Review: Planet Coaster 2

Initial release date: November 6, 2024

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Developer: Frontier Developments

Genres: Construction and management simulation, Simulation Game, Strategy

Publisher: Frontier Developments

Series: Planet Coaster

Engine: COBRA

If we take video games at its value, owning and maintaining a theme park is rather simple. Buildings are pre-assembled and pre-folded, ready to pop up instantaneously, shops never run out of food, trees can be uprooted and replanted in seconds, and no one dies in tragic Cup ‘n’ Saucer tragedies and sues the pants off your back. Such is the world of Frontier Developments‘ Planet Coaster 2, a super-lighthearted theme park simulator with an emphasis on fun and frivolity that faces opposition due to its inclination to overcomplicate things in the other direction.

In a nutshell, Planet Coaster 2 does not vary significantly from known concepts, but it does strive to deepen and broaden the experience provided by its predecessor. This is Planet Coaster’s retribution as a franchise, as even the tutorial required a redo after I improperly positioned a rollercoaster and the game refused to let me delete it so I could get the entry steps facing the correct way.

Planet Coaster 2 features a campaign based on the mostly friendly competition between two rival park builders, as well as a cast of colorful, likeable mentors who will guide you through the initial steps of placing rides, erecting shops, providing power supplies, and hiring staff to maintain the park and serve visitors.

For the most part, the management element can be as deep or as shallow as desired. While it does a good job of guiding you, this is ultimately a management simulation, and there are options hidden in menus throughout. You must not only provide services and paths for them, but also verify that rides are safe and comply with legislation. You must also power them by constructing energy stations and water pumps for the pools.

Flumes are a new addition that may be built in any body of water and can be simple or sophisticated. Building these is a more complicated task than making coasters, which are ready-made and much easier to install. While you can adjust shop rates and ride costs, as well as evaluate individual guests (who are all named) for their well-being, the real progression is very straightforward.

Build a staff room and a maintenance workshop, then recruit maintenance engineers to do the research for you. I’ve never heard of a theme park leaving innovation and evolution to the janitorial crew, yet that is exactly what happens here. You don’t even have to labor for it: merely hire maintenance staff and wait for the research points to accumulate, after which you can unlock items from a list with a single click.

This includes rides, stores, facilities, and even fresh décor. Money is quite easy to come by as long as you meet your guests’ needs, and regular challenges add another depth to the goal list. You can make it easier by adjusting the difficulty, but you probably won’t need to. The trouble here stems from the slightly cumbersome controls and the fact that deleting mistakes isn’t always as simple as pressing CTRL+Z.

Building routes, as always, is one of the most unpleasant aspects. I haven’t played many management sims like this where path-building is as simple as it should be (see also Park Beyond), and Planet Coaster 2 is no exception. You’ll need to give paths in and out of the rides, but while some rides enable you to choose the placement of both gates (like with the teacups), others, such as coasters, have predetermined entrances and exits that you can’t always see until you install them. And then all of the excess bumf, like as steps and doorways, become independent models on the ground, so you try to move everything while only moving the coaster. Frequently, you’ll need to select all and delete all, making it simple to mistakenly click a tree or an innocent trashcan into oblivion at the same moment.

It may seem like a little detail, but it is one of several ways in which Planet Coaster 2 falls short of being intuitive or simple enough to match its upbeat presentation. Sometimes you only need to create a pool to complete an objective; other times, you’ll require a flume to achieve a certain guest rating that it simply won’t. Sometimes you’ll have to dismantle rides and rebuild them or develop elaborate maze-like routes to connect them to the main strip.

That being said, it’s a really lovely and colorful park builder, with a wide range of decorations, sculptures, flat rides, roundabouts, stores, and coasters to select from. Jumping into the passenger seat of a moving rollercoaster may no longer be new, but it certainly feels amazing, and being able to descend to ground level and observe your invention as your passengers do is simply lovely.

However, building in the sandbox mode feels more pleasurable to me, as there are fewer constraints and demands on your time. It feels less like busywork and more like you’re creating a space where people can have fun. Finally, Planet Coaster 2 is a truly attractive and enjoyable management simulation that rewards you exactly for your efforts. It may have a few flaws in the mechanics, but it’s a fun way to spend a few hours and exercise your creativity.

Review Overview

Gameplay: 88%

Controls: 85%

Aesthetics: 91%

Content: 90%

Accessibility: 82%

Value: 87%

Overall: 87%

BUILDING BRILLIANCE!

Summary:

“Planet Coaster 2” elevates the theme park simulator genre, providing players with a highly detailed, creatively empowering experience. The gameplay is deep and rewarding, with several possibilities for constructing rides and park layouts, allowing for unequaled customisation. Controls are simple, but creating complicated structures can require some practice. The visuals are stunning, with brilliant colors and lifelike animations that bring the parks to life. With a variety of material, including new themes and more extensive management choices, “Planet Coaster 2” is a must-have for aficionados of creative simulation, providing hours of immersive, innovative entertainment.