Planet Coaster 2 brims with positive energy. Whether in sandbox mode or playing through the game’s fully-voiced, mission-based campaign, there’s a real sense of freedom and satisfaction in the construction of your latest theme park. That’s largely thanks to rich customisation and item placement options, and easy snap-lock systems that help you build whatever you like with ease.
This game doesn’t do much differently from its predecessor, but what it adds is excellent – and building on an already-great game means there’s a solid foundation backing this sim. Planet Coaster was all about creating your own theme park, satisfying the needs of guests, and earning your way to various victories. As a spiritual successor to RollerCoaster Tycoon, it made a massive impact on theme park sim fans – and in Planet Coaster 2, the legacy lives on.
Being at the helm of your very own theme park is wish fulfilment at its finest. Real-life theme parks are known for sparking joy, and if you’ve ever visited one, you’ll know the euphoric, age-defying sense of fun they can instil. In Planet Coaster 2, it’s your job to deliver this joy – and it’s a job you must take seriously, as you work to create your own theme parks from scratch, or improve pre-built theme parks in campaign mode.
This go around, the big hook is you can build your very own water park, in the vein of Wet’n’Wild or Jamberoo. That means placing pools, decorating them for good vibes, and then reeling in tiny digital people to splash and giggle, and race down your slides. Perhaps it’s my own childhood memories coming into play, but there’s something so delightful about planning out your slides, and figuring out how to ensure maximum velocity and enjoyment. Water parks are just cool.
And beyond these elements, Planet Coaster 2 still provides plenty of land-based rides to build and unlock, and a plethora of more creative elements to decorate and jazz up your theme parks. I particularly enjoy that the game plays loosey-goosey with item placement and collision, so you can build up monuments by placing items haphazardly, and it doesn’t matter too much if objects are colliding. I made some magnificent coral sculptures for one of my water parks, and created a beautiful hedge gallery filled with flowers in another.
I do feel there’s overall less unique customisation options in this sequel, compared to its predecessor, but what’s in the base version is more than enough to make a fully-featured, compelling park that rocks high prestige and appeal. There’s also some banger decorations in the mythology-themed God statues, which give your park a real sense of grandeur. There’s no doubt addition DLC packs will also add in new fanciful decorations – although whether you feel the need to fork out for these will be up to you.
Read: Park Beyond review – Impossible dreams
There’s already plenty to do in the base game, with sandbox mode being fun as ever, and providing three modes (unlimited cash, no management needs, or standard gameplay) to experiment with, as well as campaign mode feeling particularly robust and colourful.
This mode features a core story that sees you being installed in a variety of theme parks as the new manager, tasked with getting them fully up to scratch. Some theme parks just need a bit of TLC, while others have broken down and incomplete rides that need to be repaired by placing new tracks by hand. Some just really, really need to get out of the financial doldrums, requiring clever thinking, loans, and advertising to boost attendance and profitability.
Not only is this campaign mode funny and sweet, it also functions as a light tutorial for players unfamiliar with the Planet Coaster gameplay system, as it tasks you with setting up shops and performing all sorts of management tasks. I will say I wish there was more of a tutorial in the game, as certain features like rollercoaster construction and decoration are a bit obtuse for newer players, but with some intuition and experimenting, these features remain approachable.
It’s also nice to see options in Planet Coaster 2. You can click into the custom menu and build your own rollercoasters, with options for twisting or vertical rails, and a range of complex, customisable features. But if you’re not in the mood for a challenge, or you find this system too perplexing (it does take some getting used to), you can also choose from a range of pre-built rollercoasters, or head into the game’s workshop to copy some blueprints from more talented players.
While Planet Coaster had only been available for a few days prior to my playing, there was already a handful of fantastic water and ground-based rides available, including a recreation of a ride from the real-life Alton Towers.
Planet Coaster 2 is layered enough that if you invest time into it, you can create marvellous, game-changing rides for your park visitors, attracting them by prestige and flourish. Or, you can simply marvel at the creations of other players, and wonder how exactly they’re making such grand structures, and why you can’t do that. Am I projecting? Perhaps.
Regardless of my particular talent, I’m having a blast with Planet Coaster 2. It’s certainly on track to eclipse its predecessor, and will no doubt build on lessons learned to become a better-rounded and more feature-rich game in future. While there will inevitably be a deluge of DLC to boost the game’s ride options and customisation, they will simply be decorations on an already-sweet cake.
Four stars: ★★★★
Planet Coaster 2
Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Developer: Frontier Developments
Publisher: Frontier Developments
Release Date: 6 November 2024
A PC code for Planet Coaster 2 was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. GamesHub reviews are rated on a ten-point scale.
