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If you like building more than blowing up

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 76 / 82
Date: November 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This is a satisfying and constructive game in which the gamer starts a company, lays track, builds stations, and decides what cars (loads) to carry. Among its STRENGTHS are the many scenarios; complexity varying from "sandbox" mode (build what you want without regard to cost or competitors) to difficult (facing AI opponents, and using an economic model involving stock market manipulations); easily available maps on the net; easy scenario and map creator;and the truly wonderful graphics, evocative of Thomas Hart Benton paintings. Among the WEAKNESSES are the absence of an undo button, useful because track-laying can be tricky; the relatively restricted choice of raw materials and industries to service; and a general sameness among scenarios, excepting the different areas of the world being covered. This is a very good game if you want to construct a (railroad) empire without devoting all your energies to fighting off military attacks, and if you find repeated actions, like changing the railroad cars, fun. This game will quickly become tedious to action junkies.

A Good Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 30 / 30
Date: February 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I have wanted RT2 for a while and when I finally got it, I wasn't disappointed. When I first get games and play them, after the first 15 minutes, its either I love it, or never want to see it again, and with RT2, I loved it. Being a lover of railroad and railroad history, it was not very hard to like the game. It is realistic in terms of the engines and box cars. You can span a period between 1820? -2050. Engines and box cars and even railroad station buildings(which you personally build) change with time. Its unrealistic in its size scaling, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for people. My favorites are the seperate scenarios. You can build your railroad empire on every continent on the planet, including Antarctica. You run your business like a real business with annual reports, shareholders to listen to, and even your own personal finances to deal with(with the capability of buying out your company from the rest of the stockholders).

One of the best business sims around!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 22
Date: December 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

If you like making money and a good challenge, this is the game for you. Laying track, building stations, and buying train engines is just the beginning of this complex game. You have to make decisions on where to lay track, which towns to service, and (in the scenerios provided) what is the best way to complete each scenerio. For scenerios, you are given at least 10 different maps to choose from, each with a different scenerio to complete and each with different computer opponents. In addition to trying to complete the requirements of each scenerio, you have to make decisions that keep your investors happy (or they will cut your salary) as well as personal financial decisions (or where to invest that salary) which gives the game a very "real-life" feel. To add to the "real-life" feel, the game can be played on-line or over a network with a group of your buddies which makes it even more fun. Overall, it is a great game which has incrediable graphics (trains, stations, towns, and landscape are drawn beautifully), a good manual, and is highly addictive. Actually, that is my only warning - if you like business simulation games like Rollercoaster Tycoon or previous versions of Railroad Tycoon - expect to spend several hours playing this game.

Great enhancements but also big omissions from the original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: December 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I browsed through the reviews by other players, and I am surprised that noone mentioned the original Railroad Tycoon, one of my all-time favorite games. My guess is that most people are too young here to have played it. For those who did, I think a comparison to the original would be in order.

First, I should say, I loved Railroad Tycoon 2. Railroad building is probably the most fun among the building games, I think because you not only build, but run your empire as well. RR2 is a good game on its own, and it builds on the strengths of the original and gives great enhancements.

GREAT IMPROVEMENTS over the original are obviously the graphics... since about 10 years has passed, this was a must. The addition of scenarios, is great, and provides not only loads of fun, but knowledge about the history of trains over the world as well. The addition of the stock market brings a new dimension to the game that is fun, however I found that sometimes it got in the way of railroad building fun, requiring too much attention to finances with too little control. I also liked the building of tracks with one click a lot; although an "undo" feature is greatly missing - the easy building also means it is easy to make a mistake, and often a costly one. My recommendation is to save before every major track building effort.

DISAPPOINTING OMISSIONS from the original include the often mentioned tunnel building, but my biggest disappointment was the less operational control over your trains. That really manifests itself when you already have a big railroad network, and your trains keep waiting on each other, because they are all using the same track, and you have no way to route them on an alternate track. Therefore I greatly miss the feature where you can tell a train to go through a station but not stop there, and the signals; both can be a great help in avoiding the crowding of trains. Another disappointment was the interface; although it is OK, and a lot of the immaturities of the original have been cleaned up, but it still follows the layout of the original that is largely menu-driven. The added-on financial market interface is rather tedious and unintuitive.

All in all, this is a very good game, greatly because it follows closely the original, and updates it to the new game standards. This game is great for everyone, but if you have played the original, you will wonder why PopTop omitted some great features that could have made this game so much better.

Strategy Gaming at its finest

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: July 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Railroad Tycoon II Gold gives strategy gamers an astonishing amount of value for its price. It contains the original Railroad Tycoon II, the Second Century expansion pack, and bonus maps and upgrades. While most game publishers today are interested in squeezing gamers for every last dollar, Gathering of Developers has taken the opposite approach. This is all the more remarkable because Railroad Tycoon II is one of the best strategy games in recent memory. It would probably be a best-seller if it dealt with a more trendy, sexy topic. But railroading can be fun, too, and this game proves it.

As the title suggests, this game allows you to become CEO of your own railroad. Using any one of countless maps that cover nearly the entire globe, you will need to lay track, build stations, buy trains, and set schedules as you try to turn a profit. But this isn't just an electronic train set. You will often face computer opponents armed with solid AI programming who will be building their own railroads -- and trying to run you out of business! The game features an elaborate stock market with provisions for buying on margin and selling short. There is also a very realistic supply-and-demand economic model that governs how much money you earn. For example, if you oversupply a city with a commodity such as lumber, you'll eventually depress the price of lumber; but if you haul fruit and milk to a city that needs food, you'll make a fortune.

Sound too technical or mathematical for you? PopTop thought of that, so you can choose to play without the stock market or the advanced economic model if you'd like. The game allows you exceptional control over the challenges you will face without sacrificing gameplay or fun. Despite what I said earlier, if all you are looking for is an electronic sandbox, then rejoice: the game features a sandbox mode, where you can run trains to your heart's content without worrying about earning money.

Dozens of engines are included, from steam to diesel to modern electrics. You can haul almost any cargo you can think of, from cotton and grain to coal and uranium. Railroad Tycoon II Gold comes with two separate compaigns comprising three dozen maps that require you not only to run a railroad but also to perform specific tasks in order to win, such as building a transcontinental line, or reaching a certain level of profit. If you'd rather just play a quick game, there are dozens of scenarios to play. With a very easy-to-use map editor -- honest, it really is easy to use -- this game has almost infinite replay value. You can even download any of the hundreds of user-designed maps from various internet sites.

I can't recommend this game enough, but if you aren't a fan of economic or real-world simulations, this game might not be for you. Also, if you plan to play in multiplayer mode, keep in mind that you can only play PC to PC or Macintosh to Macintosh, but not cross-platform. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this game puts the popular Rollercoaster Tycoon game to shame, but young players might prefer that game because it is easier overall. Still, if you like strategy games, please consider supporting smaller game developers like PopTop Software by picking up a copy of Railroad Tycoon II Gold. You won't be disappointed.

Railroad Tycoon Gold Edition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Bought this after Rollercoaster Tycoon. This was about a year ago. I can not get away from this game. VERY addicitive. Especially if you are into entreprenuership. This game has many features that others just do not. The Stock Market feature makes this game multi dimensional. The AI players are always trying to bankrupt you by making stratigic moves in the stock market. Buy to many shares of your company or any others on margin, the AI players will act and destroy your bank account. The graphics are excellent, however a little dark sometimes. The scenarios are fun and difficult. There is a lot of detail in making sure your cargos are managed and shipped correctly. It is easy at first when you have just a few cities to service. Once you get a network of cities...it can be very testing.

I highly reccomend this game to anyone that has owned a business or is into the stock market, or into managing a business which is fast past and demanding. This game is better suited for adults as the complexity and business aspects would likely bore a youngster.

Something different.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Much in the same line as Simcity, Railroad Tycoon2 offers something different: a little more activity while playing. Usually on Simcity, you build and just sit there waiting for your city to grow. On RT2, you not only have to build track and train stations, but you must set which town and in what order your train will visit these stations. you also must advance to faster and more efficient trains while trying to meet the requiremnets for the task that was set for you to complete. Most of these challenges are hard, but others are even harder, especially when you have a dead line. With beautiful graphics and a little train history lesson, this game is a lot of fun to play.

I hope you don't have anything important to do... ever again

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: May 21, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is a WONDERFUL game. I have never played a game which has so many facets to it, yet is so well designed that it never overwhelms. The different scenarios emphasize different aspects of the game, so you can play the scenarios that work to your strengths until you develop other skills. Also, each scenario has a number of random elements, and has a choice of three different starting conditions, so each can be replayed many times.

There are a few minor annoyances, but they are just that: minor. They aren't even worth mentioning. This is a game to own and enjoy.

A great strategy sim.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the better strategy sims I've ever played. It combines resource management, building, interesting history, interesting railroading facts, good gameplay, and an intutive interface. If I had kids, I would buy this for them even if they didn't ask for it.

And on top of all that, its like having a giant railroad set on your computer where you can play on in real terrain (based roughly on real topological maps) at different points in history. Some people are bothered by the tweaked timeline, but they obviously haven't programmed sim games or thought through the implications of making it completely realistic. I think they have done an excellent job of balancing gameplay and I'm looking forward to anything else these guys put out.

I've put this away a few times, but often come back to it or the Second Century edition.

Pardon me Roy, is that the cat that chewed your new shoes?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: March 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

What? Jesse James robbed my passenger train from Chicago to Denver AGAIN? What am I paying you people for, to sit around the caboose, get drunk and play poker? Oh, hi! Didn't see you come in. I've been so busy running this continent spanning railroad empire ... it really takes a lot of my time, you know. I remember the old days of running a railroad ... you could old look straight down on things and could circle around to have a better look. Stations were harder to get exactly where you wanted them to be and those mountains just weren't up to the standards of the mountains we have today. Amazing we ever survived!

Anyway, things are pretty good these day, what with all the new cargos; alcohol, munitions, aluminum, bauxite and many others. Oh, glorious profit! The opportunity to expand your empire is almost limitless as well, you can build your railways just about anywhere on Earth ... and some places beyond. Be sure to check out those slick new trains!

Oh yes, a quick word about personal gains: keep an eye on that stock market. Glory for the company is great, but why not take home a few million for yourself while you're at it?

Well, I've got to get back to my empire. These empires don't build themselves you know.

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