Why I'm obsessed with RollerCoaster Tycoon 2

Not 1, not 3, and definitely not the 3DS abomination, but 2. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is the best of its series, not to mention one of the best PC games ever.

Oozing charm, the devil was in the isometric details: with a joyous, vibrant visual style it was hard not to get sucked into the art of 'coaster building for hours on end.

Zoom

While there was little different gameplay-wise from the first game in the series, it did have more stuff - and had even more added via two expansions, Wacky Worlds and Time Twister, which contained themed scenarios and scenery. With all the parks unlocked from the beginning, there was little sense of reward from completing each scenario, but a more robust construction system than the original's meant crafting the perfect park was a joy.

With more than 17 'coaster types, thrill rides, water attractions and food stalls to play with, RCT2 was better than being a seven-year-old in charge of a bottomless pit of Lego bricks. A stream of visitors would slowly fill your park, praising your creations' awesomeness before spewing lunches over your patterned pathways, getting lost and driving you to distraction with their endless demands. The only option left would be to build a death-coaster and stick the moaning myrtles on it (or drown them in the duck pond).

Coasting along

But if the stress of park-managment wasn't for you, there was always the Roller Coaster Designer, which let you perfect your creations in peace, inserting them into your game later.

My family had to step in after I lost four days crafting a Corkscrew-coaster with seven loops, an underground section and Candyland theming. No theme park you visit will be as exciting as the one you can build yourself.
If you completed all available scenarios, you could create your own and become the master of your theme park-managing destiny.

Every detail was customisable - from the types of ride and scenery you could have available, to the stomach tolerance levels of your visitors. And if the hundreds of hours' worth of content on the disc wasn't enough to keep you satisfied then you could always hit up the online ride exchange and download other people's creations to supplement your own. Today there's still a thriving RCT2 community, committed to building the best parks and trading scenarios and ride designs with their fellow 'coaster-heads.

You could spend £50 on entrance fees and stand shivering in a sluggish queue for a measly 30-second adrenaline rush from the real thing. But why bother, when you could build your own from your living room? Watching thousands of pixelated guests enjoying something you've made is far more satisfying than braving actual crowds... RCT2 remains my happy place.