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In lugnet.games.lego.legoland, Timothy Jones writes:
> Hi, I'm interested in getting the Legoland game but I'd really like to know
> more about it then the descriptions and pictures provided by TLC and computer
> companies. If you have the game, would you mind describing it to me please?
My son won a copy of Legoland at the Kidvention last week, and I've been
playing my way through it a bit at a time. Keep in mind that I haven't played
any similar games like Sim Theme Park or Roller Coaster Tycoon, so YMMV on my
comments.
The gameplay is fairly straightforward. You build rides, stores, eateries,
and scenery by selecting an item on one of four themed menus and dragging the
outline into place on the map. Larger rides (roller coasters, log flumes,
boating rides, driving school, etc.) can be built as large or small as you
like using "add-on" pieces. This is a nice touch, IMHO.
Available attractions (when unlocked) include Miniland attractions and other
"generic" Legoland rides (such as the Driving School), Wild West items like
Fort Legoredo, a saloon, and log flume, Castle attractions like the "Dragon"
roller coaster, and Adventurers-themed things. If you've ever been to the
Carlsbad Legoland, it's quite easy to see parallels between attractions there
and items in the game.
You have three types of helpers. One, the park manager instructs you and
occasionally gives advice, although he often gets annoying. The other two,
Gardeners and Mechanics, wander around inside the park.
When you build scenery, the spot on the ground is highlighted, and the scenery
won't actually appear until a Gardener arrives to "plant" it. It gets pretty
humorous to watch a group of zombified Gardeners march around the park en masse
to do your bidding. :-)
Rides to occasionally need maintenance and break down, and Mechanics will show
up to fix them. However, they don't seem particularly smart; I've seen many
Mechanics walk right past a broken-down ride because another Mechanic was on
the way to fix it. :-( You'll probably have better luck just unleashing five
or six Mechanics on the park, then picking one up and explicitly placing her
on a broken ride when things break.
The game has two different modes, Free Play Mode and Game Mode. In Free Mode,
you select a group of available attractions, then build a park using those
attractions. You don't need to worry about money or park inspections...just
build to have fun.
Game Mode, on the other hand, consists of ten scenarios, each getting
progressively more difficult. In these situations, the park inspector visits
every ten minutes, and you only have a limited number of chances to pass his
inspection. If you pass, the next scenario is unlocked; if you pass all ten,
you get a "diploma" suitable for printing out. It's clear this is intended to
be the primary play mode.
My gripes? Well, the game interface could use some improvement. You can't
change the angle you view the park from, making it hard if not impossible to
"see" behind tall attractions. Plus, the park manager has a habit of
announcing the name of everything you point at, which could be useful to small
children, but downright annoying to experienced players.
In the gameplay, my gripes with the Mechanics have already been mentioned
above. Since park inspections happen so infrequently, it'd be nice if you
could pull up the results of your last inspection, to remind yourself what
needs improvement. In addition, the inspections grade everything (attractions,
scenery, shops, food) by both amount and by "variety", which basically means
"build at least one of everything". This can get annoying...I once failed a
scenario simply because I forgot to put umbrella-covered tables outside a cafe.
Having said that, though, I really like Legoland as a game. Once you've built
a park, it's oddly gratifying to watch crowds of virtual minfigs wander around
and enjoy themselves (I finally knew I figured out how to build a good roller
coaster when they started lining up to ride it.) Free Mode is great for kids
or people who don't want to have to worry about park inspections or money.
The Game Mode scenarios are each small enough to be done in a half-hour to an
hour, making it good for people with limited time or attention spans.
So in conclusion, let me give some unsolicited game advice:
--Build at least one of *every* type of ride, and make the "expandable"
rides really big.
--Build two or three of each type of non-food shop, scattered about the park.
Think about a *real* Legoland in this regard. :-)
--Build "themed" food places in their relevant "zone" of the park, but don't
forget to scatter about smaller generic food places like drink kiosks and
ice cream. Again, think about a *real* Legoland here.
--Finally, pay lots of attention to scenery and greenery. It's easy to get
caught up in building the "big-ticket" attractions, so you'll find yourself
going out of your way to plant trees, bushes, hedges, flowers, and so on.
--Along those lines, have about 8 Gardeners, so when you "build" a plant, it
won't take long for a Gardener to "plant" it for you.
--Have about 8 mechanics in your park, but unlike the Gardeners, when something
breaks, explicitly find one, pick her up, and set her down on the broken
attraction. You'll greatly improve the "uptime" of the rides this way.
Well, I've run out of stuff to say, so I guess I'm done. Legoland is a fun
game...fans of real Legolands will probably like it. :-)
Cheers,
Bill Bradley
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| Hi, I'm interested in getting the Legoland game but I'd really like to know more about it then the descriptions and pictures provided by TLC and computer companies. If you have the game, would you mind describing it to me please? (24 years ago, 13-Jul-00, to lugnet.games.lego.legoland)
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