Ever wanted to tell an amusement park you may frequent that their main attraction roller coaster is no good? That perhaps you can design a better ride than they can? Coaster Works may be one of the closest tools to put you in the seat of an architect to create the coaster of your imagination! That way you'd never have to go to an amusement park again! Your children will cherish the memories of never venturing into the outdoors and building the ride of their dreams on the Sega Dreamcast! (Do not follow this advice for parenting)

Sure, there were ports of Theme Park on almost every home system at the time, but Coaster Works was the first game I remember at the time that implemented the meticulous task of building roller coasters from scratch. Coaster Works’ visuals may not push the power of the Dreamcast as much as some of the console’s more notable titles like Resident Evil: Code Veronica or Shenmue, and there may not be too much to look at prior to getting your ride up and running, but the smooth frame rate, speed, and rattling at which the coasters move from a POV perspective looks very authentic. BTW, I recommend playing this with a Dreamcast Rumble Pak to further augment the feel of riding a roller coaster.

Truly the meat and potatoes behind Coaster Works and one of the reasons why I think this game is so great. Each stage offers you some guidelines on what you need to do to make a successful roller coaster, but the design is entirely up to your discretion. No template to follow, the game doesn’t hold your hand for the first  couple of levels or tells you to do anything specific. Your imagination is allowed to run wild!! Now of course, your ride has to maintain a certain level of Gs to stay on track and there are safety precautions to follow in order to successfully build a ride, but nothing handcuffs your creativity. That’s all I ask for in gaming is the ability to flex your ingenuity!

Patience is key and constant Test Runs are a must to gauge your progress, because if you get too far and complete the track and it comes up a dud (whether you failed safety regulations or the customers weren’t thrilled enough), backtracking can involve taking your entire coaster apart if pinpointing one or several trouble spots prove to be difficult. I think this is complete genius. Failure means it was all your fault, not a result of the game’s faulty programming or a glitch. You, with the controller in your hand, are the one that has to improve. No relying on a trick weapon! No EXP boosts! Your mind is your most powerful tool and it is what guides you to success, and it feels so rewarding to nail that victory! Like this:

Coaster Works offers a completely different flavor of most video games available, even by today’s standards, it stands out for it attention to detail with the mechanics. I wonder if actual roller coaster designers were brought in as testers to double check the legitimacy of the speed and gravity. I really feel that the true enjoyment of Coaster Works depends on what you want to put into it. If it feels too much like homework, the learning curve can turn away, but I approach it like a cool high school science project and I really want to get a good grade. With only 5 actual stages and a bonus Dream Coaster extra stage (that abolishes the restrictions, so go to town!!), it may be pretty short and can be completed in one sitting. I think this game is wicked fun to tink around with and is still one of the most creative video games, not only for the Dreamcast, but ever.