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Coasters that remind you of RollerCoaster Tycoon

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. As much as Planet Coaster might be the current trend in theme park gaming, RollerCoaster Tycoon is arguably the most well known theme park gaming franchise, and one that many grew up playing (myself included; RCT3D was my introduction to theme park gaming, and I then graduated onto RCT3 when I was 11!). RCT has certainly touched many theme park enthusiasts' hearts, but one thing that will always stick in my head about RCT is its rather... distinctive coasters and coaster building mechanism. From the incredibly niche ride types that were forever immortalised within the games (certainly in RCT3, anyway) to its paint-by-numbers coaster building style, RCT certainly had a unique way of presenting roller coasters that made them differ from the real thing more than the coasters on a game like Planet Coaster or NoLimits. However, I'd argue that plenty of real life roller coasters do remind me of good old RCT in some ways, with some taking more cues than others. So I'd be keen to know; what real life coasters remind you of RollerCoaster Tycoon? What ride type that's niche in the real world but an RCT staple never fails to make you think of franchise? What real life coaster follows that slightly paint-by-numbers layout style that made RCT's coasters distinctive, or gave off the impression that the designers may have pressed the auto-complete button to finish it off? Or is there a real life coaster that was even replicated within the franchise that will always stick out to you?

I'll get the ball rolling with some of the coasters and coaster types that never fail to remind me of RCT...
  • I must admit that the RES Roller Ball, the best known example of which is probably Wilde Hilde at Schwaben Park (better known as "the chicken coaster" to some), never fails to make me think of RCT3 Wild's Dizzy Dropper model! The resemblance is uncanny...
  • I must admit that the now defunct Vonkaputous at Linnanmaki gives me strong RCT3 vibes whenever I see it, because RCT3's water coaster model was interestingly based upon Premier Rides' Liquid Coaster rather than the far more commonplace Mack Water Coaster, and Vonkaputous was the only example of it ever built. Even though Vonkaputous is now defunct, it forever lives on in RCT3!
  • Finally, StormRunner at Hersheypark never fails to make me think of RCT3. "Hershey's StormRunner" was actually a model introduced in the Soaked expansion pack, and it contained all of the (then) unique elements to StormRunner as things you could build on the ride, as well as the actual StormRunner layout to place into your park as a blueprint!
Those are just some of the coasters that bring back wonderful RCT memories for me; I could probably think of many more if I properly sat and thought about it!

But what coasters remind you most of RollerCoaster Tycoon?
 
I must admit that the RES Roller Ball, the best known example of which is probably Wilde Hilde at Schwaben Park (better known as "the chicken coaster" to some), never fails to make me think of RCT3 Wild's Dizzy Dropper model! The resemblance is uncanny...
Because the RCT3 ride is based off a canceled Hersheypark coaster called Turbulence that never came to be. The model has been around since the early 2000's, people are just now seeing it in action.
 
I stand corrected, it would seem!

I genuinely never knew about that Hersheypark ride, and I’d honestly completely forgotten that Powder Keg started its life as a Premier Liquid Coaster… apologies for my inaccuracies.
 
Any park/area that involves multiple coasters interacting over and under each other, not necessarily because the park designers wanted them to, but because of space limitations. So basically the entirety of Grona Lund, or even the hillside in Hersheypark with Great Bear and SooperDooperLooper. You can't rely on standard layouts, you need to be hopelessly creative to get those rides to fit.
 
Not necessarily a coaster, but the park that was built in a nuclear power plant that never operated and was disused immediately. Has a Starflyer in one of the towers. Anything in a weird or wacky location gives off instant RCT vibes
 
Blizzard at Festival Land has a layout that looks like it was designed by a rookie RCT2 player. It rides like it was engineered in RCT2 as well.

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Spot on with Storm runner. I have similar sentiment with Copperhead Strike and it's inevitable inclusion with Planet coaster.. but honestly how have we missed Steel Curtain? Literally looks like a corrupted save file lmfao
Hi guys. As much as Planet Coaster might be the current trend in theme park gaming, RollerCoaster Tycoon is arguably the most well known theme park gaming franchise, and one that many grew up playing (myself included; RCT3D was my introduction to theme park gaming, and I then graduated onto RCT3 when I was 11!). RCT has certainly touched many theme park enthusiasts' hearts, but one thing that will always stick in my head about RCT is its rather... distinctive coasters and coaster building mechanism. From the incredibly niche ride types that were forever immortalised within the games (certainly in RCT3, anyway) to its paint-by-numbers coaster building style, RCT certainly had a unique way of presenting roller coasters that made them differ from the real thing more than the coasters on a game like Planet Coaster or NoLimits. However, I'd argue that plenty of real life roller coasters do remind me of good old RCT in some ways, with some taking more cues than others. So I'd be keen to know; what real life coasters remind you of RollerCoaster Tycoon? What ride type that's niche in the real world but an RCT staple never fails to make you think of franchise? What real life coaster follows that slightly paint-by-numbers layout style that made RCT's coasters distinctive, or gave off the impression that the designers may have pressed the auto-complete button to finish it off? Or is there a real life coaster that was even replicated within the franchise that will always stick out to you?

I'll get the ball rolling with some of the coasters and coaster types that never fail to remind me of RCT...
  • I must admit that the RES Roller Ball, the best known example of which is probably Wilde Hilde at Schwaben Park (better known as "the chicken coaster" to some), never fails to make me think of RCT3 Wild's Dizzy Dropper model! The resemblance is uncanny...
  • I must admit that the now defunct Vonkaputous at Linnanmaki gives me strong RCT3 vibes whenever I see it, because RCT3's water coaster model was interestingly based upon Premier Rides' Liquid Coaster rather than the far more commonplace Mack Water Coaster, and Vonkaputous was the only example of it ever built. Even though Vonkaputous is now defunct, it forever lives on in RCT3!
  • Finally, StormRunner at Hersheypark never fails to make me think of RCT3. "Hershey's StormRunner" was actually a model introduced in the Soaked expansion pack, and it contained all of the (then) unique elements to StormRunner as things you could build on the ride, as well as the actual StormRunner layout to place into your park as a blueprint!
Those are just some of the coasters that bring back wonderful RCT memories for me; I could probably think of many more if I properly sat and thought about it!

But what coasters remind you most of RollerCoaster Tycoon?
 
Not necessarily a coaster, but the park that was built in a nuclear power plant that never operated and was disused immediately. Has a Starflyer in one of the towers. Anything in a weird or wacky location gives off instant RCT vibes
The whole park has that special RCT vibe. All the classic flatrides remind me of RCT. Even the pathway layout is so simple that it could have been done in RCT.
If you don't know the park just head over to Wunderland Kalkar.
 
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