Hey guys, I have some allowance to spend, and I want to buy one of the old RollerCoaster Tycoon games. But before I make my decision, I would like to ask which one is better? Which one would you recommend? I'm not making a purchase yet, I would just like to ask which one you guys think is better, and please give an EDUCATED opinion :P Thanks!

(My 800th post! I'm getting really far!)

Hey guys, I have some allowance to spend, and I want to buy one of the old RollerCoaster Tycoon games. But before I make my decision, I would like to ask which one is better? Which one would you recommend? I'm not making a purchase yet, I would just like to ask which one you guys think is better, and please give an EDUCATED opinion :P Thanks!

When I was curious about RCT2 I asked a similar question. It was recommended to me by a few individuals on this site to get the Deluxe version of RCT2. I don't play it very often, but it seems to be the one used more often. I would wait to hear a few more opinions.

RCT2 is better, it has a lot more rides although I like the scenario's in RCT1 better. If you buy RCT 1, get the triple pack but if you buy RCT2 I would suggest just buying the default game with no expansions, as a lot of people don't like a lot of the scenery in them.

I can completly agree with Rudy18 here.

If it comes to gameplay the RCT1 scenarios are great, and with the triple-thrill pack you'll become alot of them. You can have a long amount of time of fun to play every of them.

RCT2 lacks of "good" scenarios, but it has more option if it comes to "design" builds.
So most of RCT2 players use different premade workbenches or build there own workbench with/without cso's and use these workbenches as a sandbox game for designs only.

As Rudy18 pointed out, for RCT2 the vanilla version is enough. Both Expansion packs gives coaster types that aren't exists and needed and also they use an awkward color-palette for there objects that don't fit with the original ones.

So if you want gameplay buy RCT1 (Triple-Thirll-Pack),
and
if you want a base for designs buy RCT2 (vanilla version or deluxe version but don't install the addons)

So long, Cobra

If you do buy RCT2, before sure to download "8 cars per trainer" it's a really cool trainer and can do just about anything. I wish RCT3 had something similar to it.

I think these are good opinions. Which is better in the sense of making custom coasters similar to Sandbox Mode in RCT3?

RCT2 has plenty more CSO and trainers than RCT1

RCT1 is the better game.

Should you choose to, I suggest getting a version of the game which can be patched by the drexler patch, so you can view the amazing things that people have built.

^RCT1 has better trainers.

If you want to build coasters to upload here, RCT2 is the ideal choice.

- You don't need any expansion packs or trainers to enhance your gameplay. You can use certain trainers if you really want to add specific features that are impossible with the track editor, but that's true with every RCT game.
- The giga coaster does not exist in RCT1, and the "B&M" track type doesn't appear unless you download an expansion.
- You can actually build scenery the way you can in RCT3 without downloading any patches. Building basic buildings in RCT1 requires the terrain editor.
- You can control the height of scenery and rides the same way you can in RCT3.
- There is no scenario editor in RCT1, so you can't really make a customized park from scratch without downloading any patches.
- Excitement ratings are generally higher.

You've built several coasters with RCT2, so you should be aware of the game's capabilities. There isn't much you're missing out on with RCT1 other than several scenarios.

- There is no scenario editor in RCT2, so you can't really make a customized park from scratch without downloading any patches.

I think you mean RCT1 has no scenario editor!

@nathan:
The "8cars trainer" should be used only from advanced players, not from beginners in my opinion.
The trainer can do anything yes, but can destroy anything at the same time.
Error trappers, black holes, coruppted safegames are only a few things that can happen if people don't know what they do with it. And some problems are allways there, like random error trappers.
Also hacked coasters can't be safed correctly and/or work correctly.

RCT3 don't need a "8cars trainer", because of the "options.ini" cheats.
They do more/less the same at some point, without any problems.

Working with CSO's or premade CSO Workbenches are also a bit to much for beginners.
The limitations in RCT2 should be learnd first, before doing CSO work.
Creating a workbench with only 256 objects aren't easy for beginners, especially if you have more than 1k objects where you can choose from.

If it comes to CSO's, RCT2 is much harder than RCT3.

So long, Cobra