Game Spotlight - Theme series (Park, Hospital, etc) [ Edited ]

[ivrognard]

This is dedicated to the older gamer (but the younger ones are welcomed, too)

At some point EA and Bullforg launched a fun management series that is known as Theme series. It started with Theme Park, continued with Theme Hospital (still unique, as all the attempts to immitate it failed), continued with Theme Park World (Sim Theme Park in some countries), Theme Park Inc (Sim Coaster in some parts of the world) and Theme Aquarium (Aquarium in Europe). 

Theme Aquarium was not developed by Bullfrog, but by a japanese company and it was conceived for the japanese market. It was launched at first on consoles in Japan, but it also had an european release on PC (you might still get a physical copy in UK, if you can find the SoldOut edition in a bargain bin or ebay). 

Those games were tremendously fun, but they also offerred a complex and solid management side. At this time only two games are digitally available: the original Theme Park (available on GOG) and Theme Hospital (available on Origin and GOG). Which is kind of sad, as the series is great.

So:

1. Which game was your first to play in the series?

2. What is your personal top?

3. What is your favorite game in the series and why?

1. Theme Park 1994

2. a. Theme Hospital

    b. Theme Park 1994

    c. Theme Park World

    d. Theme Park Inc

    e. Theme Aquarium

3. Theme Hospital - nothing beats the crazy fun that the game offers. It still stand on its own after so many years and looks decent despite the passing of time. 

To be honest, i would love to see a revival of the series. Seeing Planet Coaster doing well, i think there is a market that would love to see this type of games more often. So here's my hopes for EA rediscovering their old IP's and bringing them back to life. 

Feel free to share your experiences with the Theme series and show some love to this old (but gold) series.

[EA_Archi]

Hello @ivrognard 

And thank you for bringing these good old memories. I am a huge Bullfrog games fan, and played every one of them! Theme Hospital is still one of the best games in this genre to date. In fact, I was playing it just a couple of weeks ago in Origin. Still feels good to help people with all sorts of weird diseases. Although, you can find a lot of different Theme Park type of games now, Theme Hospital remains unique on its own. 

  

[ivrognard]

@EA_Archi  indeed. Any attempts to reproduce what Theme Hospital had to offer failed. I would be happy with a remaster to be honest.

And the Theme Park games are still unique in their own way. They always offered the right balance between buidling and management, but it was the management part that always counted. Roller Coaster Tycoon, Thrillville, Planet Coaster focused more on the building aspect. The Theme Park games managed to hit the right spot. Plus, you had a lot of enjoyment seeing those little people roaming through the park, assaulting the ticket booths or the food stands.  

I kind of miss the era of the good tycoon games. Wish we have another good one, but the genre seems to be dead in the water, sadly. Would love to see a new Theme Park (or any game that would be able to do what the old Theme Park did).

Planet Coaster looks fun, but is more of a building game. RCT: World is universally hated (for good reasons). So, yeah there is a small wish there for games like the old Theme games

Personally i am glad that EA still offers two of the Theme games and i am hopeful to see the rest of the series having a digital release

[EA_Archi]

@ivrognard

Yeah, I am with you on this 100%. You do need a strong sense of balance to make a great Theme game. I don`t know if some new is coming or not, but adding new graphic to the old and awesome gameplay would definitely make me a happy gamer.   Theme Park was so bright and fun, with the deep economy thrown as a bonus.