-build customisation options are present, such as control over block sections, colour schemes, and naming your coasters! Building a station platform on the grid system is more finicky with a controller, but it's still entirely doable. Using the thumbsticks and triggers to turn and bank track, while using the shoulder buttons and the d-pad to navigate through the side menu to change the track type and add pre-fabricated elements (such as loops) felt entirely natural.